Leisure Hours

Anne and Marion Pender were the daughters of Sir John Pender, a wealthy textile merchant from Glasgow. The girls' identical red velvet gowns and plush surroundings convey their affluence, yet one cannot help but feel that they are on display, not unlike the two fish in the bowl before them.

While a student at the Royal Academy in London, Millais co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as an act of rebellion against the classicizing style of painting taught there. Ironically, Leisure Hours was painted just a year after he was elected to be a full member of the Royal Academy.

Credit: Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund