1887 Three Large Engravings - \"SHRINE OF VENUS\", \"GREEK GIRLS \", \"CLEOPATRA\"

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1887 Three Large Engravings - \"SHRINE OF VENUS\", \"GREEK GIRLS \", \"CLEOPATRA\":
$15.00

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Three double-page engravings of contemporary paintings published in The Illustrated London News Magazine and entitled as follows:
\"The Shrine of Venus\" - by L. Alma Tadema (see below) - dated October 26, 1889
\"Cleopatra\" - by L. Alma Tadema (see below) - dated April 16, 1887
\"Greek Girls Playing at Ball\" - by Sir Frederick Leighton (see below) - not dated but 1892
Good condition - minor binding holes and marks to the borders - see scans. Top border trimmed to one eliminating the date. Blank or unrelated text to the reverse. Central folds as issued. Page size 16 x 22inches.
These are original antique prints and not reproductions . Great collectors item for the art historian - see more of these in Seller\'s Other Items.
NOTE . International mailing is unfortunately expensive - if you buy 3 lots of these large engravings international mail would be free
Lawrence Alma-TademaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaSir Lawrence Alma-TademaBornLourens Alma Tadema
8 January 1836
Dronrijp, NetherlandsDied25 June 1912(aged76)
Wiesbaden,German of Merit
Royal Academician

Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema[ˈlʌurəns ˈɑlmaː ˈtaːdəˌmaː]; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was aDutchpainter of specialBritish denizenship. Born inDronrijp, the Netherlands, and trained at theRoyal Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there. A classical-subject painter, he became famous for his depictions of the luxury anddecadenceof theRoman Empire, with languorous figures set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blueMediterranean Seaand sky. Though admired during his lifetime for his draftsmanship and depictions ofClassical antiquity, his work fell into disrepute after his death, and only since the 1960s has it been re-evaluated for its importance within nineteenth-century English art.

Contents[hide]

• 1Biography
  • 1.1Early life
  • 1.2Move to Belgium
  • 1.3Early works
  • 1.4Move to England
  • 1.5Victorian painter
  • 1.6Personality
  • 1.7Later years
• 2Style
• 3Reputation
• 4References and sources
• 5External links

Biography[edit]Early life[edit]Lourens Alma Tadema\'s birth house and statue inDronrijp, Netherlands

Lourens Alma Tadema was born on 8 January 1836 in the village ofDronrijpin the province ofFrieslandin the north of theNetherlands.[2]The surnameTademais an old Frisianpatronymic, meaning \'son of Tade\', while the namesLourensandAlmacame from his godfather.[3]He was the sixth child of Pieter Jiltes Tadema (1797–1840), the villagenotary, and the third child of Hinke Dirks Brouwer (c.1800–1863). His father had three sons from a previous marriage. His parents\' first child died young, and the second was Atje (c.1834–1876), Lourens\' sister, for whom he had great affection.

The Tadema family moved in 1838 to the nearby city ofLeeuwarden, where Pieter\'s position as a notary would be more lucrative.[2]His father died when Lourens was four, leaving his mother with five children: Lourens, his sister, and three boys from his father\'s first marriage. His mother had artistic leanings, and decided that drawing lessons should be incorporated into the children\'s education. He received his first art training with a local drawing master hired to teach his older half-brothers.

It was intended that the boy would become a lawyer; but in 1851 at the age of fifteen he suffered a physical and mental breakdown. Diagnosed asconsumptiveand given only a short time to live, he was allowed to spend his remaining days at his leisure, drawing and painting. Left to his own devices he regained his health and decided to pursue a career as an artist.[3]

Move to Belgium[edit]

In 1852 he entered theRoyal AcademyofAntwerpinBelgiumwhere he studied early Dutch and Flemish art, underGustaf Wappers. During Alma-Tadema\'s four years as a registered student at the Academy, he won several respectable awards.

