Algernon Charles Swinburne

Sitterback to top

• Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909), Poet and literary reviewer. Sitter in 21 portraits.

Artistback to top

• George Frederic Watts (1817-1904), Painter and sculptor. Artist associated with 85 portraits, Sitter in 40 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Swinburne met Dante Gabriel Rossetti at Oxford, and became an intimate member of his circle. At first his unconventional behaviour and the erotic nature of much of his poetry aroused controversy, but his lyrical gifts gradually won him recognition as a major poet, and he exerted considerable influence on the literary and aesthetic tastes of his age. Swinburne told his friend George Powell on 22 May, 1867, that he was 'in the honourable agonies of portrait sitting - to Watts . . . he won't let me crop my hair, whose curls the British public (unlike Titian's) reviles aloud in the streets'.

Linked publicationsback to top

• Marsh, Jan, Character Sketches: The Pre-Raphaelites, 1998
• Marsh, Jan, Insights: The Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 2005, p. 100
• Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: An Illustrated Guide, 2000, p. 136
• Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 136
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 601

Subject/Themeback to top

• On display at the Gallery