The Wedding Dress

(click to enlarge)

Frederick W. Elwell

(English, 1870-1958)

The Wedding Dress, ????

Oil on canvas

The painting, 'The Wedding Dress', by Fred Elwell tells a story. At the centre, a young woman is kneeling on the floor. She is leaning on an open trunk with her head in her hands and beside her is her wedding dress, strewn across the floor. The woman's bowed body, with her face hidden from view, conveys her distress and grief. The emphasis on the wedding dress makes the story behind the woman's emotions explicit - she is in mourning for the man she was due to marry, or has recently wed.  . . . . Ironically, shortly after posing for the painting, the model, Violet Prest, lost her own husband in the First World War, after only a very short marriage, adding a greater poignancy to the work when we look at it today.

 from the Hull Museum's website