ROBERTSON (19th) - The prophecy

ROBERTSON
XXth
Oil on canvas
60 x 73 cm (69 x 82 cm with frame)
Signed and dated lower left "RBTSN / 1909".
Very good condition
Beautiful black frame with black border

Early 20th-century symbolist painting by an English or American artist named Robertson, according to the signature. The subject is mysterious: a female prophet makes a speech to peasants who gather to listen to her.
There are several symbols in this painting.
The scene is set between the countryside and the city, represented in the background by numerous houses. A figure with a scythe in the back recalls the reaper's death. The prophetess points her finger skyward and holds in her left hand what appears to be a lantern, symbolizing the light of Truth she brings. The yellow light that bathes the entire composition shows that it is sunset. Finally, the couple in the lower right seem to be signing the painting, the man with the pipe in particular looking at us. In any case, he is taking us as witnesses to the act of prophecy that is taking place.
The painting is dated 1909.
That year, England was in the throes of a serious political crisis, which began with the rejection of Lord George's "People's Budget" on November 30, 1909, which provided for a new progressive tax system by the House of Lords, including a tax on large landholdings (land tax) and a "super tax" on high salaries. This reform provoked a constitutional crisis, with the rejection of the budget by the Conservative-majority House of Peers and the dissolution of Parliament on December 3, 1909. Our painting may well have been made at a time of crisis and near-revolution for the people of England.

Ref: ZPQ9MOTEWA