Painters of Wallingford - George Dunlop Leslie

George Dunlop Leslie

George Dunlop Leslie (1835-1921) was the son of Charles Robert Leslie. He was born in London, and lived at Riverside house, Wallingford, from the 1880s, until he retired to Linfield, Sussex, in 1906.

George Dunlop Leslie entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1855, and exhibited at the Royal Academy every year from 1857. He became as associate of the Royal Academy in 1868, and was elected an academician in 1876.

He lived for many years in St John's Wood, north London, where he belonged to the group of artists known as the St John's Wood Clique, which also included P.H. Calderon, H. Stacy Marks, G.A. Storey and W.F. Yeames.

George Dunlop Leslie stated that his aim was "...to paint pictures from the sunny side of English domestic life". A contemporary critic said of him "The painter understands thoroughly the sources of delicate beauty proper to a refined type of English girlhood, and he has the power... to bring all of the materials of the composition into accord with the dainty spirit that inspires it; for even the landscape... seem as if painted under the same graceful feeling". Critics frequently identified Leslie's distinguishing feature as an exceptional degree of refinement, which enabled him, according to the Illustrated London News in 1874, to render "the sweet naiveté and innocence of pure maidenhood with rare delicacy".

James Hayllar and George Dunlop Leslie were great friends and collaborated during their careers. James Hayllar painted a portrait of George Dunlop Leslie, which can be seen hanging in the Town Hall, Wallingford.

In 1914 George Dunlop Leslie published The Inner Life of the Royal Academy, in which he recalled seeing Turner retouching his paintings on Varnishing Day, and how he himself had acted as assistant to Sir Edwin Landseer.

Works by George Dunlop Leslie include the following.

The Lass of Richmond Hill which he painted for his Royal Academy diploma piece.

Her First Place, Oil on canvas. Sold at Christie's, 10th February 1956, lot 10, £16-16 shillings.

This is the Way we Wash our Clothes was used as a soap advert, and is in the collection of the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight.

News from the War (1877) steel plate engraving. Engraved by F.A. Heath.

Sun and Moon Flowers, or maybe Two Women With Sunflowers.

Five o'Clock (1874) The Forbes Collection, Old Battersea House, London. Leslie's aesthetic approach is here applied to a modern genre subject. The picture was described by the Athenaeum as representing a lady "seated in a conservatory, with a tea equipage at her side, waiting the return of her husband, and with a sweet look on a face, the fresh beauty of which Time has marred, while it has somewhat dimmed a pair of eyes that retain an exquisite grace of look".

Tea (1894) Oil on canvas laid down on board. Private collection.

The Young Gardener (1889) Oil on canvas. Private collection.

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