‘On entering the rooms the attention is at once drawn to a rather pretentious picture placed in a decidedly pretentious situation. We allude to “Woman’s Work in Medley”, by Miss Florence Claxton. This is a picture designed, it appears, to symbolize in one group the tyrannical repression by which Man keeps back the energies of Woman. The centre figure is an excessively vulgar specimen of modern manhood, who receives homage from the representatives of the softer sex, who seem to be shut up in a sort of pound. The wall of this enclosure has been climbed by Rosa Bonheur, who sits very uncomfortably among thorns at the top. The picture, though a decidedly disagreeable application of art, is not without its merits, and is worth examining as one of a class of composition not much affected by the artists of our day.’
‘Women’s Work’ A Medley has an old label attached to the reverse (inscribed by Claxton) with a verse from Aesop’s Fables - it reads: ‘A Forester meeting with a Lion, a dispute arose as to who was the stronger. They happened to pass by the statue of a man struggling with a lion. 'See there,' said the man 'what better proof can you have of our superiority?' 'That,' said the lion 'is your story. Let us be the sculptors and we will make the lion vanquish the man' (Moral: ‘No one is a fair witness in his own cause’). Claxton’s satirical painting presents a new story - an original and daring female perspective on the enormous gender inequality in England in 1861.
Many women artists in the mid-19th Century - to avoid criticism and under societal pressures - chose subjects that were neutral and conservative. Claxton instead employed the arched top format primarily used by male artists for important religious, political and moral statements, to scrutinize the position of women in England; essentially the reality that women were not paid equally, had no rights to their pay, particularly vulnerable under English law and from birth, coached and encouraged to become wives and supporters of men. The painting is humorous, clever and bold and was evidently controversial at the time; the English Woman’s Journal - where many issues on women’s rights were voiced – did not even mention it. Male reviewers commented that the subject was ‘vulgar’ and not appropriate for a work in oil paint.
‘This specimen…is noticed in the hope of deterring others from the path Miss Claxton is pursuing… Sermonising on social topics is not within the province of Art…. If an artist has a superabundant flow of misanthropy, let him [sic] at least discover some more appropriate vehicle for its display than an oil painting.’
When studied closely, each part cleverly highlights the unfair and harsh reality of women's lives in Victorian England:
A girl, a young woman and an older woman surround a young boy, each one vying for the child’s attention with a book with the words ‘BREAD BROT PANIS PAIN’ on the page. These women are governesses, considered a socially acceptable form of employment in society. The book highlights the importance for them to earn their bread, however the popularity of the job meant there were limited positions available for these educated women with many being encouraged to look overseas. The governesses are oblivious to alternative opportunities which is addressed in the scene behind them.
Beneath a clear sky, three young women look out to sea through a wide opening in the wall. One woman – Emigration – holds a scroll in her outstretched arm, pointing across the ocean and alluding to the possibility of employment elsewhere. The white cliffs in the distance suggest they are somewhere on the south coast of England looking across the channel towards France or perhaps further afield.
The tall, austere woman, wearing an uncorseted dress and holding a book represents well-educated women demanding greater opportunities. She is addressed by two men: Divinity to the left and Law to the right. They stand for the male opposition towards women’s ambition with Law directing her towards the acceptable area on the ‘domestic carpet’, shown in the centre. Divinity holds a scroll headed ‘Lawful Occupations Single Women’, words such as ‘Sunday School’ and ‘Charity’ are listed suggesting his views on her position in society.
Here a woman is slumped by a locked door, a man over looks, holding onto the key to the door. He represents the medical profession ‘amused by her impotent attempts’ to gain admission to the medical world. The woman’s appearance also alludes to the image of her as a prostitute or fallen woman, and the words ‘retreat’, ‘beg’ and ‘ashamed’ are written above the door and on the crumpled sheet beside her. This figure alludes to multiple references and was considered the most controversial.
