Portrait of Violet Lindsay, later Marchioness of Granby and Duchess of Rutland

Celebrated as ‘a superb jewel’ and exuding ‘a richness without parallel’, Watts’s portrait of Violet Lindsay (1856–1937) was widely exhibited during his lifetime in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. An artist and socialite, the sitter later became the Marchioness of Granby and subsequently the Duchess of Rutland, through her marriage to the aristocratic Conservative politician Henry Manners in 1882. Painted when Lindsay was aged 23, it is one of Watts’s most experimental portraits and was widely praised by the European avant-garde. By producing a vivid design with a limited colour palette, the portrait evokes the mastery of both Titian and Watts’s contemporary- Whistler.

Mary Watts described this portrait as a ‘supreme portrait’ in which the sitter and the background are harmoniously balanced [1]. With light radiating from the left, the texture of Violet Lindsay’s skin appears soft and luminous. Set against a tumultuous and densely painted background of rich blue tones, she appears as a figure of calm and poise. The same hues which make up the background are mirrored in Lindsay’s dress – a loose and softly gathered robe – tied with a sash-like scarf.

Lindsay was a prominent member of the bohemian group ‘The Souls’ which was loosely formed in the 1880s and originally made up of aristocratic families including the Balfours, Lyttletons, Tennents and the Wyndhams. In their activities they preferred simplicity over luxury, and ‘disapproved of many of the aimless and extravagant pursuits of their social contemporaries’ [2].

Indeed, Lindsay’s own humble aesthetic tastes may have informed Watts’s colour palette in this portrait. It is believed that: ‘For her clothes she chose non-colours: creams, fawns, soft blue-greys and blue-greens, the hues of Chinese ceramics […] Everything floated and trailed: veils, streamers of lace around the head, scarves around the neck, ribbons, long trains unsupported by illogical bustles which concealed the natural grace of the figure’ [3].

In his depiction of the folds and pleating of Lindsay’s dress, the verticals of the dress stand against the horizontals and diagonals of the background. This creates a pulsating picture, full of energy. It also demonstrates how the exercise of drawing and painting drapery was integral to Watts’s artistic practice. Watts ‘believed drawing drapery was not just an exercise for beginners, but rather a habit that would continually improve an artist’s visual perception for form’ [4].

Although renowned for her beauty, Lindsay was a prolific portrait artist in her own right and exhibited her work at the Grosvenor Gallery alongside Watts. Today her works are held in collections including the Royal Academy of Arts, London, the National Portrait Gallery, London and Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village. In turn, she became the subject of portrait paintings by other Victorian artists including J.J. Shannon (1862–1923) and Jacques-Emilie Blanche (1862–1942). However, this portrait appears to have been undertaken as a personal endeavour and remained in Watt’s possession for many years.

In this experimental work, whereby the colour and texture are as much the subject of the picture as the sitter herself, Watts evokes the portraiture of Titian (1490–1576). His ability to achieve a dazzling richness with a limited use of colour is demonstrated in works such as the Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo, c.1510 and The Vendramin Family, c.1540-45 [5]. Watts may also have been influenced by Whistler’s tonal experiments in portraiture in works including Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander, 1872–74, and Harmony in Red: Lamplight, 1884–86, in which a tonal agreement is established between the background and the sitters’ dress.

This portrait of Lindsay is one of at least four portraits that Watts painted between 1879 and 1881, with an unfinished oil study (COMWG.148, 1879) still in the Watts collection today [6].  A second version of this portrait, with an alternative colour arrangement is held in the Fogg Museum, Harvard Art Museum’s collection. However, it is this version which we know was widely exhibited during Watts’ lifetime in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe [7].  The New York Times declared that the portrait was ‘beautiful’ whereas, one British critic considered the work to be a failure as it captured no more than the ‘prettiness of a thoughtless girl’ [8]. Audiences on the continent were less divided, with the Symbolists championing the work in the 1890s. Encouraging artists to move away from academic values and represent ideas rather than describe objects, the Symbolist aesthetic engaged with feelings and emotions [10]. When exhibited in Brussels in 1894, the Belgian Symbolist painter, Fernand Khnopff (1858–1921) declared the work to be ‘a superb jewel’ evoking ‘a harmonious ensemble, of a richness without parallel’ [11].

Explore:

Drapery Study [COMWG2007.672]

Violet Lindsay [COMWG.148]

Footnotes:

[1] Mary Seton Watts, Catalogue of Portraits by G.F. Watts O.M. R.A., Vol. II, c.1915, p.97.

[2] Jane Adby and Charlotte Cere, The Souls, (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984), p.11.

[3] ibid, p.48.

[4] Chloe Ward, The Drawings of G.F. Watts, (London: Watts Gallery in association with Philip Wilson Publishers, 2016), p. 71.

[5] Peter Humfrey, Titian (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2007), pp.50, 127.

[6] Mary Seton Watts, Catalogue of Portraits by G.F. Watts O.M. R.A., Vol. II, c.1915, pp.96-97.

[7] According to Mary’s Catalogue, the cities where the painting was exhibited included New York in 1884; Birmingham in 1885; Nottingham in 1886; Manchester in 1887; London (Guildhall) in 1890; Munich in 1893; London (New Gallery) in 1896; Brussels in 1894; Stockholm in 1897 and St. Petersburg in 1897.

[8] Agnes D. Atkinson, ‘Watts’s Home and Work’, The New York Times, 21 May 1882, p.4, Harry Quilter, ‘The Art of Watts’, The Contemporary Review, vol. 41, Feb 1882, pp.287-288.

[9] Michelle Facos, Symbolist Art in Context, (London: University of California Press, 2009), p.39.

[10] Fernand Khnopff, ‘La ‘Libre Esthetique’, Studio, 1894, p.52.

Further Reading:

Jane Adby and Charlotte Cere, The Souls, (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984).

Rhian Addison and Hilary Underwood, Liberating Fashion: Aesthetic Dress in Victorian Portraits (Guildford: Watts Gallery Trust), 2015).

Barbara Bryant and Andrew Motion, G.F. Watts portraits: fame & beauty in Victorian society (London: National Portrait Gallery, 2004), pp. 36, 160-161; ill. p.160.

Michelle Facos, Symbolist Art in Context, (London: University of California Press, 2009).

Veronica Franklin Gould, G.F. Watts: The Last Great Victorian (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2004), p.155.

Peter Humfrey, Titian (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2007).

Philippe Jullian, The Symbolists (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1973)

Edward Lucie-Smith, Symbolist Art (London: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1972)

M.H. Spielmann, ‘The Works of Mr. George F. Watts., R.A., with a complete catalogue of his Pictures’, Pall Mall Gazette, Extra Number, 22 (1886), pp.1-32.

Nicholas Tromans, The Art of G.F. Watts, (London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2017), pp.119-120; ill. p.118.

Chloe Ward, The Drawings of G.F. Watts, (London: Watts Gallery in association with Philip Wilson Publishers, 2016).

Mary Seton Watts, Catalogue of Portraits by G.F. Watts O.M. R.A., Vol. II, c.1915, pp. 96-97.

Andrew Wilton and Robert Upstone (eds.), The Age of Rossetti, Burne-Jones & Watts: Symbolism in Britain 1860 – 1910, exh. cat., (London: Tate Gallery, 1997).

Text by Dr Stacey Clapperton