When Oscar Wilde saw Ellen Terry step out of a carriage in Tite Street dressed as Lady Macbeth (she was sitting for John Singer Sargent), he called it a street “full of wonderful possibilities.” Whistler, who lived just down the road, called it “the birthplace of art.”

Wilde was based in Tite Street for over a decade and wrote all his great plays here, from “Lady Windermere’s Fan” to “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Sargent left Paris under a cloud in 1885 and made Tite Street his home for the next 40 years. He painted some of his finest work here, and became the most sought-after portraitist in England.

Many came to Tite Street to visit, create, and sit for their portraits—including Henry James, Lillie Langtry, the Prince of Wales, and (ironically) the judge who sent Wilde to prison. Whistler also took on the establishment while he lived in Tite Street, famously suing John Ruskin for libelling his art. Explore Bohemia in Chelsea, with some of the finest artists as your guides. This course covers all the big names and their intriguing neighbours as well.