ABSTRACT
The Victorian artist George Frederic Watts lured the Ellen Terry from the temptations and abominations of the London stage and in 1864 made her his wife. Terry, swathed in aesthetic clothes, her pose and movement heightened with harmonious beauty learned in Watts's studio, rose to become the transcendent Shakespearean actress, upon whom Henry Irving, her manager and co-star at the Lyceum Theatre, relied for artistic guidance. Watts also painted his bride Terry, he taught her to infuse beauty of line with harmony and rhythm. Critics had long marvelled at her grace onstage. Neither Watts nor Terry attended school. They had trained for their art from childhood, striving to perfect gesture and expression. Apart from Sargent's Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, the finest portraits of the actress were by Watts, who played a key part in her artistic development. Modelling for him influenced her artistic taste and helped her to refine her harmony of line in the studio and theatre.
