Artwork
Lady Nelly - the Flirt
Lady Nelly - the Flirt is a print by the Impressionist artist Horace Harral. It dates from 1865 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1865, this print by Horace Harral is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection. It depicts a fashionable woman standing on a pier, holding a parasol that shades her from the sun, while other figures linger in the background and water stretches beyond the scene.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, a lady in a flowing dress, conveys a sense of leisurely elegance typical of mid‑nineteenth‑century leisure activities. Her poised stance and the act of shielding herself with a parasol suggest both propriety and a subtle playfulness, hinted at by the title’s reference to flirtation.
Technique & Style
Executed in a realistic manner, Harral’s print employs careful line work and tonal variation to render texture and form. The use of chiaroscuro—contrasting light and shadow—creates depth, giving the dock, water, and figures a three‑dimensional presence within the flat medium.
History & Provenance
The work was produced in the mid‑1860s, a period when printmaking was a popular means of disseminating fashionable imagery. It entered the Cleveland Museum of Art’s holdings at an unspecified date, where it remains on view as part of the museum’s nineteenth‑century print collection.
Artist & collection
Artist
Horace Downey Harral was a British wood-engraver, etcher and photographer. He was a pupil of John Orrin Smith and later joined him as a partner in an engraving firm. Harral produced prints of many Pre-Raphaelite…
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