Page 42 - James Ward - A Lioness with a Heron

had managed to depict a lion without making it look like an old man in a wig. See Fletcher, op. cit., p. 131.
38 In 1807 Ward was made an Associate of the Royal Academy (A.R.A.), but was not made a Member (R. A.) until 1811. His diploma
work, entitled Bacchanalion, depicting a putto teasing an infant satyr with grapes, is atypical of his subsequent work and obviously heavily derived
from Rubens (Royal Academy, London, inv. no. 03/1318).
39 See Munro, op. cit., pp. 6-7, p. 16.
40 Fletcher, op. cit., p. 239.
41 F. Cummings, ‘Charles Bell and the Anatomy of Expression’, in The Art Bulletin, vol. 46, no. 2 (June 1964), p. 191-203 (p. 192).
42 Munro, op. cit., p. 12, under cat. no 4.
43 British Museum, inv. no. 1881.0709.413.
44 Ecorché study of a lioness, c. 1801-2, black chalk and oiled black chalk, heightened with white on buff paper, 280 x 440 mm (private collection).
Munro notes that similar ecorché studies are also in the The Courtauld Gallery, London (inv. no. D.1952.RW.3099), and with William
Drummond at the Sabin Gallery. See Munro, op. cit., p. 12, under cat. no. 4.
45 Royal Academy, 1800, no. 511. See Beckett, op. cit., p. 197. A preparatory drawing is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (inv. no.
PD-61.1993).
46 British Museum, London, inv. no. 1885.0613.63.
47 British Museum, London, inv. no. 1885.1613.67. See also Beckett, op. cit., p. 143, for an illustration of the Cambridge watercolour.
48 See Grundy, op. cit., p. 48, no. 560. See also Sotheby’s London, 10 July 1985, lot 97, illus.
49 Rubens painted A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning on at least seventeen separate pieces of canvas.
50 This picture probably dates from around 1814, when Ward made several studies of Cossack soldiers who were stationed in the King’s Barracks
that year. It is now in the Berger Collection of the Denver Art Museum: A Grey Charger in a Landscape, signed with monogram ‘J. WARD’,
pencil and oil on paper, laid on panel, 35 x 45.8 cm (13 ¾ x 18 in).
51 Signed and dated ‘JWard.R.A.1812’, oil on panel, 41 ½ x 53 ½ in. (105.4 x 135.9 cm), Christie’s King Street, 23 November 2005, lot 75.
52 It is difficult to tell whether Ward meant Lioness with a Heron to illustrate an allegory. Neither the works of Aesop nor the Bible contain any
fable or parable specifically illustrated by a lion/lioness with a heron/crane. Loosely, a lion with a heron can allude to death and resurrection,
and it is worth noting that Ward’s favourite child, Emma died suddenly in the autumn of 1817. However, while Ward’s diaries for that period
record his extreme grief and depression at this time, there is no reference to Lioness with a Heron. See Ward-Jackson Papers, vol. 7, June 1817-
May 1821, Royal Academy, London.
53 His last known exhibited picture in this genre was What is it?, a charming but largely illustrative scene of lion cubs emerging from their den
to investigate a coiled snake. Exhibited at the Royal Academy on 1845 (no. 163), oil on canvas, 111 x 85.5 cm (43 ¾ x 33 ¾ in), indistinctly
signed ‘J. Ward’. See Sotheby’s London, 28 November 2002, lot 200.
54 Lioness pierced with a hunting spear was sold at Ward’s sale at Christie’s on 29 May 1829 (lot 45). The possibly related oil on panel study measures
45 x 61 cm (17 ¾ x 24 in) and was sold at Bonhams, Chelsea, 14 November 2000 (lot 158). See also Beckett, op. cit., p. 145. A watercolour
study possibly related to the original work is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. See Munro, op. cit., p. 41, no. 36, illus.
55 Sleeping Lioness was sold at Ward’s sale at Christie’s on 29 May 1829 (lot 47). It is oil on canvas and measures 38 x 59 cm (15 x 23 ¼ in). It
is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (inv. no 3939).
56 A lion at rest, signed with initials ‘J.W.R.A.’, pen and brown ink, 215 x 360 mm (8 ½ x 14 ¼ in), Christie’s, South Kensington, 16 May
2001, lot 310.
57 See Beckett, op. cit., p. 192, no. 72.
58 Originally sold as Lioness Asleep, very spirited, as catalogued at Ward’s sale at Christie’s on 29 May 1829 (lot 44). It is oil on canvas, signed,
and measures 93.3 x 118.7 cm (36 ¾ x 46 ¾ in). See also ‘Works of Art now on the Market: Supplement’, in The Burlington Magazine, vol. 119,
no. 891 (June 1977), illus. pl. I.
59 The Sporting Magazine, November 1826, Vol. XIX, no. CX, pp. 16-18. The magazine had previously published a similar tribute to Ward in 1811.
60 Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: 1526, oil on wood, 102.9 x 80 cm (40 ½ x 31 ½ in), inv. no. 11.143
61 Ferré had also bought his first Pre-Raphaelite painting from Nicholson, Thomas Seddon’s Léhon from Mont Parnasse, Brittany.

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