G.F. Watts: Story of "Choosing"

"Choosing" by G.F. Watts

 

The story behind "Choosing" 

"The strength of feeling evoked in George Frederic Watts by his first wife, actress Ellen Terry, is evident in this small, almost devotional, painting that celebrates her youthful beauty. It is at once a portrait and an allegory: Ellen must choose between the spectacular yet scentless camellias to which she inclines, and the small bunch of sweet-smelling violets cradled in her left hand. Whilst the latter symbolise innocence and simplicity the former signify worldly vanities, in this instance the empty vanity of the theatre, from which the artist sought to rescue her. A legal document produced at the time of their divorce in 1877 records his motivation for the marriage: ‘although considerably older than his intended wife he admired her very much, and hoped to influence, guide and cultivate a very artistic and peculiar nature and to remove an impulsive young girl from the dangers and temptations of the stage’. 

The marriage ceremony took place on 20 February 1864 at St. Barnabas Church in Kensington, an event Terry clearly recalled in her 1908 memoir: ‘The day of my wedding was very cold. Like most women, I always remember what I was wearing on the important occasions of my life. On that day I wore a brown silk gown which had been designed by William Holman Hunt, and a quilted white bonnet with a sprig of orange-blossom, and I was wrapped in a beautiful Indian shawl.’ The same Renaissance-style dress is worn by Ellen in this portrait, which was probably executed soon after the wedding. 

The marriage began positively. Ellen claimed that for the length of their union and her retirement from the stage ‘I never had one single pang of regret for the theatre. This may not do me credit, but it is true.’ Instead, she greatly enjoyed modelling for Watts in his studio. Her presence triggered a period of artistic productivity and she sat for a succession of portraits and subject pictures. It is clear from studying these works that beyond his protective instincts, the nature of the artist’s interest was deeply romantic.

The portrait was finished by April 1864, when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy under the title 'Choosing.' At this stage the painting had already been purchased by Thomas Eustace Smith MP, who saw it on a visit to Watts’s studio and asked to buy it. The artist agreed but requested that he be allowed to keep the picture for a time, presumably to send it to the Summer Exhibition, where it was well received. Tom Taylor, who had introduced Terry to her husband, devoted a section of his review in 'The Times' to its praise: ‘It is an almost solitary example here of the poetry of painting and its harmony of hue and tender suavity of line transform the trivial yet not ungraceful little incident into an idyll which delights the eye and stamps itself on the memory.’

Unfortunately the relationship was to break down within a year. A major factor was the 30-year age gap; the wedding took place a week before Ellen’s seventeenth birthday and just as Watts was about to turn 47. Her youthful exuberance and natural high spirits were at odds with the quiet dignity of the middle-aged artist. By the beginning of 1865, tensions between Watts and Terry had developed to the extent that a deed of separation was drawn up and signed on 26 January. Robertson argued that the couple ‘were much misrepresented to each other by kind friends, and they both knew it afterwards. 

But of course they could never have settled comfortably down together. To marry Ellen was an absurd thing for any man to do. He might as well marry the dawn or the twilight or any other evanescent and elusive loveliness of nature. Despite the failure of her first marriage, Terry harboured no ill-feeling towards the union and according to Robertson 'Choosing' remained her ‘favourite of all the portraits painted of her’.

To be continued

(Excerpts from the National Portrait Gallery's catalog entry on "Choosing" by Elizabeth Heath.)  Elizabeth Heath