Herbert James Draper

Victorian Neoclassicism and Romanticism

Herbert James Draper Paintings 1863 - 1920 Painter, England, Victorian Neoclassicism

The Pearls of Aphrodite

Oil on canvas

Public collection

Mythological Art

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OIL PAINTING: The Pearls of Aphrodite
The structure of Draper's major oil paintings is remarkably constant: they are mostly built around a relatively small number of nude or partly clad figures, mainly but not exclusively women, and hung lightly on classical or mythological pegs ( The Pearls of Aphrodite, Lament for Icarus, Day and the Dawnstar ). There is very little of the elaborate archaeological scaffolding which other painters used to reinforce the antique tone of their paintings, and in many of Draper paintings this element is replaced by water: fresh or salt providing different flavours.