Gypsy Blood. Not dated. Watercolour and gouache on paper; 11½ x 9½ inches (29 x 24 cm). Private collection. Click on image to enlarge it.
This sensual watercolour of a handsome rakish young gypsy man wearing a red scarf and with the skin of a cheetah thrown around his shoulders is reminiscent of the work of Clifford’s friend Simeon Solomon. Clifford likely first became familiar with Solomon’s work when it was exhibited at the Dudley Gallery where he was one of its star exhibitors. Solomon befriended many of the young artists associated with the Poetry Without Grammar School including Clifford and Robert Bateman. There has been speculation amongst scholars thatr Clifford, like Solomon, was gay. This is partly based on subjects like this that he painted and also because Clifford never married. From 1898 until his death in 1907 Clifford lived with his friend, the solicitor Henry Blackwall Harris, at 37 Kensington Square, London. The exact nature of their relationship is unknown and whether they were more than merely friends. Harris (1871-1929) was considerably younger than Clifford. He was an art patron and collector and a founder member of the Oriental Ceramic Society. On his death in 1929 he bequeathed ceramics to both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum.
The novelist Angela Thirkell, Burne-Jones' granddaughter, recorded her childhood reminiscences of Edward Clifford: "Further along [in Kensington Square] was Edward Clifford who so astonishingly united a deep and active feeling of religion, a passion for duchesses, and a marvellous gift of watercolour painting...Clifford is dead now, with his funny affected voice, his strange mixture of romantic snobbism and religion, his kindness and capacity for friendship” (37 & 39). Clifford being gay would surely have presented a quandary for a man with his deep religious beliefs considering how homosexuality was judged in Victorian England. One wonders what became of Clifford’s friendship with Solomon following Solomon’s conviction for homosexual offences in 1873. Clifford would surely have sympathised with his friend but it would have been dangerous for him to be associated with a man who was openly gay and where his own sexuality could be called into question.
Bibliography
Thirkell, Angela. Three Houses. London: Oxford Univerity Press, 1931.
Last modified 9 February 2023