
Museo de Ponce - Flaming June II

by Richard Reeve
Title
Museo de Ponce - Flaming June II
Artist
Richard Reeve
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Flaming June is a painting by Sir Frederic Leighton, produced in 1895. Painted with oil paints on a 47" square canvas, it is widely considered to be Leighton's magnum opus, showing his classicist nature. It is thought that the woman portrayed alludes to the figures of sleeping nymphs and naiads the Greeks often sculpted. The (toxic) Oleander branch in the top right, symbolises the fragile link between sleep and death.
The actresses Dorothy Dene and Mary Lloyd, who were depicted in paintings by various Pre-Raphaelite artists, have been variously credited with modelling for the work.
Flaming June was auctioned in the 1960s, during a period of time known to be difficult for selling Victorian era paintings, where it failed to sell for its low reserve price of US$140 (the equivalent of $840 in contemporary prices). Afterwards, it was promptly purchased by the Ponce Museum of Art in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where it currently resides.
Uploaded
August 18th, 2014
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Comments (1)

Meg Shearer
Such a gorgeous painting. Wonderful shot and background! L/F!
Richard Reeve replied:
Thank you, Meg. This is my wife's favorite painting and the trip to Ponce Art Museum was worth it. My thanks to the curator who let me photograph this (without flash, obviously).