The cornflowers this young street vendor holds to her chest are for sale, and the paisley red shawl around her body is a type often made by child laborers, many of whom were Irish immigrants to Britain. Brown encountered this sitter while looking for subjects for Work, a larger painting about labor and class in Victorian England that he completed in 1865. Originally, The Irish Girl formed a pair with The English Boy, which depicts the artist’s five-year-old son wearing a hat and a smock and holding his toys. The two give contrasting views of childhood: his hair is brushed, hers is wild and unkempt; his gaze is innocent, hers is wily and self-possessed. His is a life of privilege, while she lives in poverty. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2025