Joanna Mary Boyce 1831 – 1861
(married name Wells, also known as Mrs H.T. Wells or Joanna Mary Wells)
Painter, art critic.
7 December 1831 – 15 July 1861
Education
As a young girl studied drawing.
Aged 17 enrolled at Cary’s School of Art (formerly Sass’s Academy).
1852 Went with her father to Paris to study contemporary French painting.
1853 Transferred to Leigh’s School of Art.
1854 Attended classes at the Government School of Design.
Some Key Achievements and Interests
Early 1850s introduced by her brother, artist George Boyce, to the members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle who acknowledged her great talent. While her work differed in technique to that of the movement, she shared their artistic ideals. While influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, she also drew inspiration from old Venetian masters.
1854 Exhibited at the National Institution.
1855 Elgiva exhibited at the Royal Academy receiving great praise. She subsequently submitted further paintings.
1855 Returned to Paris and studied in the studio of Thomas Couture attending life classes in their atelier for female students.
1855 Contributed an article to the Saturday Review in which she criticised the influence of Ingres on contemporary French painting in contrast praising works by Constant Troyon and Couture.
1856 Was commissioned by the Saturday Review to write a review of the 1856 Royal Academy Exhibition. In this three-part review she lauded Millais and Holman Hunt but criticised the work of the academician.
After her early death, The Spectator‘s obituarist wrote ‘no English-woman has ever set forth such mastery of style and such subtle qualities of painting as are impressed upon her works’ (The Spectator, 20 July 1861, 783)
1861 A Bird of God shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition after her death.
1862 Five paintings shown in the International Exhibition.
1935 Posthumous exhibition of her work at the Tate.
2019 Paintings exhibited in the exhibition ‘Pre-Raphaelite Sisters’ at the National Portrait Gallery.
Issues
1850 Interrupted her studies to help care for her brother when he was ill.
When her father died, her mother did not offer the same support for her career as an artist. She also needed to devote more time to looking after her mother and take care of domestic duties.
Was under pressure to get married but feared losing her independence. Eventually agreed to marry Henry Wells in 1857.
Died of gastroenteric fever after the birth of her third child.
Some of her work was destroyed in WW1.
Connection to Bloomsbury
Born Gray’s Inn Terrace, Bloomsbury and lived there until 1840.
Female networks
Pre Raphaelite sisters including Anna Mary Howitt, Jane Benham Hay.
Works include:
1852-4 Little Red-haired Boy.
1859 Heather-Gatherer.
1860-61 Head of a Mulatto Woman. (a portrait of Fanny Eaton)
1861 Peep-bo.
1861 A Bird of God.
1861 Gretchen (unfinished).
Art criticism:
1855 ‘Remarks on some of the French pictures at the Paris Exhibition, 1855’ Saturday Review.
1856 Royal Academy Exhibition Review (Saturday Review, 10, 17, and 24 May 1856).
Further reading: