Walter Frederick Osborne
, Irish, 1859-1903
Title
Portrait of Mrs Mary Louise (May) Gwynn (d.1941)Datec.1903
MediumPastel on paper
Dimensions
43 x 31 cm
Signedupper right: WALTER OSBORNE
Credit LineBequeathed, Rose Gayner, 2012
Object numberNGI.2012.17
DescriptionA large-scale head and shoulder portrait in pastel of May Gwynn, wife of the writer and critic Stephen Gwynn (1864-1950). It is signed typically in upright capital letters. It is a delicate portrait, showing a smiling young woman in fashionable dress, who appears a little uncomfortable sitting for her portrait. Osborne was a close friend of the Gwynn family and was godfather to May and Stephen's second son Aubrey Osborne Gwynn (1892-1983), who became a Jesuit priest and academic.