Violet and Rose: La Belle de Jour, Fogg Art Museum

Note in Green and Brown: Orlando at Coombe, The Hunterian

Violet and Rose: La Belle de Jour may have been started in 1884. 1 On the verso is a graphite sketch that appears to be a study for Note in Green and Brown: Orlando at Coombe [YMSM 317], which probably dates from 1884 and was first exhibited in 1886.

However, the technique of Violet and Rose: La Belle de Jour suggests a slightly later date. The half-seen butterfly signature at left, assuming it belongs to the original composition and was not added later, could indicate a date in the late 1880s, but this is not certain, and again, it could date from later.

Sketch for 'Annabel Lee', The Hunterian

Ariel, The Hunterian

It appears to belong to a group of sketches that are very hard to date either by technique and subject, including Sketch for 'Annabel Lee' [YMSM 080] and Ariel [YMSM 318]. They may date from the 1870s or 1880s or from the late 1890s, being reworkings of earlier compositions.

Morning Glories, Freer Gallery of Art

Violet and Rose: La Belle de Jour, Fogg Art Museum

Likewise Violet and Rose: La Belle de Jour [YMSM 319] could be a reworking of a composition developed in pastel in the 1870s, such as r.: Morning Glories; v.: Nude study [M.0410], and may date from the late 1880s or even 1890s in its present condition.