Frederic Leighton (English, 1830-1896)
Solitude
Ca. 1890
Oil on canvas (182,8 x 91,4)
Maryhill Museum of Art

Leighton's paintings were enormously popular and expensive during his lifetime, but for some reason, fell out of favor in the early 20th century. Generally, his work illustrates biblical, classical, and historical subject matters but this painting is more on the metaphorical side as he invokes the feeling of solitude and isolation. Leighton explains his attempt to do this with the location of this painting. He describes it to his sister as “the vehemence of winter has scooped and worn pools so deep that . . . you come at last to absolute dark brown night . . . no sound, no faintest gurgle even reaches your ear; the silent mystery of it all absolutely invades and possesses you; that is what I vainly tried to put into my Solitude.”

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