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 The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

depicting episodes in British history from the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

to the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

Life

Early career

Ward was born in

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

, London. As a youth, he created illustrations for the well-known book '' Rejected Addresses'', written by his uncles

James and Horace Smith James Smith (10 February 1775 – 24 December 1839) was an English writer. He is best known as co-author of the ''Rejected Addresses'', with his younger brother Horace Smith (poet), Horace. Life Born in London, he was the second of the eight ...

. He also illustrated the papers of

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

. In 1830, he won the "silver palette" from the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. With support from David Wilkie and Francis Leggatt Chantrey, he became a student at the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. In 1836 he travelled to Rome, where in 1838 he gained a silver medal from the

Academy of St Luke The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...

for his ''Cimabue and Giotto'', which in 1839 was exhibited at the Royal Academy. While a student at the Schools, Ward became a member of

The Clique A clique is a close social group. Clique or The Clique may also refer to: Math and computing * Clique (graph theory) ** Clique problem in computer science Business and brands * Clique (vodka), a Latvian vodka sold in the United States * Clique ...

, a group of painters, led by

Richard Dadd Richard Dadd (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the Victorian era, noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule ...

. Like other members of the Clique, Ward saw himself as a follower of Hogarth and Wilkie, considering their styles distinctly national. Many of his early paintings were set in the eighteenth century and were on Hogarthian subjects. He also painted episodes from seventeenth-century history, influenced by the thinking of his friend the historian

Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was an English historian, poet, and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster General between 184 ...

. He also painted subjects from the history of the French Revolution. In 1843, he entered the

cartoon competition and failed to win a prize.The complex history of the decoration is best summarized by T. S. R. Boase, ''The Decorations of the New Palace of Westminster 1841-1863'', in ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'' 17:1954, pp. 319–358. Em ward

Opposition to Pre-Raphaelitism

In the 1850s Ward came into conflict with the

Pre-Raphaelites The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti ...

, especially Millais, whose style of art he considered un-British. Ward's painting of ''

Charlotte Corday Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont (27 July 1768 – 17 July 1793), known simply as Charlotte Corday (), was a figure of the French Revolution who assassinated revolutionary and Jacobins, Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat on 13 July 1793. Cor ...

being led to execution'' beat Millais's ''

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

'' for a prize at Liverpool, leading to much debate at the time. His historical paintings led to Ward's commission to paint eight scenes in the corridor leading into the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, despite the fact that he had won nothing at the original 1843 competition. These were to depict parallel episodes on the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

and

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

sides in the Civil War. Ward's paintings depict the opposed figures as if confronting one another across the corridor.

Later work and death

Ward continued to paint Hogarthian versions of episodes from British history throughout the 1860s, including ''Hogarth's Studio in 1739'' (1863; York Art Gallery) and the ''Antechamber at Whitehall during the Dying Moments of Charles II'' (1865;

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 The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 w ...

). In the 1870s, he painted some modern-life genre subjects. Towards the end of the 1870s, he began to suffer painful illness and depression. On 10 January 1879, he was found raving on the floor of his dressing room, his throat cut with a razor, shouting "I was mad when I did it; the devil prompted me". Medical help arrived, but he died on 15 January at his home, 3 Queens Villas, in Windsor. The inquest in Windsor on 17 January found that he committed suicide while temporarily insane. EMWardDrJohnson

Family

In 1843, Ward met the 11-year-old Henrietta Ward (her maiden and married names were the same, but she was no relation); they married secretly in May 1848, shortly before her 16th birthday, after an elopement aided by Ward'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 (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...

. 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.Wilkie Collins, ''The Woman in White'', Edited and with an Introduction and Notes by Matthew Sweet, London, Penguin Classics, 2003; Introduction, p. xxiii. Henrietta also became a successful painter. She became a notable art teacher after her husband's death and wrote two autobiographical memoirs about their life together. His son, Leslie, became a popular

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

for the magazine '' Vanity Fair'', and later the journal '' The World'', under the nickname "Spy".

Gallery

File:Edward Matthew Ward (1816-1879) - The Disgrace of Lord Clarendon, after his Last Interview with the King - Scene at Whitehall Palace, in 1667 (replica) - N00431 - National Gallery.jpg, '' The Disgrace of Lord Clarendon'', 1846 File:Edward Matthew Ward (1816-1879) - Daniel Maclise - NPG 616 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg, ''

Daniel Maclise Daniel Maclise (25 January 180625 April 1870) was an Irish history painter, literary and portrait painter, and illustrator, who worked for most of his life in London, England. Early life Maclise was born in Cork, Ireland (then part of the ...

'', 1846

References

External links

*
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Edward Matthew 1816 births 1879 deaths Artists who died by suicide English muralists 19th-century English painters English male painters 19th-century painters of historical subjects Royal Academicians Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools 1870s suicides Suicides by sharp instrument in England 19th-century English male artists