Clarissa. 1865. Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches (76.2 x 101.6 cm). Private collection. [Click on the image to enlarge it.] The title of this work comes from Samuel Richardson's novel, also known as History of a Young Woman, that was published in eight volumes in 1747. This is generally considered to be the longest novel ever written in the English language. The story tells of the virtuous and well-to-do heroine Clarissa Harlowe and the rakish libertine Robert Lovelace who pursues her, persuades her to run away with him, and eventually drugs and rapes her. Clarissa goes into decline from the stress, rarely eating, and in the end dies although fully conscious of her virtue and trusting in a better life following her death. Her cousin Colonel Morden seeks out Lovelace to demand satisfaction on Clarissa's behalf and kills him in a duel in Munich.
In Leslie's picture Clarissa is depicted walking in a garden reading a letter, presumably from Lovelace. The beautiful walled garden in the background, reached by a bridge across a stream, is likely intended to be part of the estate she has recently inherited from her grandfather. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1866, no. 410, and later that same year at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. This painting shows the influence of the Idyllists in its composition, mood, and palette, particularly that of Leslie's great friend Fred Walker.
The critic of The Art Journal felt, in general, that the work required more robustness: "G. D. Leslie exhibits his best work, Clarissa (410), a lady lost in meditation as she saunters by the river-moat of a stately mansion. The story is suggested by the scene. A quiet harmony of colour and a poetic feeling reign over the precincts of this country mansion; Clarissa herself is somewhat 'sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,' and greater vigour infused into the work generally would give more persuasion of reality" (167).
Similarly unenthusiastic, though for different reasons, F. G. Stephens in The Athenaeum liked the character evident in Clarissa's face but felt the background was a little "sketchy":
"Among the best pictures of this class at the present Exhibition, is Mr. G. D. Leslie's Clarissa (410), - a damsel in the costume of Richardson's heroine (that quaint, inconvenient, unpicturesque dress of the least beautiful period of Art in this country), standing in the outer walls of an of an old English pleasaunce, deep in the perusal of a love-letter, and evidently not likely to proceed with her walk, though the evening sets in the twilight, and a pet spaniel snaps and whimpers in front, and so shows how long his patience has been under trial. In the background is an ancient red-brick house, with its many windows and trim gardens; near the damsel's feet is a primly canalized rivulet, its grassy banks united by a little wooden bridge. The expression of the lady's face is a capital study of character; that of her attitude equals it in absorption and concentrated interest. The painting of the background is a little thin and flimsy; so is that of the lady's dress. These shortcomings give a sketchy appearance to the picture, which might have been avoided by somewhat longer exercise of care by the artist. [639-40]
The reviewer for The Illustrated London News wasn't enthusiastic about the colouring of this painting but admired it overall: "Though the colouring might be more agreeable, Mr. Leslie has admirably realized in his Clarissa' the heroine of Richardson's novel and a quaint, formal garden of the last century. Clarissa is seen, innocent and unsuspicious, reading a love-letter from, we may naturally suppose, Lovelace, as she walks at evening in the garden (if we remember rightly) of the house at Hampstead, kept by the disreputable woman in whose charge she had been placed by her treacherous lover" (497). Surprisingly, in view of these comments, The Spectator greatly admired the colouring: "A breath of kindred spirit has passed over Mr. G. Leslie's Clarissa (410), a high-walled and formal garden to an old red-brick manor-house. The artist has never exhibited anything more pleasing in colour" (550).
The critic of The Saturday Review was also impressed. He felt this work showed an advance in Leslie's work and complimented him for not following in his father's footsteps:
Another picture, of quite a different class, may be mentioned for the same fidelity to its motive. Mr. G. D. Leslie's Clarissa is the most telling work we have seen of his, and is a notable advance on his former somewhat timid and undecided attempts. The scene is laid in the garden of an old mansion, where Clarissa walks and reads her letter by the side of a little stream which is crossed by a low wooden bridge. The work is quiet, yet far from poor in colour, and painted with considerable skill; and there is throughout a genuine old-fashioned air which attracts and pleases very many spectators. Mr. Leslie has few traces of the lively genius of his distinguished father, but we are the more disposed to give him credit for some true gift of his own that he does not attempt to follow the paternal manner. [653-54]
Tom Taylor when discussing Leslie's work in 1871, noted the success of this painting in Leslie's early career: "in 1866 was exhibited at the Royal Academy Clarissa, at sunset, reading Lovelace's letter in the garden of her father's house – a sweet and graceful figure in half-mourning, which achieved the greatest success up to that time reached by the painter. It was decidedly one of the 'hits' of the year" (71).
In 1887 John Everett Millais painted a portrait of his daughter Sophie as Clarissa. It was shown, not at the Royal Academy, but at McLean's Galleries in London. She was portrayed wearing a dress of the 1770s period and tearing up a letter, presumably one from Lovelace.
Bibliography
"Art. The Royal Academy." The Spectator XXXIX (19 May 1866): 549-50.
"Fine Arts. Exhibition of the Royal Academy." The Illustrated London News XLVIII (19 May 1866): 496-98.
"Pictures of the year." The Saturday Review XXI (2 June 1866): 653-54).
"The Royal Academy." The Art Journal New Series V (1 June 1866): 161-72.
Stephens, Frederic George. "Fine Arts. Royal Academy." The Athenaeum No. 2011 (12 May 1866): 638-40.
Taylor, Tom. "G. D. Leslie A.R.A., Chapter XII from English Painters of the Present Day. London: Seeley, 1871, 68.
Created 8 August 2023