Autumn

Brocky was Hungarian by birth, studied in Vienna and travelled widely in Europe before moving to London in 1839. An obscure figure today, he was widely admired in his own lifetime and patronised by British royalty, court and aristocracy. A continental tradition of allegorical decorative painting is recognisable in the elaborately posed figures here, which overwhelm the rather conventional attributes of the season (the title of the painting) and landscape background. This work and its three companion pieces ('Spring', 'Summer' and 'Winter') have been described as typical of Brocky's later mythological and allegorical painting, in which he regularly employed children as models. The seasonal cycle was Brocky's exhibit at the 1852 Royal Academy, and is said to have been singled out for praise by the Duke of Wellington. Otherwise, however, it seems to have received no attention from the critics.