A friend and contemporary of Siddal, Joanna Boyce Wells (1831–61) was the most ambitious woman in the group. Born to a wealthy father, who financed and encouraged her training in Paris (her mother was less keen), unlike so many women, Boyce Wells was able to study anatomy, perspective and the nude from life, thanks to private tutoring. Sometimes considered ‘too good’ by the group, Boyce Wells was a master at capturing her subjects’ sculptural, three-dimensional physicality and inner psychological depth, as seen in Elgiva, 1855, a serene and sublime painting of the tragic Anglo-Saxon heroine.
...more
