Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-roddam-spencer-stanhope-519" aria-label="More by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Roddam Spencer Stanhope</a>
Thoughts Past
Presented by Mrs F. Evans 1918
actions: postures and motions
actions: processes and functions
adults
agriculture, gardening & fishing
architecture
boat, barge
boat, sailing
bridge
bridges and viaducts
cane / walking stick
clothing and personal items
comb
combing hair
contemplation
dock
dockyard
domestic
dressing gown
dressing table
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
England
features
flower
furnishings
hairbrush
individuals: female
industrial
interior - non-specific
interiors
Jones
letter
memory
mirror
named individuals
natural phenomena
objects
people
places
plant pot
plants and flowers
portraits
prostitution
reading, writing, printed matter
river
River Thames
sex and relationships
shame
smoke
society
standing
townscape
townscapes / man-made features
transport: water
UK countries and regions
UK London
UK natural features
water: inland
Waterloo Bridge
window
woman
<p>This modern-life picture shows a prostitute in her lodgings overlooking the Thames. Her situation is indicated by the shabby interior with jewellery and money strewn across her dressing table, and the man’s glove and walking stick on the floor. Waterloo Bridge and Hungerford Bridge are shown in the distance straddling the busy polluted river. A sickly-looking plant by the woman’s side suggests her impending doom.</p><p><em>Gallery label, November 2016</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
29 August 2001 – 25 July 2005
2005-07-25
29 August 2001
2001-08-29
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-08-29
Art and Victorian Society
Collection based display
23 May 2007 – 30 September 2007
2007-09-30
23 May 2007 – 30 September 2007
2007-09-30
2007-05-23
Cannon Hall Museum (Barnsley, UK)
2007-05-23
John Roddam Spencer Stanhope and Evelyn de Morgan
Loan-out
10 August 2007 – 4 October 2010
2010-10-04
10 August 2007 – 4 October 2010
2010-10-04
2007-08-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-08-10
Pre-Raphaelites and Painters of the Ideal
Collection based display
26 February 2009 – 24 May 2009
2009-05-24
26 February 2009 – 24 May 2009
2009-05-24
2009-02-26
National Museum of Fine Arts (Stockholm, Sweden)
http://www.nationalmuseum.se
2009-02-26
The Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
12 September 2012 – 13 January 2013
2013-01-13
2012-09-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 22 September 2013
2013-09-22
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
17 February 2013 – 31 August 2014
2014-08-31
17 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-17
National Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA)
10 June 2013 – 13 October 2013
2013-10-13
2013-06-10
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2013-02-17
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Loan-out
14 December 2018 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
14 December 2018 – 28 April 2019
2019-04-28
2018-12-14
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
13 May 2021 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
2021-05-13
Hungarian National Gallery (Budapest, Hungary)
2018-12-14
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Tate partnerships & programmes
17 October 2019 – 26 January 2020
2020-01-26
1 October 2019 – 31 January 2020
2020-01-31
2019-10-01
National Portrait Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.npg.org.uk
2019-10-17
Pre-Raphaelite Sisters
Loan-out
11 October 2024 – 15 September 2025
2025-09-15
11 October 2024 – 24 January 2025
2025-01-24
2024-10-11
Barber Institute of Fine Arts (Birmingham, UK)
http://www.barber.org.uk
13 May 2025 – 15 September 2025
2025-09-15
2025-05-13
Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village (Compton, UK)
http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk
2024-10-11
Seeing Scents: The Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
Thoughts of the Past
support: 864 × 508 mm
frame: 1164 × 810 × 97 mm
Presented by Mrs F. Evans 1918
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Summary
2021-08-24T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
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<p>John Stanhope painted this scene in his studio, below Rossetti’s, beside the polluted River Thames. In the shabby lodging, the woman thinks of her ‘past’. Her undressed hair, loose coat and the money on the table, suggest that in the ‘present’ she must entertain men to support herself or others. A man’s glove and walking stick place the viewer in the position of one of these visitors. The model is Fanny Cornforth, a close member of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. She made her living as a sex worker, domestic servant and professional model.</p>
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Online caption
2023-11-29T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions actions: processes and functions adults agriculture, gardening & fishing architecture boat, barge boat, sailing bridge bridges and viaducts cane / walking stick clothing and personal items comb combing hair contemplation dock dockyard domestic dressing gown dressing table emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas England features flower furnishings hairbrush individuals: female industrial interior - non-specific interiors Jones letter memory mirror named individuals natural phenomena objects people places plant pot plants and flowers portraits prostitution reading, writing, printed matter river River Thames sex and relationships shame smoke society standing townscape townscapes / man-made features transport: water UK countries and regions UK London UK natural features water: inland Waterloo Bridge window woman