The Education of the Children of Clovis(1861), oil on canvas, 127 x 176.8cm,private collection. QueenClotilde, wife of KingClovis, is shown training her three young children the art of hurling the ax to avenge the death of her father.[4]

Before leaving school, towards the end of 1855, he became assistant to the painter and professor Louis (Lodewijk) Jan de Taeye, whose courses in history and historical costume he had greatly enjoyed at the Academy. Although de Taeye was not an outstanding painter, Alma-Tadema respected him and became his studio assistant, working with him for three years. De Taeye introduced him to books that influenced his desire to portrayMerovingiansubjects early in his career. He was encouraged to depict historical accuracy in his paintings, a trait for which the artist became known.

Alma-Tadema left Taeye\'s studio in November 1858 returning to Leeuwarden before settling in Antwerp, where he began working with the painter BaronJan August Hendrik Leys,[5]whose studio was one of the most highly regarded in Belgium. Under his guidance Alma-Tadema painted his first major work:The Education of the children of Clovis(1861). This painting created a sensation among critics and artists when it was exhibited that year at the Artistic Congress in Antwerp. It is said to have laid the foundation of his fame and reputation.[6]Alma-Tadema related that although Leys thought the completed painting better than he had expected, he was critical of the treatment of marble, which he compared to cheese.[6]

Alma-Tadema took this criticism very seriously, and it led him to improve his technique and to become the world\'s foremost painter of marble and variegated granite. Despite any reproaches from his master,The Education of the Children of Cloviswas honorably received by critics and artists alike and was eventually purchased and subsequently given to King Leopold of Belgium.[7]

Early works[edit]EgyptianChessPlayers(1865), oil on wood, 39.8 x 55.8cm. Private collection.

Merovingian themes were the painter\'s favourite subject up to the mid-1860s. It is perhaps in this series that we find the artist moved by the deepest feeling and the strongest spirit of romance. However Merovingian subjects did not have a wide international appeal, so he switched to themes of life in ancientEgyptthat weremore popular. On these scenes of Frankish and Egyptian life Alma-Tadema spent great energy and much research. In 1862 Alma-Tadema left Leys\'s studio and started his own career, establishing himself as a significant classical-subject European artist.

Anna (in front) and Laurence (Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1873)

1863 was to alter the course of Alma-Tadema\'s personal and professional life: on 3 January his invalid mother died, and on 24 September he was married, inAntwerp City Hall, to Marie-Pauline Gressin Dumoulin, the daughter of Eugène Gressin Dumoulin, a French journalist living nearBrussels.[8]Nothing is known of their meeting and little of Pauline herself, as Alma-Tadema never spoke about her after her death in 1869. Her image appears in a number of oils, though he painted her portrait only three times, the most notable appearing inMy studio(1867).[9]The couple had three children. Their eldest and only son lived only a few months dying of smallpox. Their two daughters,Laurence(1864–1940) andAnna(1867–1943), both had artistic leanings: the former in literature, the latter in art. Neither would marry.

Alma-Tadema and his wife spent their honeymoon inFlorence,Rome,NaplesandPompeii. This, his first visit to Italy, developed his interest in depicting the life of ancient Greece and Rome, especially the latter since he found new inspiration in the ruins of Pompeii, which fascinated him and would inspire much of his work in the coming decades.

During the summer of 1864, Tadema metErnest Gambart, the most influential print publisher and art dealer of the period. Gambart was highly impressed with the work of Tadema, who was then paintingEgyptian chess players(1865). The dealer, recognising at once the unusual gifts of the young painter, gave him an order for twenty-four pictures and arranged for three of Tadema\'s paintings to be shown in London.[10]In 1865, Tadema relocated to Brussels where he was named a knight of theOrder of Leopold.

