"Esau's Meeting with Jacob," 1863, by George Frederick Watts (1817−1904)

Esau's Meeting with Jacob

George Frederick Watts (1817−1904)

1863

India ink and wash on paper

279 x 206 mm (11 x 8 1/8 inches); drawn into a field inscribed in graphite, 192 x 161 mm (7 1/2 x 6 3/8 inches)

Inscribed lower right: "39"

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Crowther-Oblak Collection of Victorian Art and the National Gallery of Slovenia and the Moore Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway (2) and link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.

Commentary by Paul Crowther

The Dalziel brothers George (1815–1902) and Edward (1817–1905) were amongst the most important engravers of the Victorian age. In 1863, they decided to produce an Illustrated Bible, and were able to recruit many distinguished artists for the project including Watts. He provided three designs, including Esau’s Meeting with Jacob. In a letter to the brothers of July 19th 1863, Watts opines that he has been working on the designs, but "I have not succeeded in rendering one sufficiently satisfactory to myself to send to you..." (The Brothers Dalziel 244). The present work must be one of the early unsatisfactory designs referred to in Watts’s letter, as it does not include the background figures included in the version that eventually did satisfy Watts. The satisfactory version appeared in the book when it was eventually published (as Dalziels’ Bible Gallery, by George Routledge and Co. of London in 1881). Watts also did several large oil paintings using the same composition, including one exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1868. The Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery collection have a sketch that is similar to the present work, and also what appears to be the original block used for printing the final woodcut version of the picture as it appeared in the Dalziels' book.

Bibliography

The Brothers Dalziel. A record of fifty years work in conjunction with many of the most distinguished artists of the period, 1840–1890. No author given. London: Methuen and Co., 1901.

Crowther, Paul. Awakening Beauty: The Crowther-Oblak Collection of Victorian Art. Exhibition catalogue. Ljubljana: National Gallery of Slovenia; Galway: Moore Institute, National University of Ireland, 2014. No. 141.

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Created 12 January 2015