The seated figure on the wall is likely to be the artist Rosa Bonheur, a highly respected and successful artist in Europe who had surmounted the prejudices against her. Bonheur and the woman below her, address the burgeoning opportunities for women in Claxton’s own field - art. By 1860 female art students could train at several different art schools and women were allowed to attend classes at the Royal Academy (Claxton was one of the women to sign the 1859 petition to allow their admission) but they were still confronted with unmeasurable hardships, they faced prejudices and were unable to attend life classes.
Elegant, subservient women surround the central figure in this painting; a young, overweight and obnoxious man, dispensing ‘airy nothings’ on his female admirers. Each one seeks his attention with the intention to marry, representing the various traits and accomplishments expected of young women of the period; one appears to be singing and playing a guitar, the other drawing (just visible on her page is a lion with sun’s rays above him, hinting at the perception that man is deity for example Apollo, god of the sun), one admires her beauty in a mirror, while the fourth accepts his ‘sugar plums’ from a bonbon box. Daughters were not educated with a view to employment, instead they were encouraged to make themselves desirable to the male gaze.
The green hills, blossom and ocean seen outside the confines of the crumbling wall highlight the oppressive environment in which the women find themselves in. Many are unaware of the opportunities open to them beyond the walls.
The Golden Calf alludes to the worship of false Gods. The positioning of this sculpture - directly behind the young man – addresses the culture of young women worshipping Man as though he is a God.
The middle-aged man represents one of the four ages of man. The mistress of the house yawns with boredom as the maid serves the husband a small portion of food, evidently, he is annoyed with what he has been presented with. Both women in this scene, even though from differing classes, highlight the concept that their function in life is to serve men.
A mother or nurse tries to hush a crying baby boy.
Looking disgruntled, the old man with skull cap threatens his daughter or nurse with his hammer.
A seamstress looks out longingly to sea and better opportunities, yet she is still on the edge of the domestic carpet as her work is considered acceptable especially as it can be achieved at home.
The middle-aged woman rushes with a bag and umbrella, thought to depict the stereotypical untrained nurse. Only women were expected to perform nursing duties, however they received little to no training.
A woman scrambles and reaches to a gap in the crumbling wall, evidently trying to escape the confined environment she finds herself in.
The present work may have been influenced (and painted as a counterpoint) to Ford Madox Brown’s Work, which he had started in 1852. Work shared the same arched-top format and celebrated the modern British working man.
Claxton was born in Florence, after which she was named, and was taught by her father Marshall Claxton (a painter of biblical and historical scenes) alongside her sister Adelaide, who was also an illustrator. Claxton accompanied her father to Australia in 1850, where he hoped to find more artistic fame and success. However, in 1854 they moved to India and three years later returned to England via Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Egypt. This unusual and transient upbringing and exposure to new places and cultures gave Claxton an outsider’s perspective on her home society. In 1858, at the young age of twenty, she exhibited Life of a Female Artist, at the second annual show of the Society of Female Artists and a year later Scenes of Life of an Old Maid. She is perhaps best known for her satire on the Pre-Raphaelite movement The Choice of Paris executed circa 1860, which was reproduced as a full-page engraving in the Illustrated London News. ‘Women’s work’ A Medley, despite being engraved by Thomas Gilks, was obviously too controversial as it did not appear in the same pages. In 1868, Florence married Ernest Farrington – a French photographer and engineer in Paris, however by 1881 she was living back with her father in London. She continued to work as an illustrator and artist until 1920 although her output significantly slowed following her marriage.
‘Women’s Work’ A Medley did not find a buyer in 1861 when it was exhibited at the Portland Gallery, nor at the Liverpool Academy the following year. The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser on 18 March 1874 notes that ‘Mr. Masters has now on view the Famous Picture, by Florence Claxton, WOMAN’S WORK, will be SOLD BY AUCTION next month, if not previously disposed of by private’. The work then re-appeared at auction more than a century later in 1982 and was sold in these rooms to the present owner. This painting, probably one of the earliest images of the feminist movement, still resonates today.