A new display at The Hunterian Art Gallery has uncovered a fascinating mystery – a painting of a famous actress which has been missing for over 100 years.

Louise Jopling: Artist and Teacher showcases a current research project at the University of Glasgow and presents drawings, watercolours and archival material from private collections which have never been exhibited before. The research project, Louise Jopling (1843–1933), seeks to document the life and career of the pioneering woman artist.

Although Louise Jopling is known to have been a prolific artist, only a small number of her works have been traced to date. Researchers at the University of Glasgow have been trying to track down the missing painting which immortalises celebrated Shakespearean actress Ellen Terry.

Jopling was a friend and confidante of the actress and painted her in 1883 in one of her most famous roles, as Portia from Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice'. The portrait was owned by Sir Henry Irving, who played in many roles opposite Terry, until his death in 1905.

Then, according to record, it was sold to a Mrs Ruthven of Glasgow, believed to be a god-daughter of Ellen Terry. The red robes in which Terry posed survive at her home at Smallhythe Place, Kent, where they are on public display, but the location of the painting is unknown.

As a leading female artistic celebrity of her time, Louise Jopling often painted her female counterparts in other professions, from artists and actresses to authors and journalists. Her portrait of Ellen Terry is a document not only of their close friendship over many decades but of the lives of two high-achieving Victorian women.

While Terry was portrayed in famous roles by several male artists of the day like George Frederic Watts, Jopling’s portrait is the only known portrayal of her by a female artist. It has been over 100 years since the work was recorded in a Glasgow collection and to locate it would not only be an exciting opportunity to better understand Jopling’s portrait practice but also to understand more about the nature of the two women’s friendship. (Continues…)

Dr Patricia de Montfort, who is leading the research project said:

‘It’s tantalising to think that the painting may still be somewhere in Glasgow at a time when we are discovering so much new information about this hitherto neglected artist. If anyone has information about its location or what happened to it, please contact us and help to solve the mystery.’

Louise Jopling: Artist and Teacher
13 March – 13 September 2015 
Hunterian Art Gallery
Admission free

Further Information
Louise Jopling was a versatile painter of portraits, figure compositions, interiors, and landscape. Her confidantes included fellow artists Whistler and Millais and her patrons included the de Rothschild banking family and Sir Coutts and Lady Lindsay, founders of the Grosvenor Gallery. Despite the many boundaries limiting women artists, Jopling led a remarkably independent life and achieved recognised professional status. She ran a successful art school for women and was one of the first women to be elected to the Royal Society of British Artists. She also campaigned for women’s suffrage, and published a student art manual and a memoir, Twenty Years of My Life, 1867–1887. Her work is in public collections including the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight; Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth; and Manchester City Art Gallery.

The display at The Hunterian features drawings, watercolours and archival material lent by the Jopling family and on public view for the first time.

Anyone with information about the missing painting should contact: 
Dr Patricia de Montfort, History of Art, School of Culture and Creative Arts, University of Glasgow
Email: Patricia.de-Montfort@glasgow.ac.uk

First published: 25 March 2015

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