Sir Leslie Ward | |
|---|---|
 Ward in 1915 | |
| Born | Leslie Matthew Ward 21 November 1851 London, England |
| Died | 15 May 1922 (aged 70) London, England |
| Known for | Portraits and caricatures |
| Notable work | Vanity Fair Caricatures |
| Parent(s) | Edward Matthew Ward Henrietta Ward |
| Relatives | James Ward (great-grandfather) |
Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (21 November 1851 – 15 May 1922) was a British portrait artist and caricaturist who over four decades painted 1,325 portraits which were regularly published by Vanity Fair, under the pseudonyms "Spy" and "Drawl". The portraits were produced as watercolours and turned into chromolithographs for publication in the magazine. These were then usually reproduced on better paper and sold as prints. Such was his influence in the genre that all Vanity Fair caricatures are sometimes referred to as "Spy cartoons" regardless of who the artist actually was.
Early portraits, almost always full-length (judges at the bench being the main exception), had a stronger element of caricature and usually distorted the proportions of the body, with a very large head and upper body supported on much smaller lower parts. Later, as he became more accepted by his social peers, and in order not to offend potential sitters, his style developed into what he called "characteristic portraits". This was less of a caricature and more of an actual portrait of the subject, using realistic body proportions.[1]