Girl at Window

Esmond-White travelled widely and spent much time in the Mediterranean. Her work suggests a deep observation of people going about their daily lives, accompanying children or, as in this painting, caught in moments of contemplative solitude.

Her female subjects have a gentle monumentality, their ample limbs and torsos occupying much of the canvas space. In this image, her signature restrained use of colour gives the figure her gravitas and helps to convey a sense of the mysterious space of the girl’s interior life. 

Artwork courtesy of Nedbank Art Collection.