Frederick Walker

The Woman in White

1871

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Not on display

Artist: Frederick Walker 1840–1875
Medium: Gouache on paper
Dimensions: Support: 2172 x 1289 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by Sir Claude Phillips in memory of his sister Eugenie Phillips 1906
Reference: N02080

Display caption

This life-sized poster is one of the first examples of a fine artist undertaking an advertisement. It was made for Wilkie Collins’s ‘sensation’ play The Woman in White, which opened at the Olympic Theatre, London in October 1871. It combines a Pre-Raphaelite-style beauty with black and white graphic design. Sweeping lines pull the viewer’s eye to the woman’s mysterious and inviting expression.

Gallery label, October 2013

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