Back views of women in art

It has occurred to me during the process of researching this blog that quite a number of realist painters have portrayed women at one time or another from a rear viewpoint – often in a domestic situation. Danish artists like Anna Ancher, Vilhelm Hammershøi and Carl Holsøe frequently employed this device in their compositions. The female subject may at some small domestic labour, or simply being contemplative, gazing out onto some unseen vista. Here are some examples:

1822 Frau am Fenster [Woman at the Window] oil on canvas 44 x 73 cm

1880 Berthe Morisot The Dining Room of the Rouart Family, Avenue d'Eylau oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm

c1880 Edgar Degas Mary Cassatt at the Louvre pastel

1882 Christian Krohg The Hair is Braided

1883 Anna Ancher Girl in Kitchen oil on canvas 87.7 x 68.5 cm

1885 Edgar Degas A Visit to the Museum

c1885 Edgar Degas Three Women at the Races pastel 68.6 x 68.6 cm

1886 Berthe Morisot The Little Maid Servant oil on canvas 71 x 44 cm

1888 Vilhelm Hammershøi Peasant Reading oil on canvas 63.5 x 55.5 cm

1890 Vilhelm Hammershøi Bedroom 73 x 58 cm

1896 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Elles, Woman in a Corset chalk on paper

1899 Vilhelm Hammershøi Interior

c1900 Carl Holsøe

c1900 Carl Holsøe

1905 Vilhelm Hammershøi Rest 49.5 x 46.5 cm

c1910 Frederick Carl Frieseke The Birdcage oil on canvas 78.7 x 78.7 cm

1912-13 Frederick C. Frieseke Blue Interior oil on canvas 81.3 x 81.3 cm

1920 Henri Lebasque The Blue Robe oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm

c1885 A young Girl Arranging Flowers oil on canvas 56 x 41 cm

Anna Ancher Girl in the Kitchen

Anna Ancher

Carl Holsøe

Carl Holsøe

Carl Holsøe Mother and Child by a Window oil on canvas 78.7 x 76.2 cm

Vilhelm Hammershøi Lady Reading in an Interior

Anna Ancher Young Woman in Front of a Mirror

Carl Holsøe Waiting by the Window

Carl Holsøe A Lady Playing the Spinet

Carl Holsøe A Lady Playing the Piano

Carl Holsøe Lamplight