Sir Henry Irving
3 of 23 portraits on display in Room 28 at the National Portrait Gallery
Sir Henry Irving
by Jules Bastien-Lepage
oil on canvas, 1880
17 in. x 18 in. (432 mm x 457 mm)
Given by Dame (Alice) Ellen Terry, 1910
Primary Collection
NPG 1560
Click on the links below to find out more:
Sitterback to top
- Sir Henry Irving (John Henry Brodribb) (1838-1905), Actor-manager. Sitter associated with 111 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This portrait was conceived at a supper party at the Lyceum on 3 July 1880, when Irving and Ellen Terry entertained Bastien Lepage and Sarah Bernhardt. It was abandoned after only one or two sittings, at Irving's rooms in Grafton Street, presumably because Irving intensely disliked Bastien's informal depiction of him.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Audio Guide
- Victorian Portraits Resource Pack, p. 30
- Funnell, Peter, Victorian Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery Collection, 1996, p. 30
- Funnell, Peter (introduction); Marsh, Jan, A Guide to Victorian and Edwardian Portraits, 2011, p. 32
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 327
Related pages
Thematic collections
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On display in Room 28 at the National Portrait Gallery



