The title of English artist Charles West Cop's painting is taken the poem "Love" by English Samuel Taylor Coleridge which he wrote for his wife Sara. The poem ends in the marriage of the two characters involved, perhaps conveying that the young woman in the painting has only had her hopes temporarily dashed. It's a fusion of two Victorian touchstones: the proverb “hope deferred maketh the heart sick” and Coleridge’s “hopes and fears that kindle hope.” In a dim parlor, a young very light-skinned woman in a full-length white day dress with ruffles reclines sideways on a red velvet chair. Her cheek rests on the seat back; her left arm droops near a small inlaid table where a half-made chain of primroses lies. A fringed shawl slips from the chair. Behind her, a red-covered side table holds an open jewel case and a closed book; to the right looms a carved fireplace. On the wall hangs a storm-tossed seascape with a ship. An upside-down open book and beige gloves lie scattered on a patterned rug. Her gaze is lowered while light falls from the left, highlighting her dress and slightly flushed face as shadows pool on the right side of the room. This painting is a typical Victorian depiction of a young woman whose romantic hopes have been dashed. The objects surrounding her act as symbols for us to interpret. Her gloves are discarded on the floor signifying her despair or perhaps compromised virtue; a book is also discarded on the floor perhaps a romantic tale which had fueled her hopes; the painting on the wall depicts a ship sailing through icy seas reflecting her own turbulence while the primroses on the table likely mean "I can’t live without you." Born in Leeds, Cope trained at Sass’s Academy and the Royal Academy; he traveled in France and Italy, painted frescoes in the House of Lords, and later served as Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy form 1867 to 1875. He also helped found the Etching Club and exhibited widely.
"Hope Deferred, and Hopes and Fears that Kindle Hope" by Charles West Cope (English) - Oil on panel / Before 1817 - Touchstones Rochdale (Manchester, England) #WomenInArt #artwork #EnglishArt #hope #art #artText #CharlesWestCope #TouchstonesRochdale #PortraitofaWoman #love #SamuelTaylorColeridge
