The Future, 1925

Working in the early 20th century, Madeline Green produced an extraordinary and distinctive body of work, of which this painting is an exceptional example. At the time, pursuing painting as a career was still a relatively new phenomenon for women, who had been constrained throughout much of the 19th century by prevailing social and gendered expectations.

A closely related version of this work was acquired by Sir Joseph Duveen and subsequently donated by him to Manchester Art Gallery in 1927. Although it is impossible to establish which version was painted first, the two works were likely created at around the same time. The Manchester version was exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, the Paris Salon and the Society of Women Artists. It was highly praised at the time, being described as ‘a clever painting, delightful in its colour and technique’. Its acquisition by Duveen—one of the most influential art dealers of his era—further suggests the esteem in which Green was held as a talented contemporary artist.

Following Duveen’s acquisition of the painting, Madeline Green wrote to Manchester Art Gallery to describe the technique she had employed. She explained that the work had been executed ‘with body colour beneath and then glazed with pure colour and oil’. Although the process was highly time-consuming, Green noted that she frequently worked in this way, believing that she could not achieve the same effect by any other method.

Green regularly used herself and her sister as models, as reflected in a number of her finished oil paintings. Alongside her original works, she produced reproductions for sale at more accessible prices, providing an additional source of income. These reproductions were often made as aquatints rather than in oil, making this work particularly noteworthy as an original example of the painstaking technique she described.