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| Édouard Vuillard Woman in Blue with a Child ca. 1899 oil on card Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow |
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| Franz Marc Rote Frau 1912 oil on canvas New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester |
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| David Bomberg Figure Composition 1913 oil on panel Bristol Museum and Art Gallery |
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| Giorgio de Chirico The Philosopher 1927 oil on canvas Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester |
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| Roy de Maistre Figure Composition 1937 oil on canvas Leeds Art Gallery, Yorkshire |
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| Cecil Collins Woman in Meditation 1939 oil on canvas Reading Museum, Berkshire |
from Meditations
Sunday, 12 May 1833
The clouds are mashalling across the sky,
Leaving their deepest tints upon yon range
Of soul-alluring hills. The breeze comes softly,
Laden with tribute that a hundred orchards
Now in their fullest bloom send, in thanks
For this refreshing shower. The birds pour forth
In heightened melody the notes of praise
They had suspended while God's voice was speaking,
And his eyes flashing down upon his world.
I sigh, half-charmed, half-pained. My sense is living,
And, taking in this freshened beauty, tells
Its pleasure to the mind. The mind replies,
And strives to wake the heart in turn, repeating
Poetic sentiments from many a record
Which other souls have left, when stirred and satisfied
By scenes as fair, as fragrant. But the heart
Sends back a hollow echo to the call
Of outward things – and its once-bright companion,
Who erst would have been answered by a stream
Of life-fraught treasures, thankful to be summoned –
Can now rouse nothing better than this echo;
Unmeaning voice, which mocks their softened accents.
Content thee, beautiful world! and hush, still busy mind!
My heart hath sealed its fountains. To the things
Of Time they shall be oped no more. Too long,
Too often were they poured forth: part have sunk
Into the desert; part profaned and swollen
By bitter waters, mixed by those who feigned
They asked them for refreshment, which, turned back,
Have broken and o'erflowed their former urns.
So when ye talk of pleasure, lonely world,
And busy mind, ye ne'er again shall move me
To answer ye, though still your calls have power
To jar me through, and cause dull aching here.
– Margaret Fuller
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| Edwin Smith Cherry Picker ca. 1948 oil on board Chelmsford Museum, Essex |
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| Robert Colquhoun The Spectators 1949 oil on canvas New College, University of Oxford |
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| Ceri Richards Two Musicians ca. 1954 oil on canvas Southbank Centre, London |
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| Dorothy Mead Reclining Figure ca. 1954 oil on canvas London South Bank University |
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| Francis Bacon Figure in a Landscape 1956 oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, West Midlands |
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| Terry Frost Grey Figure 1957 oil on board Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh |
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| Patrick Procktor Two Figures and a Head Hand 1962-63 oil on canvas Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
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| John Houston Figure in a Cornfield ca. 1965 oil on canvas Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow |
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| Robin Philipson Human Kind XVII ca. 1969 oil on canvas University of Strathclyde, Glasgow |