On 28 May 1869, after years of ill health, Pauline died at Schaerbeek, in Belgium, at the age of thirty-two, of smallpox.[11]Her death left Tadema disconsolate and depressed. He ceased painting for nearly four months. His sister Artje, who lived with the family, helped with the two daughters then aged five and two. Artje took over the role of housekeeper and remained with the family until 1873 when she married.[11]

During the summer Tadema himself began to suffer from a medical problem which doctors in Brussels were frustratingly unable to diagnose. Gambart eventually advised him to go to England for another medical opinion. Soon after his arrival in London in December 1869, Alma-Tadema was invited to the home of the painterFord Madox Brown. There he metLaura Theresa Epps, who was seventeen years old, and fell in love with her at first sight.[12]

Move to England[edit]The Tepidarium(1881), oil on panel, 24 x 33cm.Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight. Lounging in theTepidarium, a curvaceous beauty takes her rest

The outbreak of theFranco-Prussian Warin July 1870 compelled Alma-Tadema to leave the continent and move to London. His infatuation with Laura Epps played a great part in his relocation to England and Gambart felt that the move would be advantageous to the artist\'s career. In stating his reasons for the move, Tadema simply said \"I lost my first wife, a French lady with whom I married in 1863, in 1869. Having always had a great predilection for London, the only place where, up till then my work had met with buyers, I decided to leave the continent and go to settle in England, where I have found a true home.\"

With his small daughters and sister Atje, Alma-Tadema arrived in London at the beginning of September 1870. The painter wasted no time in contacting Laura, and it was arranged that he would give her painting lessons. During one of these, he proposed marriage. As he was then thirty-four and Laura was now only eighteen, her father was initially opposed to the idea. Dr Epps finally agreed on the condition that they should wait until they knew each other better. They married in July 1871. Laura, under her married name, also won a high reputation as an artist, and appears in numerous of Alma-Tadema\'s canvases after their marriage (The Women of Amphissa(1887) being a notable example). This second marriage was enduring and happy, though childless, and Laura became stepmother to Anna and Laurence. Anna became a painter and Laurence became a novelist.[13]

He would initially adopt the nameLaurence Alma Tademainstead ofLourens Alma Tademaand later adopt the more EnglishLawrencefor his forename, and incorporateAlmainto his surname so that he appeared at the beginning of exhibition catalogues, under \"A\" rather than under \"T\".[3]He did not actually hyphenate his last name, but it was done by others and this has since become the convention.[14]

Victorian painter[edit]The Roses of Heliogabalus(1888), oil on canvas, 132.1 x 213.7cm, private collection. As it was painted during the winter, Tadema arranged to have roses sent weekly from theFrench Rivierafor four months to ensure the accuracy of eachpetal.Unconscious Rivals, (1893), oil on panel,45 x 63 cm,BristolCity Museum and Art Gallery. Alma-Tadema\'s female figures have a slightly bored pleasure-seeking attitude, as if they were pampered courtesans.[15]There is little action in Alma-Tadema\'s paintings; here the two women are just probably waiting for a lover. The composition is balanced by the flowers in bloom.

After his arrival in England, where he was to spend the rest of his life, Alma-Tadema\'s career was one of continued success. He became one of the most famous and highly paid artists of his time, acknowledged and rewarded. By 1871 he had met and befriended most of the majorPre-Raphaelitepainters and it was in part due to their influence that the artist brightened his palette, varied his hues, and lightened his brushwork.

In 1872 Alma-Tadema organised his paintings into an identification system by including an opus number under his signature and assigning his earlier pictures numbers as well.Portrait of my sister, Artje, painted in 1851, is numbered opus I, while two months before his death he completedPreparations in the Coliseum, opus CCCCVIII. Such a system would make it difficult for fakes to be passed off as originals.[16]

In 1873Queen Victoriain Councilbyletters patentmade Alma-Tadema and his wife what are now the last BritishDenizens(the legal process has theoretically not yet been abolished in the United Kingdom), with some limited special rights otherwise only accorded to and enjoyed by British subjects (what would now be called British citizens). The previous year he and his wife made a journey on the Continent that lasted five and a half months and took them through Brussels, Germany, and Italy. In Italy they were able to take in the ancient ruins again; this time he purchased several photographs, mostly of the ruins, which began his immense collection of folios with archival material sufficient for the documentation used in the completion of future paintings. In January 1876, he rented a studio in Rome. The family returned to London in April, visiting the Parisian Salon on their way back. In London he regularly met with fellow-artistEmil Fuchs.[17][18]

Among the most important of his pictures during this period wasAn Audience at Agrippa\'s(1876). When an admirer of the painting offered to pay a substantial sum for a painting with a similar theme, Alma-Tadema simply turned the emperor around to show him leaving inAfter the Audience.

