Alice Pike Barney Prints – Portraits, Myth & Dreamlike Colour
Alice Pike Barney prints move between individual sitters and figures set within dark, imagined surroundings. Faces can remain sharply present even where hair, fabric and background merge into looser marks. Explore these shifts between portrait and invention alongside portrait art and mythological and supernatural prints.
A standing figure within deep shadow
Anita Ready for a Ride sets the sitter’s dark riding clothes against a similarly restrained background, leaving the face, collar and small accessories more visible. The tall narrow format follows the upright body. The limited surrounding detail makes posture and the direction of the gaze carry much of the portrait’s character.
A face emerging from moving forms
Medusa centres a pale face within dark blue-green hair and curling, snake-like shapes. The hand and surrounding forms connect the figure to the wider surface. Unlike the clearly separated riding portrait, the edges here become part of the imagined setting, allowing face and background to mingle.
Profile, flowers and an open page
Dream Book places a red-haired figure in profile beside an open book and bright flower shapes. Loose marks in the clothing and pale background keep the image less enclosed than the darker imaginative works. The book gives the turned head a visible activity without making the surrounding space fully descriptive.
Related artists and collections
Explore other imaginative figures in Odilon Redon and Gustave Moreau, or compare individual sitters in John Singer Sargent. The myth and supernatural collection develops the dreamlike settings, while portraits and people follows the collection’s closer attention to faces, pose and expression.
Read more in our guide to Alice Pike Barney.
