Arthur Croft Mitchell, The Mandolin Player

Arthur Croft Mitchell, The Mandolin PlayerThis exquisite early 20th century oil painting by English artist Arthur Croft Mitchell (1872 1956) depicts an interior with two women, one seated, the other holding a mandolin. It was shown at the East Sussex Arts Club in June 1913. Draped in luxurious deep purple fabric with her right hand displaying a pronounced wedding ring, she gazes towards the demure figure of an elegant mandolin player. A kerosene lamp stands between them. On the mantle beyond,

His contemporaries considered him to be a little introverted and he opted to dedicate his life to his art rather than settle down with a family

A close friend remarked that he “lived to paint”

The painting is signed in the lower right and housed within an antique frame that’s probably the original

Glendening’s exquisite draughtsmanship was matched by a keen understanding of tone and value

She carries an expression of quiet defiance

Victorian Pictures - Drawings & Watercolours

Note how the light falls on the apple in the lower left - quite sublime

white shirt and green/grey jacket

And then by 25

reflective and sombre

This is the Essex coast

near Munich