Midsummer

'Midsummer' of 1887, now at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery in Bournemouth, belongs to Moore's seasonal series and places his characteristic draped figures in the context of high summer — the moment of peak solar warmth that in his palette terms meant a shift toward ivory, cream, and light gold rather than the cool silvers of spring. The Russell-Cotes Museum, a high Victorian villa bequeathed to the town of Bournemouth as a public museum, assembled a collection of Aesthetic and decorative works that makes it an appropriate home for Moore. By 1887 Moore had perhaps fifteen years of mature production behind him and his command of tonal harmony was complete. A midsummer subject allowed him to test warmer harmonies than his more celebrated cool-toned canvases, approaching the sensory fullness of high noon rather than the ethereal quality of twilight or early morning.

The midsummer palette is warmer and fuller than Moore's cool-toned works: ivory, pale gold, and sun-bleached white replace the silver-grey of his nocturnal and spring subjects. The figures' drapery absorbs and reflects warm light, built through glazes of pale ochre and raw umber over a white ground. The background is kept light and airy to sustain the sense of full summer radiance.