Earlier today one of HTBS’s popular entries, The Female Rower, 1930 Style! (posted on 3 October 2009) got an anonymous comment about the young lady in the painting. The comment reads: “I was looking for an image of this picture and came across your blog (through Google search) and analysis of the painting. The woman in the picture was my grandmother and her name was indeed Freda. She passed away in 2005 at the age of 95. She had a copy of this painting hanging in her flat in Twickenham (UK) for as long as I can remember. She worked as an artist’s model for much of her early life, sitting for people such as Captain Glasson, as well as Sir James Gunn. In fact, Sir James Gunn did two portraits of my grandmother, one complete, the other unfinished. My family still retains the originals (oil on canvas). She was 23 in this painting and yes, unmarried. She didn’t marry until 1941. Thank you for posting!”
This was a very nice surprise, and a nice little foot note both for the art world and the world of rowing history. Many thanks to Anonymous. If you happened to have more information to share about your grandmother I would be very happy to post it on HTBS!
See also entry on 20 December, 2010.
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