Armstrong is an interesting and rare figure who concluded his career as Director of Art at the South Kensington Museum (later the V&A). He was immortalised in George du Maurier’s novel Trilby as a member of the 'Paris Gang', alongside John Abbott McNeill Whistler and Sir Edward Poynter. The novel recorded their youth while students in Paris: Armstrong studied under Ary Schaeffer. He showed at the Royal Academy from 1865, and later, when it opened, at the Grosvenor Gallery. He was a lifelong friend of Albert Moore, and many of his subjects carry a similar feeling for colour, composition, and decorative harmony - the fabric of the dress here clearly shows Moore's influence.
This watercolour is a study for the picture Haytime, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1869, and now at the Victoria & Albert Museum.