The owner of this charming painting, started near Boulogne in the autumn of 1898 and exhibited at the Royal Academy exhibition in London the following spring, has very kindly supplied me with photographs of the work. It is wonderful to see Crowe’s paintings in full colour. Previously, I only had a dark grainy black and white image reproduced in the exhibition publication ‘Royal Academy Pictures’. It gave an idea of the subject matter, but the real thing is so much more alive with movement and light. I like the pop of colour the blue skirt gives, and it is also exciting to see the brush strokes more clearly, done very loosely, suggesting that some of the actual painting, not just the sketching, was done outside.
Posted by Kathryn Summerwill 
Eyre Crowe (1824-1910) 