George Frederic Watts RA, Studies for 'When Poverty Comes in at the Door'

Studies for 'When Poverty Comes in at the Door'

George Frederic Watts RA (1817 - 1904)

RA Collection: Art

This sheet of studies of a draped female figure probably relate to the reclining woman in the painting 'When Poverty Comes in at the Door, Love Flies out of the Window' (c. 1879, oil sketch in the collection of Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle).

https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/study-for-when-poverty-comes-in-at-the-door-love-flies-out-at-the-door-144758/view_as/grid/search/keyword:watts-and-poverty--actor:watts-george-frederic-18171904/page/1

Watts's painting 'When Poverty Comes in at the Door, Loves Flies out at the Window' dates from 1879 and depicts a woman lying on a sofa while the gaunt figure of Poverty appears at the door on the right and Love, on the left, climbs out of the window.

Watts wrote in a letter to the painting's owner William Moss, 'I never intended to imply anything so immoral as that Poverty in the abstract should frighten away Love. You will see that carelessness and indifference to domestic duties, shown by general disorder, doors of cupboards hanging by broken hinges, etc., - have in reality left the door open to the intruder.'

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Object details

Title
Studies for 'When Poverty Comes in at the Door'
Artist/designer
Object type
Drawing
Medium
Black and white chalk on brown wove paper
Dimensions

453 mm x 583 mm

Collection
Royal Academy of Arts
Object number
02/1083
Acquisition
Bequeathed by George Frederic Watts RA 1904
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