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George Meredith 1828–1909
At the beginning of his career, the English poet and novelist George Meredith tailored his writing to fit the public taste. But after failing to receive the attention he sought, he began writing primarily to please himself. Ironically, it was then that he achieved his greatest success.
Meredith's novels grapple with modern social problems as well as the psychological motivations of his characters and the contrast between the public and the private self. His experimental use of unreliable and shifting narration conveys a modernist sense of the subjectivity of perception. Meredith became a feminist hero for his insightful exploration of the social repression of women, most notably in his novel Diana of the Crossways (1885). At the age of sixty-eight, he reluctantly sat for Sargent for a charcoal portrait that would serve as the frontispiece for a collection of his work. This drawing was made at the same time.
Charcoal on paper, 1896
The Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, UK
This is the National Portrait Gallery sign in the exhibit. |