Look back: Past portrait artists of Bradford

Writes Colin: Creating a portrait of another person, particularly a living one, is one of the most difficult art forms around. It is not just the sitter’s verdict of the finished artwork that is involved, but the judgement of others that know or knew them. The artist will want to capture the physical image of the sitter, but also retain his or her own artistic style and perception of the subject. It is also about giving us, the viewer, a real sense of who or what the sitter was and their rank and standing in the world.

This book includes artwork images of commissioned portraits and other figurative work by the featured artists. The sitters either commissioned portraits of themselves, or they were honoured by others with a portrait for their work or position in society. Commissioned portraits were lucrative and paid the bills for the artist concerned. And most of the artists used the income gained from commissioned work to support their other interests, including creating portraits of other people they simply liked the look of, or who fitted into a scene they had in mind.

The Bradford-born artist, William Rothenstein, for example, sketched hundreds of sitters, all well-known in the worlds of academia, literature, politics, and science. A number of these are shown in the book. But it was his character study portraits of the elders of an East London synagogue, or the villagers in Gloucestershire where he lived, that really make an impact today. These character studies are important, as they give us a connection to someone long dead, and honours their ordinary, but important contribution to the world at that time.

Similarly, Marie-Louise Pierrepont, later Countess Manvers, from Keighley, was not dependent at all on commissioned work. She painted exactly what she wanted. These included portraits of family members, as well as the staff and local people where she lived, first at Cliffe Castle, Keighley, then after her marriage, at Thoresby Hall in Nottinghamshire. This artistic freedom produced one of the most intriguing portraits for me featured in the book.

Her portrait of Mrs Nettleship, a resident near Thoresby Hall, appears to find the portrait sitting process an unsettling experience. Apparently outside her comfort zone, she poses indoors, wearing her hat, whilst perched upright on a chair, nervously fingering her pearls in one hand, with an unopened book in the other. What was Countess Manvers trying to say or do in the painting? It raises the question as to whether the artist deliberately wanted to capture something of the anxiety that came with being asked to pose for a portrait by a Countess of a local estate.

Mrs Nettleship by Marie-Louise Pierrepont. Pic: The Pierrepont Collection (Image: Submitted)

Other intriguing questions are raised by the portrait of Charlotte Bronte by the Bingley artist, John Hunter Thompson.

Thompson was a friend and drinking companion of Branwell Bronte during Branwell’s short-lived attempt in 1839 to become a Bradford portrait painter himself. It is likely that Thompson met Charlotte Bronte through his association with Branwell at that period of time. However, Thompson’s portrait of Charlotte was most likely done after her death in 1855 and was perhaps a shrewd initiative prompted by a growing public interest in her work. It was also a full colour alternative to other artworks of her circulating at that time, for example, George Richmond’s 1850 portrait in chalks of Charlotte.

However, to what extent it is a true likeness of Charlotte Bronte is still a subject of question today. Thompson’s fading memory of Charlotte, combined with his 19th century portrait painter’s instinct to bring out the best in a subject - particularly one becoming increasingly famous - may have influenced his rendering of her image in the artwork.

Charlotte Bronte by John Hunter Thompson (Image: Submitted)

Feedback from some of the sitters in the book also gives us an insight into what it was like to pose for a portrait. For example, one of Saltaire artist Fred Stead’s early portrait commissions, titled Sisters’, shows Hilda and Mabel Townend, respectively 12 years and 10-years-old. They were the daughters of Jessie and Edmund Townend, a dental surgeon, who worked from his home at Cliffe Villas, Manningham. The portrait shows the two sisters seated close together reading a book.

Sisters by Fred Stead (Image: Submitted)

The portrait comes across as a spontaneous moment captured by the artist, with Mabel glancing across to the artist as if she has just seen him. However, Mabel later reported that it took several months for the painting to be completed. She and Hilda went to Fred’s studio and sat for boring hours every Saturday, and Mabel had to hold a heavy Peter Pan book while he painted. The finished portrait however delighted the family and is still a cherished family heirloom.

Fruit seller Jabez Horner, one of John Sowden's street character studies (Image: Submitted)

* Past Portrait Artists of the Bradford District is the eighth in the Not Just Hockney series about past district artists by Colin Neville and costs £8.00, including postage. It can be ordered at notjusthockney.info

Past Portrait Artists by Colin Neville (Image: Submitted)