A workbasket

A workbasket began life as a preparatory study for a larger figure group, titled The dreamers (Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery), although, unlike studies by other artists, this diminutive painting showing Moore’s refined working methods and meticulous attention to detail is more akin to a completed work. Exhibited to great acclaim at the Royal Academy in 1879, A workbasket is an exploration of tone and form. The richly layered chartreuse fabrics demonstrate Moore’s masterful handling of paint and his ability to capture the diverse textures, as well as the reflection and refraction of light on these complex surfaces. Moore’s unusual composition also seeks to highlight his masterful technique: the sleeping figure is both foreshortened and contorted, yet there is no awkwardness in her pose – she appears draped just as elegantly as the fabric surrounding her. The title invites further discussion about the ‘true’ subject of this painting and begs the question: surely the sewing basket with its haphazard arrangement of fabric cannot be the focus of the artist’s intention? Moore appears to remind us to look beyond the mundane to observe his nuanced experimentation of colour and form.

A precocious talent, Albert Moore was accepted to the Royal Academy Schools at the age of seventeen, where he continued to flourish. As with that of many of his contemporaries, Moore’s early work adhered to the aesthetics of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and he was commissioned to create designs for the furnishing company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., the precursor to William Morris’s celebrated arts and crafts design company, Morris & Co.

Tansy Curtin, Curator, International Art pre-1980