On 19 June 1879, Alma-Tadema was made a full Academician, his most personally important award. Three years later a major retrospective of his entire oeuvre was organised at the Grosvenor Gallery in London, including 185 of his pictures.

In 1883 he returned to Rome and, most notably,Pompeii, where further excavations had taken place since his last visit. He spent a significant amount of time studying the site, going there daily. These excursions gave him an ample source of subject matter as he began to further his knowledge of daily Roman life. At times, however, he integrated so many objects into his paintings that some said they resembled museum catalogues.

One of his most famous paintings isThe Roses of Heliogabalus(1888) – based on an episode from the life of the debauchedRoman EmperorElagabalus(Heliogabalus), the painting depicts the Emperor suffocating his guests at an orgy under a cascade of rosepetals. The blossoms depicted were sent weekly to the artist\'s London studio from the Riviera for four months during the winter of 1887–1888.

Among Alma-Tadema\'s works of this period are:An Earthly Paradise(1891),Unconscious Rivals(1893)Spring(1894),The Coliseum(1896) andThe Baths of Caracalla(1899). Although Alma-Tadema\'s fame rests on his paintings set in Antiquity, he also painted portraits, landscapes and watercolours, and made someetchingshimself (although many more were made of his paintings by others).

Personality[edit]Spring, (1894), oil on canvas,179.2 x 80.3cm, J. PaulGetty Museum, Los Angeles. It depicts thefestival of Cerealiain a Roman street. One of Tadema\'s most famous and popular works, it took him four years to complete. The models for many of the participants and spectators were Tadema\'s friends and members of his family[19]

For all the quiet charm and erudition of his paintings, Alma-Tadema himself preserved a youthful sense of mischief. He was childlike in his practical jokes and in his sudden bursts of bad temper, which could as suddenly subside into an engagingsmile.

In his personal life, Alma-Tadema was an extrovert and had a remarkably warm personality.[20]He had most of the characteristics of a child, coupled with the admirable traits of a consummate professional. A perfectionist, he remained in all respects a diligent, if somewhat obsessive and pedantic worker. He was an excellent businessman, and one of the wealthiest artists of the nineteenth century. Alma-Tadema was as firm in money matters as he was with the quality of his work.[21]

As a man, Lawrence Alma-Tadema was a robust, fun loving and rather portly gentleman. There was not a hint of the delicate artist about him; he was a cheerful lover of wine, women and parties.

Later years[edit]

Alma-Tadema\'s output decreased with time, partly on account of health, but also because of his obsession with decorating his new home, to which he moved in 1883. Nevertheless, he continued to exhibit throughout the 1880s and into the next decade, receiving a plentiful amount of accolades along the way, including the medal of Honour at theParis Exposition Universelle of 1889, election to an honorary member of the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1890, the Great Gold Medal at theInternational Exposition in Brussels of 1897. In 1899 he wasKnightedin England, only the eighth artist from the Continent to receive the honour. Not only did he assist with the organisation of the British section at the1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, he also exhibited two works that earned him the Grand Prix Diploma. He also assisted with theSt. Louis World\'s Fair of 1904where he was well represented and received.

Portrait of Alma Tadema

During this time, Alma-Tadema was very active with theatre design and production, designing many costumes. He also spread his artistic boundaries and began to design furniture, often modelled after Pompeian or Egyptian motifs, illustrations, textiles, and frame making. His diverse interests highlight his talents. Each of these exploits were used in his paintings, as he often incorporated some of his designed furniture into the composition, and must have used many of his own designs for the clothing of his female subjects. Through his last period of creativity Alma-Tadema continued to produce paintings, which repeat the successful formula of women in marble terraces overlooking the sea such as inSilver Favourites(1903).[22]Between 1906 and his death six years later, Alma-Tadema painted less but still produced ambitious paintings likeThe Finding of Moses(1904).[23]

