Theodore Roussel. Nudes, after Whistler.
Theodore Casimir Roussel was a French-born English painter and graphic artist, best known for his landscapes and genre scenes. He came to painting late, in 1872, after his military service had ended, and he was entirely self-taught.
His earliest works were scenes of daily life, rendered in the style of the Old Masters. In 1878, he moved to London and, two years later, married the widow Frances Amelia Smithson Bull, a distant collateral relative of James Smithson.
In 1885, he met James McNeill Whistler, who became a lifelong friend and mentor. Two years later, he made a sensational début at an exhibition held by the New English Art Club when he presented The Reading Girl, a life-size nude.
The public response was expressed by a reviewer from The Spectator, who wrote: it is Realism of the worst kind: The eye of the artist sees only the vulgar appearance of his model, making it blunt and crude. In career terms, however, the notoriety was more beneficial than otherwise. Later, Sir William Orpen would declare it to be the best nude of the period. His model was Hetty Pettigrew. She and her sisters Rose and Lily were popular and well-paid models who worked for Whistler, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and others. Hetty became Roussel's mistress and gave him a child but, when his wife died, he married Arthur Melville's widow, Ethel, instead. Not long af
Theodore Casimir Roussel was a French-born English painter and graphic artist, best known for his landscapes and genre scenes. He came to painting late, in 1872, after his military service had ended, and he was entirely self-taught.
His earliest works were scenes of daily life, rendered in the style of the Old Masters. In 1878, he moved to London and, two years later, married the widow Frances Amelia Smithson Bull, a distant collateral relative of James Smithson.
In 1885, he met James McNeill Whistler, who became a lifelong friend and mentor. Two years later, he made a sensational début at an exhibition held by the New English Art Club when he presented The Reading Girl, a life-size nude.
The public response was expressed by a reviewer from The Spectator, who wrote: it is Realism of the worst kind: The eye of the artist sees only the vulgar appearance of his model, making it blunt and crude. In career terms, however, the notoriety was more beneficial than otherwise. Later, Sir William Orpen would declare it to be the best nude of the period. His model was Hetty Pettigrew. She and her sisters Rose and Lily were popular and well-paid models who worked for Whistler, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and others. Hetty became Roussel's mistress and gave him a child but, when his wife died, he married Arthur Melville's widow, Ethel, instead. Not long af
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