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Title

A lady in blue

(1902)

Artist

Hugh Ramsay

Australia

25 May 1877 – 05 Mar 1906

Artist profile

  • Details

    Other Titles
    Portrait of a lady
    Lady in blue. Portrait of Mr and Mrs James McDonald
    The lady in blue (Mr and Mrs J S MacDonald)
    Place where the work was made
    Paris → France
    Date
    (1902)
    Media category
    Painting
    Materials used
    oil on canvas
    Dimensions
    172.0 x 112.0 cm stretcher; 171.0 x 110.8 cm sight; 200.0 x 139.8 x 7.0 cm frame
    Signature & date

    Signed l.l., brown oil "Hugh Ramsay". Not dated.
    Signed verso on canvas, black oil "HUGH RAMSAY/ ...".

    Credit
    Presented by the family of Hugh Ramsay 1943
    Location
    South Building, ground level, Grand Courts
    Accession number
    7317
    Copyright

    Reproduction requests

    Artist information
    Hugh Ramsay

    Artist profile

    Works in the collection

    7

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  • About

    'A lady in blue' was painted by Australian expatriate artist Hugh Ramsay while he was studying in Paris between 1901 and 1902. It depicts fellow Australian student JS MacDonald with his American fiancée Maud Keller in the studio-apartment MacDonald and Ramsay shared at Montparnasse.

    Keller is portrayed standing in profile wearing a striking blue dress, while her beau poses casually in the background. The book and violin located in the bottom right-hand corner allude to the musical and literary interests of the artist and his subjects. Yet we should not read too much into Ramsay’s intriguing juxtaposition of still life and portraiture, as he often emphasised aesthetics over narrative content in his works. This approach reveals the influence of American expatriate artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler's belief in 'art for art's sake'.

    Ramsay was proud of 'A lady blue', describing it as the 'best thing I've done' in a letter to his sister Madge in April 1902.

  • Places

    Where the work was made

    Paris

  • Exhibition history

    Shown in 10 exhibitions

  • Bibliography

    Referenced in 9 publications

    • Patricia Fullerton, Hugh Ramsay 1877-1906, Melbourne, 1992, 61 (colour illus.). cat.no. 39

    • Anna Gray, The Edwardians: secrets and desires, Canberra, 2004, 213 (colour illus.). cat.no. 109

    • Anne Gray, The Cambridge companion to Australian Art, 'Australian artists within a wider world 1900-1930', pg. 84-96, Port Melbourne, 2011, 88, 351. fig.no. 7.4 (colour illus.), between pg. 108 and 109.

    • Deborah Hart, Hugh Ramsay, Canberra, 2019, 128 (colour illus.), 129, 232 (list of works).

    • Denise Mimmocchi and Simon Ives, Look, 'Conservation: out of the darkness', pg. 49-52, Sydney, Jun 2022-Jul 2022, 5 (colour illus., detail), 49 (colour illus.), 50 (colour illus., detail), 51 (colour illus., detail), 52 (illus., detail). Pictured while being conserved on 5; conservation details on 50 and 51; X-ray on 52

    • Hal Missingham, A retrospective exhibition of Australian painting, Sydney, 1953. cat.no. 91; titled 'The lady in blue'

    • Edward A Vidler, The art of Hugh Ramsay, 'Hugh Ramsay. An appreciation', pg. 5-20, Melbourne, 1918, 14, 19 (colour illus.), 26. cat.no. 9

    • Author Unknown, Victorian Artists' Society Winter Exhibition Catalogue 1904, 'Catalogue - North Gallery.', Melbourne, 1904, n. pag.. cat.no 13

    • Editor Unknown (Editor), Argus, 'Paintings of Hugh Ramsay. Australian's notable work', Melbourne, 01 Oct 1918. Review of Hugh Ramsay's 1918 Memorial Exhibition, held at the Fine Art Society, Melbourne.

Other works by Hugh Ramsay

See all 7 works