From a drawing by Samuel Lawrence, 1881
(Burton, facing p. 206).
Painting was extremely important to Smith's spiritual wellbeing, but she had difficulty reconciling her artistic commitment with her social activism. Struggling to meet all the demands on her time, she complained to Elizabeth Malleson of her inner turmoil shortly after her marriage. She felt a duty to her artistic talent: "I should like to give all I had to schools, and earn my own living by painting. . . . I do wish I had three immortal lives. I would spend one only with my Eugéne, and the other two for art and social work."' Many years later in 1869, she still felt guilty about how much she enjoyed painting and how much time it took from social projects. She admitted to William Allingham that she enjoyed the praise of the critics. It soothed her conscience and allowed her to spend time painting while neglecting reform efforts. — Sheila R. Herstein, p. 97
Her significance to the women artists' movement was acknowledged in the critical appellation "the Rose Bonheur of landscape." — Jan Marsh and Pamela Gerrish Nunn, p. 102
Biographical Material
- Barbara Bodichon (1827-1891): A Brief Biography
- The Exhibition of Modern British Art in America, 1857-1858
- Barbara Leigh Smith (Madame Bodichon) and Hastings
- Hastings and Women's Suffrage
Works
Miscellaneous
Bibliography
Burton, Hester. Barbara Bodichon 1827-1891. London: John Murray, 1949.
Frederick, Margaretta. "Politics and Paint: The Life Work of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon." Pre-Raphaelite Sisters. Art, Poetry and Female Agency in Victorian Britain. Edited by Glenda Youde and Robert Wilkes. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2022. 122-123.
Herstein, Sheila R. A Mid-Victorian Feminist, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.
Hirsch, Pam. "Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon: Artist and Activist." Women in the Victorian Art World, ed. Charlotte Schreiber. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995. 167-186.
_____. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Feminist, Artist and Radical. London: Chatto & Windus, 1998.
Lacey, Candida L., ed. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon and the Langham Place Group. New York and London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.
Marsh, Jan, and Pamela Gerrish Nunn. Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists. Manchester: Manchester City Art Galleries, 1997.
Robinson, Jane. Trailblazer: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon: The First Feminist to Change Our World. London: Doubleday, 2024.
Created 2 February 2025