Sir William Blake Richmond – Self Portrait (age 21)

Out of stock

Watercolour drawing in oval mount.
Signed and dated ‘W.B.R. / July 1863’ under mount, inscr. on reverse ‘From W.B. Richmond / with his best respects’.

An inscription in pen and ink on an old paper label (once attached to the original frame) reads: Mary E. Hullah, 5 Colville Mansions, Bayswater.

Illustrated: William Blake Richmond An Artist’s Life by Simon Reynolds. Published by Michael Russell (Publishing) Ltd, 1995. No.10 page 27.
Provenance: With Mary Emily Hullah (1848-?) niece of the artist, thence by descent in the Richmond family.

The watercolour is to be sold with an etching, undated but associated with the watercolour (pose in reverse), head-and-shoulders to left.

Description

Watercolour: This delicate portrait was executed at a pivotal stage in William’s career when he chose to concentrate his efforts on making enough income to support himself and his future wife, Charlotte Foster (1841-65). They married on the 21 October 1864 and traveled to Ilfracombe in Devon for their honeymoon. Charlotte fell gravely ill soon after their arrival and was forced to return to London where she had been diagnosed with advanced consumption. Tragically she died on 13 December 1865.

William’s father, George Richmond also painted a portrait of himself at 21 (in miniature) which is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery in London.

Etching: It would appear that William Richmond was not proficient at etching as neither the BM or the V&A have any etchings by him in their collections. Therefore it would seem likely that the portrait was an experiment to please himself.

Provenance: Mary Emily Hullah (b 1848-?): Second daughter of the English composer, conductor and teacher of music, John Pyke Hullah and his wife Caroline Hullah, née Foster. A novelist and contributor to, amongst others, The Girls Own Paper, The Woman at Home, the Family Herald and The English Illustrated Magazine. Caroline Hullah’s younger sister Charlotte Foster married William Blake Richmond in 1864.