THE BRONTË Society has bought two Charlotte Brontë watercolours during an auction at Sotheby’s. The watercolours have been attributed by experts to Charlotte, the writer of classic novel Jane Eyre.
One picture, a study of a white carnation, and the other depicting a convolvulus, a crocus and an aster, were previously unknown and have never been on public display.
They are connected to the Sidgwick family, for whom Charlotte Brontë worked as a governess in 1839. Although best-known for her writing, Charlotte Brontë’s early ambition was to earn her living as an artist. She was an accomplished painter, but came to realise she did not have the necessary level of skill to have a career in this field. However, her ability to observe and accurately record detail was a valuable foundation for her written work and a contributing factor in her subsequent success as a writer.
Ann Dinsdale, collections manager at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, said staff were delighted to have acquired the two paintings for the museum.
She said: “Although unsigned, they have excellent provenance and are stylistically similar to other Charlotte Brontë paintings already in the Brontë Society’s collection. “We look forward to putting them on display in the Parsonage as part of Charlotte Brontë’s bicentenary celebrations next year.”
keighleynews
They are connected to the Sidgwick family, for whom Charlotte Brontë worked as a governess in 1839. Although best-known for her writing, Charlotte Brontë’s early ambition was to earn her living as an artist. She was an accomplished painter, but came to realise she did not have the necessary level of skill to have a career in this field. However, her ability to observe and accurately record detail was a valuable foundation for her written work and a contributing factor in her subsequent success as a writer. Ann Dinsdale, collections manager at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, said staff were delighted to have acquired the two paintings for the museum.
keighleynews
