Julia Tatham and Her Sister

George Richmond was the son of a successful miniature painter and demonstrated a talent for drawing at an early age. When he was only fifteen, he entered the Royal Academy School, where Fuseli was professor of painting. He also came to know William Blake, whom he adored, comparing him to the prophet Isaiah. Together with the slightly older Samuel Palmer, Edward Calvert, Frederick Tatham and others, he belonged to a circle of artists who called themselves the “Ancients,” in homage to William Blake and his beliefs. In 1831, he eloped with Julia Tatham, sister of the artist Frederick. Increasingly thereafter, he turned to portraiture as his specialty. The drawing, which depicts Julia and her sister, is particularly interesting for its relationship to his painting The Eve of Separation (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum). It comes from Richmond’s great-great-granddaughter and probably dates to about 1829-1830.