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This self-portrait was painted in 1855, a year after his marriage to Sarah Goble. Smetham presents himself as an introspective brooding artist emerging out of the dark background. His friend William Davies has described Smetham’s appearance when they were first acquainted: “His appearance in youthful manhood was striking; indeed his personality was always noticeable as specially characteristic. He bore the stamp of an intellectual beauty strangely attractive. His hair grew in a sort of reckless profusion, tending to be leonine in mass and hue, not reddish, but a low-toned chestnut. His face was harmonious and proportionate, the features delicate, the forehead well pronounced, lofty, and expansive; the nose aquiline, not over-prominent; the mouth firm, rather small, delicately cut; the lips ample, inclining to fulness; the chin refined in mould. He always shaved, only reserving the side-growth, as the beard was unusual when he was young, and he was conservative in his personal modes. His figure was tall and rather spare, with a slight tendency towards the student’s stoop. He always wore a frock coat, a loose necktie, the bow carelessly tied by his own hand, and invariably clothed throughout in black…The expression of the eye was feminine in softness, but at the same time wide and earnest, laden with spirit’s message” (Memoir, 34-35). — Dennis T. Lanigan

Bibliography

Smetham, James. The Letters of James Smetham: With an Introductory Memoir. Eds. Sarah Smetham and William Davies. London: Macmillan, 1892.

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Last modified 23 March 2022