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Artist
William Henry Bartlett
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Born
1858
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Died
1932
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Title
Hesitation
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Date of Production
1886
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Dimensions
1409 x 1028 mm
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Credit Details
Purchased, 1888
William Henry Bartlett
Hesitation
A landscape and genre painter who studied under Gerome
in Paris, William Bartlett was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal
Academy and the Institute of Painters in Oils. Hesitation is a
rather improbable scene that shows an adolescent girl seated on a
rock by the edge of the sea, with an outstretched foot poised above
the water, pondering the consequences of taking the
plunge. The image is probably meant to be perceived as a
moralistic study on the challenges faced by all young people.
When it was purchased in 1888 this painting was also seen as
being able to afford many valuable lessons, both in drawing and
manipulation, to students of figure painting. It is an
interesting reflection on Victorian social mores that the display
of this image of a naked adolescent girl aroused no comment from
the press or public at the very point in time when the newly formed
Art Gallery of Ballarat Association nearly tore itself apart in a
debate about the propriety of opening on Sundays.