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| Title | Charles Dickens | |
| Collection | Charles Dickens Museum, London | |
| Artist | Stewart, Malcolm (British artist, 1826-1916) After Scheffer, Ary (Dutch painter, printmaker, and sculptor, 1795-1858, active in France) |
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| Date Earliest | 1856 | |
| Date Latest | 1916 | |
| Description | This is a copy after an original by Ary Scheffer, painted in 1855, now in the National Portrait Gallery (NPG 315). When the portrait was first exhibited in 1856, it received mixed responses; while the quality of the painting was not in doubt, the quality of the likeness was questioned by many. Dickens himself was unsure about the resemblance, writing to John Forster; 'it does not look to me at all like', though he did allow that, 'it is always possible that I don't know my own face'. Dickens met Scheffer in Paris in October 1855. Scheffer, who was a renowned artist, introduced Dickens to Parisian society and insisted on painting his portrait. Although Dickens apparently admired Scheffer greatly, he found the process of sitting for a portrait a particularly onerous duty, admitting to John Forster; 'I can scarcely express how uneasy and unsettled it makes me to sit, sit, sit, with little Dorrit on my mind.' | |
| Current Accession Number | CDM-2101 | |
| Subject | portrait (Charles Dickens) | |
| Measurements | 91 x 70 cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Given by Sir Charles Cheers Wakefield 1928. | |
| Rights Owner | Charles Dickens Museum, London | |
| Author | Malcolm Barclay | |