John Callcott Horsley

A carte-de-visite portrait of the English artist John Callcott Horsley (1817-1903), a painter of historical and sometimes contemporary genre. His objection to nude painting earned him the nickname ‘Clothes Horsley’ and elicited the quip from Whistler ‘Horsley soit qui mal y pense.’

According to Mrs. E.M. Ward’s Reminiscences, published in 1911, ‘J.C. Horsley […] was one of the best talkers I ever heard […] Up to comparatively recent times [he] was a regular visitor at my studio in Gerald Road, where his clever conversation created quite a panic of delight among my pupils.’

Photographed by Maull and Polyblank of London.