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Jennie Augusta Brownscombe
Love's Young Dream, 1887
One of Jennie Augusta Brownscombe's most popular paintings, Love's Young Dream celebrates life in a traditional, close-knit rural family. Brownscombe's ability to create a wealth of believable details adds to the strength of her narrative. A young woman stands on the middle step of her humble home, halfway between the interior (domestic) sphere where she has been living and the outside world she hopes to enter soon. She gazes longingly toward the road, where a man on horseback, presumably her romantic interest, approaches. Meanwhile, the gray-haired woman (presumably her mother) glances up from her knitting, her bemused expression registering fondness and concern and perhaps a warm memory of her own first love, while her partner busies himself with his book. Fallen leaves scattered about the yard identify the season as autumn, in an idyllic setting where cattle graze peacefully in the middle distance.
Compositionally, Brownscombe contrasts the right-hand side of the picture, where all three figures have been placed, with the left, where an unencumbered view of the landscape stretches back to the mist-shrouded hills. The predominant color scheme (black, browns, and grays) is relieved by a few well-placed spots of bright color, while the kitten adds a note of playfulness. |