Information

At a social gathering in the home of Robert and Elizabeth Browning on the evening of 27 September 1855, Rossetti made an impromptu sketch of Alfred Tennyson reading one of his favourite poems, 'Maud'. The drawing was offered to his hosts as a gift, but not until Rossetti had made at least two copies of it: one was done for Elizabeth Siddal, and this is the second. According to William Michael Rossetti, Tennyson was unaware that Rossetti was drawing his portrait.

  • Purchased and presented by subscribers, 1903.
  • © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Makers

Association Artist Organisation
Artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti -

Inscriptions

Type Position(s) Method Date(s) Notes
"Maud" / 1855
Title bottom right Handwritten - Brown ink
 

Exhibitions

Catalogue No. Venue Date(s)
Pictures, Drawings, Designs and Studies by the Late Dante Gabriel Rossetti
121 The Rossetti Gallery, 1a, Old Bond Street, London 1883 - 1883
 
Paintings and Drawings of the 1860s Period
193 Tate Gallery, London 1923-04-27 - 1923-07-29
 
Retrospective Exhibition of English Painting
147 Musée Moderne, Brussels 1929-10-12 - 1929-12-01
 
Exhibition of British Art c. 1000-1860
1250 Royal Academy of Arts, London 1934-01-06 - 1934-03-10
 
English Drawings and Engravings
295 Museum Toma Stelian, Bucharest 1935 - 1936
295 Bucharest, Vienna and Prague - - -
 
Paintings and Drawings by the Pre-Raphaelites and their Followers
103 Russell-Coates Art Gallery, Bournemouth 1951-06-04 - 1951-08-07
 
Pre-Raphaelite Drawings and Watercolours
- Cambridge Arts Council Gallery 1953-05-16 - 1953
- Norwich Assembly Rooms 1953 - 1953
- Hatton Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne 1953 - 1953-10-24
 
Pictures from Birmingham by British Artists
56 National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth 1956 - 1956
 
An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Victorian Artists in England
114 Ottawa National Gallery of Canada 1965-03 - 1965-04
 
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Painter and Poet
47 Royal Academy of Arts, London 1973-01-13 - 1973-03-11
 
English Portraits from Francis Bacon, the Philosopher, to Francis Bacon, the Painter
143 National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo 1975-10-25 - 1975-12-14
 
Whisper of the Muse: The World of Julia Margaret Cameron
60 Colnaghi, London 1990-03-14 - 1990-04-12
 
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
125 Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo 1990-09-22 - 1990-11-14
125 Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery, Nagoya 1990-11-17 - 1990-12-09
125 Ishibashi Museum of Art, Kurume 1991-01-08 - 1991-02-14
 
Tennyson 1809-1892: A Centenary Celebration
214 Dove Cottage, Grasmere (Wordsworth Trust) 1992-03-01 - 1992-06-30
214 Usher Gallery, Lincoln 1992-07-01 - 1992-09-30
 
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England
36 Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington 1995-03-09 - 1995-05-07
36 Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio 1995-05-27 - 1995-07-16
36 Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington 1995-08-11 - 1995-10-15
36 Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas 1995-11-04 - 1996-01-02
36 High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia 1996-01-23 - 1996-04-10
36 Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery 1996-05-25 - 1996-09-29
 
Fontane und die Bildende Kunst
64 National Gallery, Berlin 1998-09-01 - 1998-11-29
 
The Pre-Raphaelites
48 Nationalmuseum, Stockholm 2009-02-26 - 2009-05-24
 

Literature

Author(s) Date(s) Publisher Pages
-
January 1897 Scribner's Magazine p. 120.
 
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: an Illustrated Memorial of his Art and Life
H C Marillier 1899 George Bell and Sons, London pp. 69-70.
 
Pre-Raphaelite Diaries and Letters
William Michael Rossetti 1900 Hurst and Blackett, London no. 4.
 
City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: Catalogue of the Permanent Collection of Drawings
A E Whitley 1939 Bemrose & Sons, Ltd., Derby p. 352
 
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Helen Rossetti Angeli 1949 Hamilton, London p. 163
 
Pre-Raphaelite Drawings and Watercolours
1953 Arts Council of Great Britain p. 17
 
Tennyson Today: A Symposium
7 August 1959 The Times Higher Educational Supplement p. 138.
 
'Rossetti's Impromptu Portraits of Tennyson Reading 'Maud''
William E Fredeman March 1963 The Burlington Magazine, no. 105 pp. 117-18.
 
The Pre-Raphaelites and Their Circle: a booklet illustrating, with descriptive notes, some of the most important works of the Pre-Raphaelites in the permanent collection of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Richard Ormond 1965 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham -
 
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882, The Paintings and Drawings: A Catalogue Raisonne
Virginia Surtees 1971 Oxford University Press, London vol. 1, no. 526 R2, p. 199; vol. 2, pl. 420.
 
Pre-Raphaelite Drawings: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Andrea Rose 1977 The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London no. 3C2.
 
Tennyson: The Unquiet Heart
Robert Bernard Martin 1980 Clarendon Press Oxford; Faber and Faber, London opposite p. 308.
 
Pre-Raphaelite Portraits
Andrea Rose 1981 The Oxford Illustrated Press, Yeovil p. 95.
 
Whisper of the Muse: The World of Julia Margaret Cameron
Jeremy Howard 1990 Colnaghi, London pp. 66-67.
 
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England
Stephen Wildman 1995 Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia p. 148.
 
The Pre-Raphaelites
2009 Nationalmuseum cat. 48, p.174; fig.92

Provenance

?William Sharp; Cosmo Monkhouse; Monkhouse Sale, Christie's 25 November 1991 (lot 113), £31; Charles Fairfax Murray.

Associated people

Name Type
Lord Alfred Tennyson Depicted

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