The Lady of Shalott, by David Wilkie Wynfield (1837-1887). 1863. Oil on canvas; 26 ½ x 48 inches (67.3 x 121.9 cm). Private collection. Image courtesy of Sotheby's. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Wynfield exhibited this at the Royal Academy in 1863, no. 489, accompanied in the catalogue with the following text: "And at the closing of the day/She loosed the chain, and down she lay,/The broad stream bore her far away." This was a quotation from Part IV, stanza II of Alfred Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," first published in 1832. The artist has chosen to portray the part of the poem in which the heroine is seen after the curse has come upon her and she is portrayed dying as she slowly floats in her boat down towards Camelot. She is dressed all in white as a symbol of her purity, her hands crossed across her breasts, and her unloosened hair cascading over the red pillow. Two gentlemen are seen in the background on the far bank of the river observing. Two birds are looking on in the stern of the boat. The time is dusk contributing to the moody atmosphere.
This is another example of the artist falling under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites. Many artists within their extended circle chose to portray critical incidents from Tennyson's poem. At least sixty-eight works, not including book illustrations, were based on this poem between 1850 and 1915 (see Poulson, Quest,179). Paintings, drawings, or prints illustrating the poem prior to, or at the moment of, the curse descending with the breaking of the web and the mirror cracking were executed by many other artists (see Pictorial Interpretations of Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott"). Wynfield's version most closely resembles that of Walter Crane of 1862, now in the Yale Center for British Art, or that of the American John La Farge of c.1862 in the New Britain Museum of American Art. Wynfield was likely familiar with Crane's version since it had been exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, no. 359. Wynfield may possibly also have been influenced by Henry Peach Robinson’s photograph of "The Lady of Shalott" of 1861. Robinson exhibited this photograph in Manchester in 1861 where it was discussed by a reviewer for The British Journal of Photography. Wynfield was thus one of the first British artists to paint an oil version of this subject. Henry Wallis exhibited his related subject of Elaine at the Royal Academy in 1861 but Wynfield had already exhibited his own version of Elaine at the British Institution in 1860, no. 561.
When Wynfield's The Lady of Shalott was shown at the Royal Academy it failed to attract the notice of the critics who far preferred his The Young Raphael showing one of his works to the Duchess of Urbino and Sora that he had exhibited that same year at the British Institution.
Note: Many thanks to Scott Buckle for his suggestion about the possible infliuence on the painting of Henry Peach Robinson's photograph.
Link to Related Material
- Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” (text of the poem)
- Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott” (sitemap including commentaries)
- The Lady of Shalott in painting and illustration
- Pictorial Interpretations of "The Lady of Shalott": The Lady in her Boat
Bibliography
Fine Old Master & 19th Century European Art. New York: Sotheby's (February 1, 2018): lot 720. https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/fine-old-master-19th-century-european-art-n09814/lot.720.html
Ladies of Shalott: A Victorian Masterpiece and Its Contexts. Providence, Rhode Island: Department of Art, Brown University, 1985.
“Photographic Contributions to Art: ‘The Lady of Shalott.’” British Journal of Photography VIII (15 October 15, 1861): 356.
Poulson, Christine. The Quest for the Grail. Arthurian Legend in British Art 1840-1920. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999, Chapter VIII: 179-201.
Poulson, Christine. "Arthurian Legends in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Fine and Applied Art: A Catalogue of Subjects." Arthurian Literature X (1990): 111-34.
Created 12 December 2023