Light and Substance

Robert Huskisson's faerie paintings are remarkable for their staging of light and substance, as in this case framed by the beautiful trompe l'oeil arch, creating a theatrical portal to another world. The faeries are voluptuous figures, yet innocent in their portrayal from Ariel's song in Act I of The Tempest. The floating upside down figure is remarkably evocative of weightlessness, especially for the time period that this was painted.

Robert Huskissson — Come Unto These Yellow Sands —1847