The Deluge

1830s

Turns to portraiture and still life

In the 1830s Etty began to branch out into the more lucrative but less respected field of portraiture, and later became the first English painter to paint significant still lifes. He continued to paint both male and female nudes, which drew severe criticism and condemnation from parts of the press.

1835

Betsy signs a pledge never to leave him

Fearing that Betsy would marry and leave his service, Etty went so far in 1835 as to have her sign an affidavit that she would never leave him.

1838

At the opening of Pugin’s chapel at Oscott

Etty was one of the few non-Catholics to attend the opening of Augustus Pugin’s chapel for St Mary’s College, Oscott, then England’s most important Catholic building. He never formally left his Methodist faith but was deeply attached to the Catholic Church.

1840 and 1841

Pilgrimage to the Netherlands

In 1840 and again in 1841 Etty made a pilgrimage to the Netherlands to study the paintings of the Dutch masters, including Rubens, in the country’s churches and public galleries.

1840s

The prolific and profitable 1840s

Etty was prolific and commercially successful throughout the 1840s, but the quality of his work deteriorated over this period.

1843–1845

His brother Charles returns from Java

In 1843 Etty’s younger brother Charles, a successful planter in Java, returned to England after more than 30 years abroad. William became deeply suspicious that Betsy was growing too close to Charles, a suspicion that intensified when Charles took her on a visit to Holland and the Rhine; Charles returned to Java in 1845.