9 - George Price Boyce: Art Collector

Summary

DURING HIS LIFETIME, PRE-RAPHAELITE landscape artist George Price Boyce assembled a substantial art collection, as revealed by a series of newly published photographs of the interior of his dining room at 35 Glebe Place, Chelsea, where he lived from 1871 until his death. His wide-ranging collection, from pencil drawings to watercolours and works on canvas, was sold in its entirety at Christie's auction house, London, following his death in 1897. By analysing the photographs and auction catalogue – a copy of which is held in the Paul Mellon Centre for the Study of British Art Collection, London – along with the recently published Boyce Papers and existing sources, in this chapter I demonstrate how Boyce's position in the art world assisted him in assembling one of the most significant art collections of the mid-nineteenth century.

Boyce acquired the artworks for his collection by a variety of different means. Not only did he purchase works on sight during his travels, but he also commissioned paintings from his artist friends, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. To investigate his collecting habits, I have undertaken a detailed examination of the different methods of acquisition of three items selected from his collection, about which I share my findings here. The first is Bocca Baciata, commissioned from Boyce's close friend Rossetti and completed in 1859, the second Do I Like Butter? painted in 1859, a small but significant painting by Boyce's sister Joanna Boyce, later Wells, and the final, a watercolour, The Sphynx at Gizeh, painted in 1856 by fellow artist and travelling companion Thomas Seddon. George Boyce had a very personal connection with all three of these artists, as he did with many other artists he purchased from, as revealed by close examination of the primary source material. Where appropriate, I also offer a statistical analysis of the contents of the auction catalogue to evaluate Boyce's collection.

VISUALISING THE COLLECTION

The historic photographs depict around 10 per cent of Boyce's collection in situ in the dining-room of his Chelsea home. Despite the early photographic methods used for producing these prints, the quality is such that it is possible to identify many, although not all, of the works on display, particularly those by members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle.