BROWNING (ROBERT)

Autograph letter signed ("Robert Browning") to Sir Henry Thompson, enclosing a ticket to an exhibition of a work by his son, 19 Warwick Crescent, 11 November [18]80

Footnotes

'PEN'S RATHER AMBITIOUS ATTEMPT': ROBERT BROWNING SUPPORTS HIS SON'S ARTISTIC CAREER.

Browning encloses an invitation to the Winter Exhibition of Oil Paintings by British Artists, and of Original Drawings & Sketches Published in Punch, the inaugural exhibition of the Hanover Gallery in London which opened in November 1880. The picture in question is Pen Browning's The Delivery to the Secular Arm (now at the Armstrong Browning Library and Museum, Baylor University), a large work which depicts a pretty female heretic standing before the Inquisition judges of Antwerp prior to sentencing, and for which his father penned a translation of a quotation by the Spanish poet Calderon. The Times published a scathing review of the exhibition, which also included works by Clausen, Leighton and Millais, in which Pen's offering came in for particular criticism: 'The largest composition in the gallery is by Mr. R. B. Browning, a young painter, whose work is at the present time more audacious than beautiful, but who, nevertheless is possessed of considerable talent of a bold hit-or-miss character. The work in question, however... cannot be considered as a happy achievement... indeed, we discover no merit of any kind in the picture except a somewhat careful and level execution of the technical portion of the painting...' (Times, 20 November, 1880, p. 11).The gallery somewhat redeemed itself in the eyes of the critic, however, by including G.F. Watts' celebrated portrait of Robert Browning in the show ('...This magnificent portrait never looked finer than it does here...') and is evidently one of the "...many pictures by better artists..." referred to by Browning in our letter.

After finding the academic life at Balliol and Christ Church, Oxford, not to his taste, Robert 'Pen' Browning was encouraged by his father's friend John Everett Millais to take up more creative pursuits. He studied sculpture with Rodin in Paris and painting with Jean Arnould-Heyermans in Antwerp. His preferred subjects were voluptuous nudes painted on large canvases which met with modest success particularly in the Paris salon, but rather less success in a more prudish Victorian London. Any success he did have was perhaps in great part due to his father's indefatigable efforts to promote his work amongst his friends and acquaintances, including John Ruskin, although, as this letter shows, he is clearly under no illusions as to the extent of his son's talents.

Sir Henry Thompson, consulting surgeon and leading urologist, was himself a talented artist. He exhibited several times at the Royal Academy and counted artists and writers among his friends. He painted, and was painted by, Millais in 1881, sketched Thackeray and illustrated his own textbooks (Alex Paton, ODNB). The letter derives from the collection of his assistant George Buckston Browne.