Eliza Eastlake (née Bailey)

In 1856, Eliza Bailey (d. 1911) married Charles Eastlake (1836–1906), nephew of Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, the first director of the National Gallery and then president of the Royal Academy. The younger Eastlake trained as an architect but became better known as a design reformer, particularly for his immensely popular Hints on Household Taste (1868), one of the most influential Victorian publications on home decoration and a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. Eastlake and Edward John Poynter likely first met in the 1840s when they were students at Westminster School. The circumstances surrounding the creation of this portrait of Eliza Eastlake are unclear. It has been suggested that it may have been the picture exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1865 as Portrait of a Lady, along with Poynter’s first great success, Faithful unto Death (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool).

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016