| Description | Volume XIV is made up of correspondence to/from Watts and his Victorian contemporaries mostly in alphabetical order by surname.
The correspondence includes letters with Henry Shakespear Salt regarding the Humanitarian League, Watts' hatred for brutality towards horses; with Mrs Severn regarding his sister-in-law Mrs Edward Liddell being a great poetess, Ruskin; with Gaynor Simpson regarding Simpson's nephew pursuing a career as an artist; with James Smith regarding the intellectual value of art, 'Rider on the Black Horse', 'The Wife of Pluto', sending works to the New Gallery and the Royal Academy, pricing of Watts' art, income and financial stability, Watts' dislike of art commerce, Mary Seton Watts' philanthropy and Home Arts and Co., selling art to Smith, Watts' painting technique, Watts' desire for his work to be sold at auction after his death; with William Spence regarding Watts' work ethic, an invitation to England to see Burne-Jones' work, a book about the history of Florence, Watts' portrait of Princess Matilde, the use of distemper; with John St. Low Strachey regarding art including note of a conversation with Watts; with Sir John Stuart regarding Watts' fresco at Lincoln's Inn and his difficulty in working on it due to his bad health; with Lady Georgiana Duff Gordon regarding Watts in Italy, Watts teaching advice to Duff Gordon on art, Duff Gordon's sister, 'Alfred', portrait of the Librarian of the British Museum [Sir Anthony Panizzi], Watts' view on marriage; with Robert Thorburn; with Lady Augusta Mary Holland regarding health, memories of Casa Feroni, Lord Holland's health, the National Trust Society.
Material is made up of bound letters arranged in intellectual order referring to the running order of letter numbers, awarded prior to the collection's dismantlement. Items sold in separate lots not bought by the National Portrait Gallery may be held at other institutions or in private collections. |