Clifford was born in Bristol and studied at the Royal Academy. He painted and exhibited landscapes, portraits and historical subjects in oil and watercolour and had many aristocratic patrons. He was influenced by Burne-Jones and the group of artists who exhibited at the Dudley gallery and the present watercolour is typical of his dreamy aesthetic works which led Philip Burne-Jones to write of him: “I think perhaps he is to be seen at his very best in his landscapes, into which he has always infused an atmosphere of romance and beauty as attractive as it was peculiarly individual. I know no other man’s work quite like it.”
Clifford visited Kashmir in 1888 on his way to Hawaii where he was to present the famous leper worker Father Damien with a picture from Edward Burne-Jones. He published his experiences in Father Damien; A Journey from Cashmere to his Home in Hawaii in 1889.
Biographical and Critical Material
- London Exhibitions of Clifford’s Paintings
- Hollyer’s photograph of Clifford surrounded by paintings by Burne-Jones
Works
Bibliography
Cholmeley, Mrs. R. Edward Clifford. Cowley, Oxford: Church Army Press, 1907.
“General Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings, Dudley Gallery.” The Art Journal New Series XI (1872): 74-75.
Last modified 3 February 2023