Henrietta Mary Ada Ward ( Ward; 1 June 1832 – 12 July 1924) was a British historical and genre painter of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

and the early twentieth century.

Life and work

Ward belonged to a family that produced professional artists over several generations. Her paternal grandfather was the prominent animal painter

James Ward James Ward may refer to: Military *James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1864) (1833–?), American Civil War sailor * James Ward (Medal of Honor, 1890) (1854–1901), American Indian Wars soldier *James Allen Ward (1919–1941), New Zealand pilot and Vi ...

, who was related by marriage to fellow artists John Jackson and

George Morland George Morland (26 June 176329 October 1804) was an English painter. His early work was influenced by Francis Wheatley, but after the 1790s he came into his own style. His best compositions focus on rustic scenes: farms and hunting; smugglers a ...

. Her parents were also artists: George Raphael Ward was best known for his printmaking, Mary Webb Ward for her miniatures. (One of her mother's pictures was ''Portrait of Henrietta Ward and her Favorite Guinea Pig'', 1843.) An only child, the young Henrietta grew up surrounded by and familiar with her parents' artist acquaintances, including Sir

Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. However, his best-known works are the lion sculptures at the bas ...

, C. R. Leslie, and the brothers John James and Alfred Edward Chalon. She studied her craft at the Bloomsbury Art School and the academy started by

Henry Sass Henry Sass (24 April 1788 – 1844) was an English artist and teacher of painting, who founded an important art school, Sass's Academy (later "Cary's Academy"), in London, to provide training for those seeking to enter the Royal Academy. Ma ...

. In 1843, when she was 11 years old, Henrietta fell in love with the 27-year-old historical painter

Edward Matthew Ward Edward Matthew Ward, , (14 July 1816 – 15 January 1879) was a British painter who specialised in historical genre. He is best known for his murals in the Palace of Westminster depicting episodes in British history from the English Civil War to ...

(no relation); they married secretly in May 1848, aided by the groom's friend

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

— so that her maiden and married names were the same. (Traditional sources occasionally refer to her as "Henrietta Mary Ada Ward Ward.") Henrietta's mother never forgave the elopement, and disinherited her. (Collins may have based the plot of his 1852 novel ''Basil'' on the Ward engagement. In turn, Henrietta claimed to have given Collins the idea for '' The Woman in White''.) Edward and Henrietta Ward had eight children, one of whom would be

Leslie Ward Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (21 November 1851 – 15 May 1922) was a British portrait artist and caricaturist who over four decades painted 1,325 portraits which were regularly published by ''Vanity Fair (British magazine), Vanity Fair'', under th ...

, the caricaturist and cartoonist known as "Spy." While raising her brood, Henrietta pursued her own artistic career; she worked in various genres, though she, like her husband, was noted for her historical pictures, on subjects like

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Altho ...

and

Elizabeth Fry Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...

. She was also noted for her pictures of children; she used her own children as models for her paintings. One of her most famous paintings was ''Palissy the Potter'', displayed at the Royal Academy in 1866; it illustrates the incident in which

Bernard Palissy Bernard Palissy (c. 1510c. 1589) was a French Huguenot potter, hydraulics engineer and craftsman, famous for having struggled for sixteen years to imitate Chinese porcelain. He is best known for his so-called "rusticware", typically highly decor ...

accidentally blew up his house while experimenting on ceramic techniques. This and similar works (like ''Queen Mary quitting Stirling Castle''; RA 1863 and ''Scene from the childhood of Joan of Arc''; RA 1867) made her perhaps the most prominent female history painter of her generation. She gave art lessons to several of the royal children of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and Prince Albert. Both Henrietta Ward and her husband were supporters of the cause of women's suffrage. The Wards traveled in an artistic circle that included figures like

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

and

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reache ...

. In one account, Dickens and Cruikshank nearly brawled when the teetotaler Cruikshank prevented Henrietta Ward from drinking a glass of sherry at a Dickens party. She outlived her husband by forty-five years. After his 1879 death, the widow started her own art school to help support her family; like her contemporary

Louise Jopling Louise Jane Jopling (née Goode, previously Romer and later Rowe) (Manchester 16 November 1843 – 19 November 1933) was an English painter of the Victorian era, and one of the most prominent female artists of her generation. Early life Lou ...

, Henrietta Ward specialized in training young women artists. She also received a pension of £100 for her previous service as a royal teacher. Ward exhibited her work at the

Palace of Fine Arts The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to ...

at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago, Illinois. Ward published two autobiographical memoirs, ''Mrs. E. M. Ward’s Reminiscences'' in 1911 and ''Memories of Ninety Years'', in the year of her death. Her first book has been called "one of the best accounts of the life of a Victorian lady artist."

Works

*''The Market at Antwerp'' *''The Princes in the Tower'' (1861; Rochdale) *''At the Louvre, 1649'' (1862) *''Queen Mary Quitting Stirling Castle'' (1863) *''Palissy the Potter'' (1866; Leicester Museum and Art Gallery *''Scene from the Childhood of Joan of Arc'' (1867; Untraced) *''The Crown of the Feast'' (1868) *''Little Beatrice in the Arbour'' *''The Queens Lodge, Windsor, in 1786'' (c.1872;

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

) *'' Chatterton, 1765'' (c.1873;

Bristol Museum and Art Gallery Bristol Museum & Art Gallery is a large museum and art gallery in Bristol, England. The museum is situated in Clifton, about from the city centre. As part of Bristol Culture it is run by the Bristol City Council with no entrance fee. It holds ...

) *''Princess Charlotte of Wales'' (1877) *''Shut Out'' (1891) *''Peace and Plenty'' (1896)Walter F. Morice, his sale, Christie's, London, 12 May 1922, lot 103.

References

External links

@ Slough History Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Henrietta 1832 births 1924 deaths 19th-century painters of historical subjects 19th-century English painters 19th-century English women artists 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Artists from London British genre painters English women painters

Life and work

Works

References

Further reading

External links