Frederic, Lord Leighton by Richard Ormond

Dating from the early 1870s and therefore showing May in her late twenties, it may have been painted at the time of her marriage to Henry Evans Gordon in 1871. Our painting comes between these two portraits, and has a freshness and immediacy which neither of them possesses. A full-length portrait, showing her walking towards the spectator, her black riding habit slashed dramatically by a bright red scarf, was painted about 1860, when the sitter was in her teens (Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth), while a later and more conventional image, representing her seated in a dark red dress (Leighton House, Kensington), was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1875. Leighton was very fond of May and she sat to him several times. May was an accomplished amateur actress herself, and the dark background Leighton depicts is evocative of a theatre’s auditorium. Her sister, Fanny Kemble, was also a distinguished actress. She was the niece of John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons, the two greatest tragedians of their day and the subject of celebrated portraits by Lawrence, Gainsborough and Reynolds. She came from a famous theatrical family. In Paris and London they were also inseparable, and by introducing him to society, Mrs Sartoris did much to advance Leighton's career.īefore her marriage in 1842 at the age of twenty-nine, Adelaide had enjoyed an international reputation as an opera singer, excelling in the title role of Norma. The artist met Mrs Sartoris in Rome in 1853, and although they were probably never lovers, the intensity of their relationship certainly gave rise to gossip. The sitter was the daughter of Adelaide Sartoris, the hostess and author who played a vital role in Leighton's early life.

The refinement of the handling in the face brings the sitters features into clear relief, contrasting with the spontaneity exhibited in the loose treatment of the fichu that covers the sitter's head and the broad impasto brushstrokes of her pink silk dress. Considered purely as a piece of painting, this portrait is one of the most beautiful works in Leighton's œ uvre.

Frederic, Lord Leighton by Richard Ormond