Frederick Leighton

Tissot's watercolour brilliantly conveys the languid elegance of Frederick Leighton (1830-1896) the pre-eminent artist of the Victorian age. (1830-96). shown at one of London's round of social engagements. By the 1870s, no sophisticated party was complete without an artist to elevate the proceedings. The charismatic Leighton had networked energetically with artists and patrons throughout the 1850s. In 1865 he made the ground breaking move to Holland Park, where the Melbury Road Artists' colony was soon established. Leighton's house was a bid for position. He entertained lavishly and held noted musical soirées; these occasions helped promote him further in the world of art and fashion. In 1878, he was knighted and was elected President of the Royal Academy. He was created a Baronet in 1885. In 1896, he was ennobled as Baron Leighton of Stretton, becoming the first painter to enter the peerage.

The French artist Jacques Joseph Tissot fled a war-torn Paris in 1871 in search of better opportunities in London. He quickly got work drawing caricatures for the society magazine Vanity Fair giving him an entrée into London's social and artistic circles.