James Ward, R. A. and James Ward's Mother by Sir Leslie Ward ('Spy'), 1851-1922. Photographs of pencil sketchs. Published in Forty Years of 'Spy' (1915). Each 10 cm by 7.8 cm (3 ⅞ by 2 ⅞ inches), framed, facing p. 2. [Click on the image to enlarge it; mouse over links.]
Commentary from Forty Years of 'Spy'
Leslie Ward in his 1915 reminiscence describes the sitters thus: "My great/grandfather (on my mother's side), who died in his 91st year" and "James Ward's Mother, who died at 100 all but a month. On the page opposite in his 1915 retrospective on his career as a caricaturist, Ward adds, regarding "The story of my ancestry":
My father, E. M. Ward, R.A., the only professional artist of his family, and the nephew by marriage of Horace Smith (the joint author with James Smith of "The Rejected Addresses"), fell in love with Miss Henrietta Ward (who, although of the same name, was no relation), and married her when she was just sixteen. My mother came of a long line of artists. Her father, George Raphael Ward, a mezzotint engraver and miniature painter, also married an artist who was an extremely clever miniature painter. John Jackson, R.A., the portrait painter in ordinary to William IV., was my mother's great-uncle, and George Morland became related to her by his marriage with pretty Anne Ward, whose life he wrecked by his drunken profligacy. His treatment of his wife, in fact, alienated from Morland men who were his friends, and amongst them my great-grandfather, James Ward (who, like my father, married a Miss Ward, an artist and a namesake). James Ward, R.A., was a most interesting character and an artist of great versatility. As landscape, animal, and portrait painter, engraver, lithographer, and modeller, his work shows extraordinary ability. In his early days poverty threatened to wreck his career, but although misfortune hindered his progress, he surmounted every obstacle with magnificent courage and tenacity of purpose. On the subject of theology, his artistic temperament was curiously intermingled with his faith, but when he wished to embody his mysticism and ideals in paint, he failed. On the other hand, we have some gigantic masterpieces in the Tate and National Galleries which I [3] think will bear the test of time in their power and excellence. "Power," to quote a contemporary account of James' life, "was the keynote of his work, he loved to paint mighty bulls and fiery stallions, picturing their brutal strength as no one has done before or since." He ground his colours and manufactured his own paints, made experiments in pigments of all kinds, and "Gordale Scar" is a proof of the excellence of pure medium. The picture was painted for the late Lord Ribblesdale, and when it proved to be too large to hang on his walls, the canvas was rolled and stored in the cellars of the British Museum. At the rise and fall of the Thames, water flooded the picture; but after several years' oblivion it was discovered, rescued from damp and mildew, and after restoration was found to have lost none of its freshness and colour. [Chapter I, "Early Days," pp. 2-3]
Bibliography
Ward, Leslie ['Spy']. Forty Years of 'Spy'. London: Chatto and Windus, 1915.
Created 26 July 2005