Painting of the Day: “A Dress Rehearsal,” by Albert Chevallier Tayler, 1888

A Dress Rehearsal
Albert Chevallier Tayler, 1888
The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool

This is one of the many paintings based on the contemporary French naturalistic style which were collected by Lord Leverhulme to advertise his line of soaps. Once the paintings had been employed as images in his ads, Leverhulme brought the paintings home and gifted them to his wife. After her passing, the collection became the centerpiece of The Lady Lever Art Gallery.


Leverhulme used this scene by Albert Chevallier Tayler as an advertising image. He was drawn to this scene of a young bride modeling her wedding dress before her nuptials. Tayler, an artist from Cornwall, specialized in these sentimental domestic scenes and images of working class and pleasant families. This was just the sort of theme that Leverhulme wanted for his advertisements, and found much success with them.