 | "Man Struggling with Boa Constrictor, A Study for 'Liboya Serpent Seizing its Prey'" is among the works by James Ward on view at the Yale Center for British Art. |
James Ward, known at the height of his career as the "Mammoth of animal painters" but today considered one of the most neglected of British artists, is the focus of a current exhibit at the Yale Center for British Art.
"The Art of James Ward" features paintings, watercolors, prints, drawings and manuscripts by the Romantic-period artist, taking advantage of the depth and range of the center's collection of more than 280 works by Ward. His art is presented in the exhibition according to the principal subgenres in which he excelled. These include livestock, horse and dog portraits; other studies of wild or domestic animals such as bats, ferrets and swine; sporting or hunting pictures; landscapes; rustic subjects (both human and topographical); and portraits; as well as history, religious and allegorical studies.
Ward lived from 1769 to 1859. His reputation rose so high in the Regency period that his client, Lord Fitzwilliam, predicted that posterity would eventually say that "Milton was born near James Ward, and not Ward near Milton." (Not hiding his vanity, Ward told this story himself.) Early in his career, he became a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, then a young organization that offered Ward and other animal painters large audiences and new clients, and kindled a variety of aspirations.
Prior to his membership in the Royal Academy, Ward had emerged from his impoverished youth with a reputation for being a brittle, pious and argumentative young man with incredible talents. Early on, he learned the process of mezzotint from his brother William, an engraver. Through the influence of his brother-in-law, the artist George Morland, Ward became an oil painter. He later became devoted to the painting techniques of Rubens and Van Dyck, as well as to the careful study of nature through drawing and copying fragments of ancient sculpture.
Ward achieved great success with his animal portraits, some of which became famous through prints, particularly the paintings of the horses "Marengo" and "Copenhagen," who belonged, respectively, to Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington. Those paintings are today in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland.
Ward suffered a professional setback when his grand allegory of the "Battle of Waterloo" was deemed a colossal failure. He soon rallied and went on to enjoy continued prosperity, living extravagantly and working well into the mid-19th century. Toward the end of his life, his style of painting fell out of fashion; he encountered financial troubles and collided unhappily with the pre-Raphaelites. He died in his 90th year a disappointed man, according to the exhibition's curator, Angus Trumble.
Today, Ward is remembered as a key painter in the British Romantic tradition. Some of his paintings, such as his enormous "Gordale Scar," are among the most important manifestations of Regency gigantism and the widespread taste for the sublime, Trumble says.
The Yale Center for British Art is the only venue for "The Art of James Ward." The exhibit will be on view through Aug. 22. Trumble edited an accompanying publication, with an introduction by Edward J. Nygren, which is available at the Museum Shop.
The Yale Center for British Art is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. During the Arts & Ideas Festival, the center will be open on Monday, June 14 and 21, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (203) 432-2800 or visit the center's website at www.yale.edu/ycba.
T H I S
Exhibit spotlights works by one of
Britain's most neglected artists
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