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An old picture book for nostalgic souls:
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Helen Lawson, a volunteer British Red Cross Society nurse who served in London during the first World War occupies most of the canvas. She is fair-skinned, with dark hair partially visible under a pristine white nurse's cap that extends into a veil-like hood. Her expression is a fun closed-mouth, upturned smile. She wears a light-grey and white nurse's uniform with a prominent red cross emblem on the chest. Her hands are clasped together in front of her, holding a basket or container of pink and red carnations. Her smile will no doubt resonate with anyone who knows a nurse – their extraordinary empathy is usually matched with a wickedly good sense of humor. In addition to her expression, the detail of her hands definitely stands out. George Lambert's paintings of fashionable society ladies often featured their hands posed in elegant positions, the better to display an artfully-crumpled glove or piece of expensive jewelry. Here, though the pose is similar – the flowers cheerful, the uniform spotless and fresh – however, when our gaze falls on the sitter's hands, we're reminded of what those hands have done and whose lives they have held together with their strength, courage and skill. George Lambert earned a reputation as a portrait painter in London before WWI. Many of his subjects were notable women, and in depicting them Lambert particularly enjoyed the pageantry of costume and color, often inserting his sitters into compositions inspired by baroque or 19th-century masterpieces. By comparison, this portrait is relatively subdued. Her inward-clasped hands were an affectation Lambert had begun to explore with his sitters, but Lawson's self-conscious smile almost makes a mockery of this mannerism. Lambert's portrayal of the young nurse in her uniform is a recognition of the important home-front roles played by women during the war.
The Smiling Sister (Miss Helen Lawson) by George Lambert (Australian, born Russia) - Oil on canvas / 1915 - Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia) #womeninart #art #portrait #georgelambert #australianart #oilpainting #womensart #redcross #ArtGalleryofNSW #portraitofawoman #smile #nurse
