Study of Desirée

This striking portrait was painted in the Breton village of Cancale an artists colony in France.

The model for the painting Desiree is the girl in the foreground of Forbes'A Street Scene in Brittany (1881) in the Walker Art Gallery, of whom Forbes wrote 'always the same beautiful girl, she grows more perfect every day and seems to be as charming as she looks but, I fear this is not the case' it transpired that Desiree had been dismissed for stealing from the hotel in Cancale where Forbes was staying. Desiree herself had threatened to leave and Forbes's attempts to ensure her constant attendance by keeping back some of her pay until the painting was completed were foiled by her refusal to sit at all until she was paid in full.

In this work, Desirée sits at a piano, head angled downwards to look toward the keys. Her dress is a sumptuous blue, punctuated by the bright white scarf around her neck. Her face is lit from the front, and the effects of this lighting are masterfully rendered - take, for example, the cheek facing the viewer being cast in shadow, as well as the shaded areas around her eyes and the reflection of light upon her silky hair.

Forbes’ broad brushstrokes and the ordinary subject matter give the illusion of an intimate image, capturing the young girl without her knowledge.

Stanhope Alexander Forbes
Stanhope Forbes was born in Dublin in 1857 to a French mother and an Irish father. His father was an industrialist and wished for Forbes to continue the family railway business, but Forbes’ mother instilled in the young boy a love for art. He began his artistic career at the Dulwich College of Art, studying under John Sparkes. He briefly moved with his family to Brussels and took private art lessons during this time. Returning to England, Forbes initially studied at the Lambeth School of Art before being accepted into the Royal Academy Schools. Here, he was a student of Millais and Leighton, and exhibited at the Royal Academy for the first time at the age of 18.

In 1880, Forbes left for Paris to study under Bonnat. He travelled to an artists’ colony in Cancale, Brittany twice during his studies, once in 1881 and once in 1883, inspired to paint in ‘plein air’ in the style of the Social Realist movement sweeping France at the time. Forbes was enamored with the works of leading plein air artist Jules Bastien-Lepage, aiming to apply the same sense of naturalist realism to scenes in England.

Eager to try his luck in England, Forbes relocated to the small fishing village of Newlyn in Cornwall in 1884. Within Newlyn was a small group of artists already working, which Forbes helped organise into what would become known as the Newlyn School. The works he painted in Newlyn were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1885 to much acclaim, prompting other artists to flock to join the colony. In 1886, Forbes helped found the New English Art Club, although he remained loyal to the Royal Academy, becoming an Associate in 1892 and an Academician in 1910. In 1933, this status was upgraded to a Senior Academician.

Although Forbes would take trips to paint other locations, he remained firmly based in Newlyn, founding the Passmore Edwards Art Gallery in 1895. He met his wife, fellow artist Elizabeth Armstrong, and they married in 1889. Elizabeth was known for her paintings of human subjects, whereas Forbes tended to focus on places and happenings. They established a School of Painting, bringing in even more artists, encouraging them to paint ‘en plein air’. Their students included next-generation talents such as Ernest and Dod Procter, Frank Gascoigne Heath, and Harold Harvey. Elizabeth passed away in 1912, and their son Alex was killed in the conflict of the First World War. In 1915, Forbes remarried to Maud Palmer, a former student of his.

Forbes became a member of the St Ives society of Artists in 1928. The School of Painting closed in 1938, after forty years of teaching from Forbes. He continued to paint in Newlyn, up until his death in 1947.

His works are part of prominent British collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate Gallery, theImperial War Museum, the Royal Academy. However, Forbes’ works have had a global reach and are on display in galleries in Australia and New Zealand. Forbes’ legacy as the founder of the Newlyn School has been commemorated in posthumous exhibitions in 1949, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1992, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2025.