Outward Bound

Yesterday, while googling for a picture of Rembrandt's The Child and the Soap Bubble, which I found on my own blog, I chanced upon this beautiful oil painting by Sir Edward John Poynter I didn't know existed: Outward Bound (1886). The title refers to the toy boat made of half a shell with a feather for a sail which one of the two girls has launched toward the cave entrance. They look like tomboys. They've been swimming in the nude and fishing and might have had a picnic in their secret cave. The painting is in the Tate collection, but isn't currently on display. Why not? CLICK for a larger graphic.