John Newman

1 portrait by Richard Bentley & Son

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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John Newman

by Herbert Rose Barraud, published by Richard Bentley & Son
sepia carbon print on blue card mount, 1887, published 1888
9 5/8 in. x 7 in. (245 mm x 179 mm) image size
Acquired, 1937
Photographs Collection
NPG Ax5406

Sitterback to top

  • John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Cardinal, theologian and saint; canonised 2019. Sitter in 37 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • Herbert Rose Barraud (1845-1896), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 505 portraits.
  • Richard Bentley & Son (active late 1800s), Photographers. Artist or producer associated with 67 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Rogers, Malcolm, Camera Portraits, 1989 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 1989 - 21 January 1990), p. 113 Read entry

    Newman, who as vicar of St Mary's, Oxford, was in 1833 a founder member of the Oxford Movement for the establishment of the principles of Anglo-Catholicism in the Anglican Church, came increasingly to doubt the Anglican position, and was received into the Roman Church in 1845. After ordination in Rome, he returned to England to found oratories in Birmingham (1847) and London (1850), and spent the rest of his life in Birmingham working for the revival of Catholicism in England: 'There is no help for it; we must either give up the belief in the church as a divine institution altogether, or we must recognise it in that communion of which the pope is the head … to believe in a church is to believe in a pope'. Newman's conversion to Catholicism shook the Church of England - Gladstone wrote that 'it has never yet been estimated at anything like the full amount of its calamitous importance' - and ensured that he remained a celebrity throughout his life. He was made Cardinal in 1879. His vivid writings include the Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864), The Dream of Gerontius (1866), and hymns, among them 'Lead, Kindly Light'.

    The photographer Barraud, who had premises at 263 Oxford Street, London, is best known for his series of volumes of contemporary personalities entitled Men and Women of the Day, published annually between 1888 and 1891, in which his highly efficient photographs were accompanied by biographies of the sitters. This portrait of Newman appeared in the volume for 1888, and shows Barraud's ability to fix a personality by the choice of a significant gesture. About 1891 Barraud's finances failed, and he ended his days as manager of Mayall's studio at 73 Piccadilly, London.

Placesback to top

Events of 1887back to top

Current affairs

Queen Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years of her reign.
In what becomes known as 'Bloody Sunday', or the Trafalgar Square Riot, the police attack a meeting of the Social Democratic Federation, led by among others) Elizabeth Reynolds, John Burns, Annie Besant and Robert Cunninghame-Graham, killing three and injuring more than 200 crowd members.

Art and science

A Study in Scarlet, the first of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson, is published. One of only four novels (there were a further 56 short stories) featuring Holmes, the mystery turns around the discovery of a corpse in Brixton.
The essayist and critic Walter Pater publishes Imaginary Portraits in which he consolidates his doctrine of Aestheticism, 'art for art's sake'.

International

Britain ratifies the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, thus accepting the terms of the International Copyright Act (1886), which abolishes the requirement to register foreign works and introduces an exclusive right to import or produce translations.
The British annex Zululand; it becomes part of Natal in 1897.

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Raymond W Geschke

23 November 2016, 14:40

I am writing about this item you have listed because I believe there might be an error in how it is described. It is listed as a Sepia Carbon Print, when in fact, I would suggest that is a Woodburytype print.

You can find a description of the books from which this print was taken here: http://www.photolondon.org.uk/pages/details.asp?pid=424
It says: "Herbert Rose Barraud. Men and women of the day: a picture gallery of contemporary portraiture. Ed. by Bernard Capes & Charles Eglington. 7 vols. Published monthly January 1888 - June 1894. 78 pts. Vol I - Vol 3 no 2 published London, Bentley, 1888 - 1890; Vol 3 no 3 to Vol 7 no 6 published London, Eglington, 1890 - 1894. 3 photos per issue, price 2/6d per month. Woodburytype prints mounted on card, printed by Waterlow & Sons."

I have this print in my own collection, and you will notice that in the lower left it says "W & S LTD" which I believe is the attribution to Waterlow and Sons, a known Woodburytype printer for Herbert Rose Barraud. In the lower right it says "Permanent" which was a method of describing the Woodburytype print.

You may also find additional information about the Woodburytype print in "A History of the Woodburytype" by Barret Oliver.

I hope you find this information helpful. If not, or if I am mistaken, I would be much obliged to hear back from you.