Oil paint on canvas
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-william-nicholson-1703" aria-label="More by Sir William Nicholson" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir William Nicholson</a>
Portrait a Man Letters WE Henley
Bequeathed by Mrs W.E. Henley 1925
adults
author
beard
body
clothing and personal items
critic
hat
Henley, William Ernest
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poet
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<p>W.E.Henley (1849-1903) was a poet and writer on modern art. He edited the magazine 'New Review', for which he commissioned in 1897 Nicholson's well known woodcut of Queen Victoria. This portrait of Henley, painted in the last years of his life, was probably paid for by a group of his friends. He was the model for the pirate Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island'. He walked with a stick, shown here on a table in front of him.In another picture Nicholson sought to capture Henley's personality by painting his lopsided hat, on its own.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
Portrait of a Man of Letters: W.E. Henley
support: 375 × 298 mm
frame: 593 × 508 × 82 mm
Bequeathed by Mrs W.E. Henley 1925
<p>W.E.Henley (1849-1903) was a poet and writer on <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/modernism" title="Glossary definition for 'Modernism'"><span>modern art</span></a>. He edited the magazine 'New Review', for which he commissioned in 1897 Nicholson's well known <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/woodcut" title="Glossary definition for 'Woodcut'"><span>woodcut</span></a> of Queen Victoria. This <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> of Henley, painted in the last years of his life, was probably paid for by a group of his friends. He was the model for the pirate Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island'. He walked with a stick, shown here on a table in front of him.<br/>In another picture Nicholson sought to capture Henley's personality by <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> his lopsided hat, on its own.</p>
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2004-09-02T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N04087</b> PORTRAIT OF A MAN OF LETTERS: W.E. HENLEY 1901</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inscr. ‘Nicholson 1901’ b.l.
<br/>Canvas, 14 3/4×11 3/4 (37·5×30).
<br/>Bequeathed by Mrs W.E. Henley 1925.
<br/><i>Exh:</i>
International Society, October–December 1901 (79, repr.), as ‘Portrait of a Man of Letters’; Art and Industrial Exhibition, Wolverhampton, 1902 (144), as ‘Man of Letters W. E. Henley, Esq.’; National Gallery, January 1942 (82).
<br/><i>Lit:</i> Steen, 1943, p.63; Browse, 1956, p.38.
<br/><i>Repr:</i> <i>Art Journal</i>, 1906, p.34; S. K[ennedy] N[orth], <i>William Nicholson</i>, 1923, pl.6; Nichols, 1948, pl.6.</p>
<p>William Ernest Henley, 1849–1903, the poet, critic and, in collaboration with Robert Louis Stevenson, dramatist. Portrayed in Stevenson's essay <i>Talk and Talkers</i> as ‘Burly’ and also reflected in the character of ‘Long John Silver’. Among other activities edited <i>The Magazine of Art</i>, 1882–6, championing Rodin and Whistler, and <i>The New Review</i>, 1894–8; commissioned a series of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> for the latter from William Nicholson and wrote verses for the artist's series of London types published in 1898.</p>
<p>The date has hitherto been read as ‘1900’. A <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/woodcut" title="Glossary definition for 'Woodcut'"><span>woodcut</span></a> version is repr. Steen, 1943, facing p.19 (in colour). Nicholson also painted a picture of Henley's distinctive hat (see Browse, <i>op. cit.</i>, p.122).</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, II
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-05T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults author beard body clothing and personal items critic hat Henley, William Ernest individuals: male literary man named individuals objects people poet portraits work and occupations