Study of Joanna Boyce Wells by Henry Tanworth Wells.
© 1992 Christie's Images Limited (right click disabled).
Joanna Boyce was born in Park Place Villas, Maida Vale, London on December 7, 1831. She was the third of five children of George Boyce, a former wine-merchant who had found prosperity as a pawnbroker, and his wife Anne Price. Her brother George Price Boyce, who was five years her senior, also became an accomplished artist.
Joanna Boyce's early education was at a school on Clapham Common kept by the Miss Townsends and then in 1845 at Miss Charriere's, Mount Albion House, in Ramsgate. Early on Joanna showed both an interest in and an aptitude for art. In the summer of 1843 at age eleven she studied landscape and architecture with the topographical artist Charles John Mayle Whichelo. In the summer of 1849 she became a student at Cary's art school. During this time George and Joanna first became acquainted with members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle such as Thomas Seddon and the Rossetti brothers. Joanna's father took her to exhibitions and lectures, which propriety would have prevented her attending without a chaperone. This, together with independent reading, enabled her to pursue an intense program of self-improvement. In February 1852 she started at James Mathews Leigh's academy in Newman Street in London, attending at least three times a week. She had previously attended lectures on human anatomy by John Marshall at Leigh's in 1851. In April 1852 she went with her father to Paris on holiday and admired the work of Ary Scheffer and Paul Delaroche. In April 1854 she began attending a branch of the Government School of Design. She also had her own painting room at home. In September 1854 she travelled to The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with her sister Anne and her brother-in-law Augustus Mordan. In May 1855 she first exhibited at the Royal Academy when she showed her painting Elgiva which was praised by John Ruskin. In September 1855 she studied for a short period of time with Thomas Couture in Paris, including attending the life class. In addition to being an artist she was also an art critic. In 1855 she wrote a review of the Fine Art Section of the Exposition Internationale for The Saturday Review and in May 1855 wrote a review of the Royal Academy exhibition for the same publication. In 1856 her entry to the Royal Academy, Rowena Offering the Wassail Cup to Voltigern, was rejected.
In 1855 she became engaged to Henry Tanworth Wells. In May 1857 she and Henry joined a party travelling in Italy. On 9 December 1857 they were married, first at the British Consulate, and then at the Protestant Church in Rome. She exhibited paintings at the Liverpool Academy in 1858 and 1859. In 1858 the Wells acquired a home, The Aldermoor, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey near Leith Hill, where they spent part of the year. She exhibited at Ernest Gambart's gallery Winter Exhibition in 1859 where the prominent collector Thomas Plint purchased her work. At the Royal Academy exhibition of 1861 three of her pictures, Peep-bo, The Heather-gatherer and La Veneziana were accepted and favourably reviewed. Her promising career was cut short, however, when she died on 15 July 1861 from complications following the birth of her third child. She was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
Bibliography
Bradbury, Sue: Joanna, George and Henry. A Pre-Raphaelite Tale of Art, Love and Friendship. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2012, 201, 249-250, 268, 283, and colour plate XLI.
Bradbury, Sue: Ed. The Boyce Papers. The Letters and Diaries of Joanna Boyce, Henry Wells and George P. Boyce, Vols. I & II. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2019.
Created 17 July 2024