Portrait of Emilie Barrington. c.1880-90. Oil on canvas. 34 1/8 x 26 3/8 inches (86.5 x 67 cm). Collection of Leighton House Museum, London, accession no. LH0088, bequeathed by the sitter in 1934. Image courtesy of Leighton House, reproduced via Art UK; image credit: The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Culture Service, .
Emilie Wilson was born on 18 October 1841 at 15 Hertford Street in Mayfair, London, the youngest of six daughters of James and Elizabeth Preston Wilson. Her father was a statesman and financier, served as Paymaster-General, and was the founder of the periodical The Economist. Emilie spent her early years in continental Europe and received her early education from governesses. In 1855-56 she went to school in Cologne and in 1858 was sent to a finishing school in Paris. On 1 July 1868 she married Russell Barrington, the eldest son of the Rev. the Hon. Lowther Barrington, and the grandson of Viscount Barrington. About this time she first met the artist George Frederic Watts with whom she became good friends. She eventually lived next door to him on Melbury Road in Holland Park. She was also a friend and neighbour of Frederic Leighton who lived on nearby Holland Park Road. She later wrote biographies of both Watts and Leighton. Emily had spent time herself as an art student and had studied with John Ruskin, Arthur Hughes, and Ford Madox Brown but she met with no exhibition success as an artist. She became an early council member of the National Trust through her friendship with Octavia Hill, Barrington played a key role in preserving Leighton House as a museum and acted as President of the Leighton House Society. She wrote three novels and contributed to periodicals such as The Spectator, The Fortnightly Review, and The Nineteenth Century. She died at Herd's Hill, Langport, in Somerset on 9 March 1933.
Murray likely became acquainted with Mrs. Barrington through mutual friends who were part of the Holland Park Circle. He portrays her as a middle-aged woman seated on a sofa, dressed in a blue dress with a matching blue mantel trimmed in white lace, and with her left hand behind her head. A yellow-green curtain forms the background. Behind her to the right is a flowering plant in a jardiniere. To the left, sitting on a shelf, is what appears to be a book, a palette and brushes, some sketches, and a maquette for Hamo Thornycroft's The Teucer. Since the maquette dates to 1880 the portrait must be after that date. The Thornycroft family were Barrington's next-door neighbours on Melbury Road. Hamo's mother Mary did a bronze portrait sculpture of Emilie in 1881, a cast of which is at Leighton House. In November 1886 Murray had moved back to London and took a studio in Holland Park. The portrait of Emilie likely occurred after that. There is a photograph of Emilie Barrington in the Victoria and Albert Museum [accession no. 7664-1938] by Frederick Hollyer, dated 1899, where she is wearing a similar tea gown. Since Mrs. Barrington appears middle-aged in her portrait by Murray, I would feel comfortable putting a date on it of c.1887-1900.
Murray had a particular talent for portraiture and frequently received portrait commissions from friends, neighbours, and acquaintances. In letters to his friend and former fellow art student William Spanton, Murray outlined the qualities in art that he enjoyed including grace, dignity, simplicity (specifically in a portrait) and above all workmanship (qtd. Tucker 103). Hopefully Murray felt he had achieved all these qualities in this portrait of his friend Mrs. Barrington.
Bibliography
Portrait of Emilie Barrington, née Wilson. Web. 24 February 2026.
Tucker, Paul. "Charles Fairfax Murray and Florence." I Giardini delle Regine: Of Queen's Gardens: The Myth of Florence in the Pre-Raphaelite Milieu and in American Culture(19th-20th centuries) . Margherita Ciacci and Grazia Gobbi Sica Eds. Livorno, Italy: Sillabe, 2004. 102-11.
Created 24 February 2026