Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838-1904)

Photographer: David Wilkie Wynfield (1837–1887)

1863

Albumen print

8 1/2 x 6 3/8 inches (21.5 x 16.1 cm)

Collection: National Portrait Gallery, London, accession no. NPG P95

Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London.

Reproduced with kind permission. [Click on image to enlarge it, and see commentary below; mouse over the text for links.]

Valentine Cameron Prinsep (homepage)

Wynfield as a Painter

Commentary by Dennis T. Lanigan

This photograph shows Prinsep in profile in Tudor costume in the manner of Henry VIII with a necklace around his neck. Wynfield also photographed him full-face in the same historical costume but without the chain necklace. Prinsep, like Fred Walker, was an honorary member of the St. John's Wood Clique. He started his artistic career under the guidance of G. F. Watts and then studied in Paris in the studio of Charles Gleyre as a member of the so-called "Paris Gang" that included artists James Whistler, Edward Poynter, George Du Maurier and Thomas Armstrong. Prinsep was initially under the spell of the Pre-Raphaelites but then later became influenced by Frederic Leighton when the two became neighbours in Holland Park. In 1878 Prinsep was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy and a full member in 1894. Prinsep had great social success and was extremely wealthy after 1884 when he married Florence Leyland, the daughter of Frederick Leyland, the Liverpool shipping magnate and important Pre-Raphaelite patron.

Bibliography

Hacking, Juliet. Princes of Victorian Bohemia. London: Prestel, 2000, 68 & 75.

Marsh, Jan. The Pre-Raphaelite Circle. London: National Portrait Gallery Publications, 2013 (see p.108).

"Valentine Cameron Prinsep." National Portrait Gallery, London. Web. 14 December 2023.

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Created 14 December 2023