Portrait of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone by George Frederic Watts

George Frederic Watts
1817-1904 | British

Portrait of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone

Oil on canvas

This exceptional portrait captures the stately likeness of the famed “Grand Old Man” of British politics, Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. Painted by one of the most important artists of the Victorian era, George Frederic Watts, this portrait of Gladstone captures the commanding presence of this legendary giant at a pivotal point in his long career.

This handsome portrait is the second that Watts made of Gladstone, the first being a striking 1859 portrayal of a younger Gladstone freshly embarking on his political career. It was later gifted directly to the National Portrait Gallery in 1898. Painted almost two decades later in 1876, our portrait depicts an aged and wisened Gladstone at the peak of his career. This portrait was rendered just a few years before his landslide 1800 win that earned him his second term as Prime Minister. Gladstone would remarkably ascend to serve four separate terms as Prime Minister— the most non-consecutive terms of any Prime Minister in British history.

Next to Watts’ earlier portrait, this Gladstone of the late 1870s commands the room with a shrewd expression of stately sagacity. His highly expressive likeness was notoriously difficult to capture in paint, though this did not prevent the immensely popular statesman from posing for countless portraits throughout his life. As the leader of his party for many decades, Gladstone inspired widespread popular devotion. Today, Gladstone’s portraits are in the collections of museums worldwide, including the British Museum and the Getty, with many residing in London’s National Portrait Gallery alone.

Gladstone and Watts found kinship during their portrait sitting, and their endless conversations ultimately delayed the completion of this portrait. Though Watts ceased working on the painting in 1880, he nonetheless fully captured Gladstone’s imposing likeness that stands as a testament to his indelible mark on British history. As an artist, George Frederic Watts was one of the most famous painters and sculptors of the Symbolist movement in Britain, receiving the Order of Merit from Queen Victoria in 1902. His works are in prestigious museum collections such as the Tate, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, and many others.

Watts once said, “I paint ideas, not things,” a captivating concept that imbues this poignant portrait of Gladstone with the monumental weight of his transformative political career. 

Painted 1867

Canvas: 20 1/2" high x 16 1/2" wide (52.07 x 41.91 cm)
Frame: 25" high x 20 1/2" wide x 2 1/2" deep (63.50 x 52.07 x 6.35 cm)

Provenance:
Collection of the artist
Collection of the artist’s widow, Mary Watts
Collection of Lillian Chapman
Private Collection, London
M.S. Rau, New Orleans


Literature:
M.S. Watts, George Frederick Watts: Annals Of An Artist's Life, vols. I and II, 1912