This is a summary of an article published as Marland, R., & Maier-Sigrist, W. (2026) ‘Persistently and eternally delightful’: letters from Oscar Wilde to Louise Jopling, The Wildean, 68, 3–42.
Self-portrait by Louise Jane Jopling R.B.A. (1934.2), Manchester City Galleries.
The artist Louise Jopling was one of Oscar Wilde’s closest friends during his early years in London. As well as being a respected painter of portraits and genre pictures, Jopling hosted a weekly artistic gathering at her Chelsea studio. For the young Wilde, these gatherings were an important platform for establishing his reputation as a society wit.
Most of what is known about the Wilde–Jopling friendship comes from Jopling’s 1925 memoirs. There are no letters from Wilde to Jopling in Wilde’s Complete Letters.
In an article in the January 2026 issue of The Wildean, Wolfgang Maier-Sigrist and I published for the first time eight letters from Wilde to Jopling that are held at the archives of the University of Glasgow. When Wolfgang informed me that these letters had been deposited at the university by Jopling’s heirs, I was so excited that I booked the next train to Glasgow. The trip was worth it.
In one letter, Wilde says that Jopling’s ‘evenings are the most charming things in London, my only regret is that there are not seven Mondays in every week!’ In another he wonders how Jopling manages ‘to be so persistently and eternally delightful?’ He writes to express his grief at the death of Jopling's husband; to recommend one of his lovers, Fred Althaus, for a theatrical event Jopling was organising; and to introduce two Irish women who wished to study art with Jopling.
Before visiting Oxford to attend a lecture by the art critic John Ruskin, Jopling asked Wilde for a letter of introduction to his former tutor. Wilde obliged, but Jopling was too nervous to hand Ruskin the letter. This is good news for us, because it means that the letter has survived: there are only two other known letters from Wilde to Ruskin, as Ruskin’s heirs were anxious to obliterate records of the relationship between the two men. Wilde describes Jopling to Ruskin as ‘lovely and loveable’ and signs himself ‘affectionately and admiringly yours’.
Guests at a party at the home of the Palmer family. Wilde is second from left on the back row. Jopling is seated at left. This photograph was reproduced in Jopling’s memoirs.
As a bonus, Wolfgang and I were also able to publish for the first time a previously unknown photograph of Wilde, which was taken at a party at the home of the Palmer family (of Huntley & Palmers Biscuits). Wilde scholars were already aware of three other photographs taken during this session. Two have survived. A third has not, and we only know about it because Jopling described it in her book. While the photographer was posing the guests conventionally, Jopling said: ‘Oh, do let us get up a scene! I will make love to Oscar, and you must all be shocked!’ Jopling later showed the resulting photograph to Wilde's wife Constance, who had not attended the party. Constance looked at it for a minute and then said: ‘Poor Oscar!’
Although Jopling achieved success in her lifetime, she was not inducted into the canon of British art like many of her male contemporaries. Only in 2024 did the Tate acquire one of her pictures for the national collection.