GUSTAVE DORÉ | La promenade

Estate of the artist

Acquired by the family of the present owner by the 1950s

An avid observer of people of all classes in the modern city, most famously through his series London: a Pilgrimage (1872), here Doré presents three elegant ladies on a balcony or bridge. Although the precise setting is hard to determine, the balustrade and view of water suggest the ladies could be on Richmond Bridge, which still stands today as it did in Doré's day. The women's dress recalls Doré's watercolour Le Derby d'Epsom.