
Emily Osborn was one of the most successful female artists of the Victorian period. Osborn specialised in 'themes of victimised and distressed young women', as in her best-known picture, 'Nameless and Friendless', now in a private collection. This work is a considerably worked-up and richly-detailed study for the larger painting. Both depict an impoverished young woman artist who, accompanied by her even younger brother, has trudged through the rain to a London picture-dealer shop to show and, she hopes, to sell her works. Being female and without an artistic reputation, or marketable 'name', she is greeted with disdain on the part of the supercilious proprietor, while two men distracted from examining a print of a ballerina glance up to appraise the woman purely for her personal attractions.
More information
Title of artwork, date
Study for 'Nameless and Friendless', 1857
Date supported
1997
Medium and material
Oil on wood
Dimensions
23 x 29 cm
Grant
4050
Total cost
16200

Get a National Art Pass and explore York Art Gallery
You'll see more art and your membership will help museums across the UK
National Art Pass offers available at York Art Gallery
Art Funded by you FAQs
Contact us
If you have a question about a work of art in our archive, please contact the Programmes team. We’ll be happy to answer your enquiry.