Dame (Alice) Ellen Terry (‘Choosing’) (1860s) by George Frederic Watts

George Frederic Watts (1817–1904), English, A towering yet enigmatic figure of Victorian art, his work bridged Romanticism and Symbolism with a haunting intensity. Though initially celebrated for grand historical paintings and portraits of Britain’s elite, his later pieces grew increasingly introspective, exploring themes of mortality, social injustice, and existential despair. *Hope* (1886), perhaps his most famous allegory, depicts a blindfolded figure clutching a lyre with a single string—an ambiguous meditation on resilience that resonated deeply in an era of industrial upheaval. Unlike many contemporaries, he rejected mere aestheticism, infusing even mythological scenes with psychological depth. *Time, Death, and Judgment* (c. 1870s) typifies this approach, its spectral forms swirling like a fever dream.
Watts’ influence extended beyond canvas; his murals adorned public buildings, and he advocated for art as a moral force. Yet his personal life was marked by melancholy—a failed marriage, the loss of adoptive children—which seeped into works like *Found Drowned* (c. 1867), a stark commentary on urban poverty. By the 1890s, his style grew looser, almost proto-expressionist, as seen in *The Sower of the Systems* (1902), where cosmic energy bursts from chaotic brushstrokes. Though overshadowed by flashier peers like Leighton, his legacy persists in the way he dared to paint ideas, not just images.