ALICE EMILY DONKIN (British, 1849-1940) Reverie (framed 101.0 x 113.5 x 7.0 cm (39 13/16 x 44 11...

ALICE EMILY DONKIN (British, 1849-1940) Reverie monogrammed 'AED' [overlapping] (lower left); signed, inscribed, and dated 'A E Donkin / 97 Upper Tulse Hill / 1882' (on the reverse); with a stamp from W. Badger & Eatwell art supplier, London (on the reverse) oil on canvas 84.5 x 97.0 cm (33 1/4 x 38 3/16 in). framed 101.0 x 113.5 x 7.0 cm (39 13/16 x 44 11/16 x 2 3/4 in). Footnotes: Provenance Private sale, Palm Springs, California circa 1995. Private collection, Los Angeles, California. Sale, Bonhams, New York, 19th Century European Paintings, 20 November, 2019, lot 79w. N.B. Alice Emily Donkin's is best known for her connection to the author and photographer Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) (1832-1898), who was a close family friend. Alice Emily and her first cousin Alice Jane (1851-1929) spent considerable time in the company of Carroll, who took many photographs of the two. It was widely accepted - although never formally declared - that Alice Jane provided the inspiration for the eponymous heroine of Alice in Wonderland (published in 1865). Alice Jane would go on to marry Lewis Carroll's brother, Wilfred Longley Dodgson (1838-1914). Alice Emily never wed and made a name for herself as a painter of genre scenes and portraiture. She exhibited frequently at the London Salon, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Society of Women Artists, and the Royal Academy. In the present painting, Donkin has departed from her earlier, romantic genre scenes and embraced the British Neoclassical Revivalist style propagated decades earlier by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Dutch/British, 1836-1912) and carried forth by John William Godward (British, 1861-1922). Donkin depicts the scene in wonderful, captivating detail, revealing the era's preoccupation with Italian archaeology inspired by Grand Tour voyages. Donkin employs skill and precision to create an immersive scene filled with delicate textures: cascading silk drapery, luxurious animal skin, smooth marble, a soft pink sky, and meticulously depicted mosaic. The woman's orange dress and the animal skin draped across the bench were both frequent props of the Revivalist movement. Gold Etruscan Revival jewelry completes the brooding woman's ensemble and suggests her elevated social status. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing