Abstract
THE death of the distinguished portrait painter, Mr. W. W. Ouless, on December 25, at the age of eighty-five years, recalls his skill in the portrayal, in much faithfulness, of many well-known men of science. An oil painting of Charles Darwin, a treasured possession of the family, was executed in 1875, and a replica by the artist himself hangs in Christ's College, Cambridge Considered by Darwin's children to be an outstanding presentment, it was etched very successfully by M. Raj on. It is recorded in the “Life and Letters” that the portrait was finished at the end of March 1875; that Darwin felt the sittings a great fatigue in spite of Mr. Ouless's considerate desire to spare him so far as was possible. In a letter to Sir Joseph Hooker, Darwin remarks, “I look a very venerable, acute, melancholy old boy; whether I really look so I do not know.” Another portrait by Ouless was of Sir William Bowman, F.R.S. (1816–1892), eminent in ophthalmic surgery. Bowman's admirers at home and abroad specially engaged the services of Ouless for this work, whilst at the same time they arranged for a reprint of all his scientific treatises, with Prof. Burdon Sanderson and Mr. Hulke as supervisors of the issue. In 1928 Ouless painted a portrait of Sir Arthur Keith.
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The late Mr W. W. Ouless, R.A. Nature 133, 21 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133021a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133021a0