On 15 August 1909 Alma-Tadema\'s wife, Laura, died at the age of fifty-seven. The grief-stricken widower outlived his second wife by less than three years. His last major composition wasPreparation in the Coliseum (1912).[24]In the summer of 1912, Alma Tadema was accompanied by his daughter Anna to Kaiserhof Spa,Wiesbaden, Germany where he was to undergo treatment for ulceration of the stomach.[25]He died there on 28 June 1912 at the age of seventy-six. He was buried in a crypt inSt Paul\'s Cathedralin London.[25]

Style[edit]Silver Favourites, 1903, oil on wood, 69.1 x 42.2cm,Manchester Art Gallery. An example of Alma-Tadema\'s contrasting gleaming white marble against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea.[26]The artist obliterated the middle-ground, and the foreground is abruptly juxtaposed with the distant horizon, creating a dramatic effect.[27]

Alma-Tadema\'s works are remarkable for the way in which flowers, textures and hard reflecting substances, like metals, pottery, and especially marble, are painted – indeed, his realistic depiction of marble led him to be called the \'marbellous painter\'. His work shows much of the fine execution and brilliant colour of the old Dutch masters. By the human interest with which he imbues all his scenes from ancient life he brings them within the scope of modern feeling, and charms us with gentle sentiment and playfulness.

From early in his career, Alma-Tadema was particularly concerned with architectural accuracy, often including objects that he would see at museums – such as theBritish Museumin London – in his works. He also read many books and took many images from them. He amassed an enormous number of photographs from ancient sites in Italy, which he used for the most precise accuracy in the details of his compositions.

Alma-Tadema was a perfectionist. He worked assiduously to make the most of his paintings, often repeatedly reworking parts of paintings before he found them satisfactory to his own high standards. One humorous story relates that one of his paintings was rejected and instead of keeping it, he gave the canvas to a maid who used it as her table cover. He was sensitive to every detail and architectural line of his paintings, as well as the settings he was depicting. For many of the objects in his paintings, he would depict what was in front of him, using fresh flowers imported from across the continent and even from Africa, rushing to finish the paintings before the flowers died. It was this commitment to veracity that earned him recognition but also caused many of his adversaries to take up arms against his almost encyclopaedic works.

Alma-Tadema\'s work has been linked with that of European Symbolist painters.[28]As an artist of international reputation, he can be cited as an influence on European figures such asGustav KlimtandFernand Khnopff.[28]Both painters incorporate classical motifs into their works and use Alma-Tadema\'s unconventional compositional devices such as abrupt cut-off at the edge of the canvas. They, like Alma-Tadema, also employ coded imagery to convey meaning to their paintings.[28]

Reputation[edit]The Finding of Moses, 1904, oil on canvas, 137.7 x 213.4cm, private collection. It includes a number of archaeologically precise objects and inscriptions, the results of Tadema\'s diligent research. After Tadema spent two years working on the painting, his wife pointed out wryly that the infant Moses was now a toddler, and need no longer be carried.[29]This painting completed in 1881, depicts Sappho and her companions listening as the poet Alcaeus plays a kithara, on the island of Lesbos (Mytilene).[30](Walters Art Museum)An Eloquent Silence, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Alma-Tadema was among the most financially successful painters of the Victorian era, though never matchingEdwin Henry Landseer. For over sixty years he gave his audience exactly what they wanted: distinctive, elaborate paintings of beautiful people in classical settings. His incredibly detailed reconstructions of ancient Rome, with languid men and women posed against white marble in dazzling sunlight provided his audience with a glimpse of a world of the kind they might one day construct for themselves at least in attitude if not in detail. As with other painters, the reproduction rights for prints were often worth more than the canvas, and a painting with its rights still attached may have been sold to Gambart for £10,000 in 1874; without rights it was sold again in 1903, when Alma-Tadema\'s prices were actually higher, for £2,625. Typical prices were between £2,000 and £3,000 in the 1880s, but at least three works sold for between £5,250 and £6,060 in the 1900s. Prices held well until the general collapse of Victorian prices in the early 1920s, when they fell to the hundreds, where they remained until the 1960s; by 1969 £4,600 had been reached again (the huge effect of inflation must of course be remembered for all these figures).[31]

The last years of Alma-Tadema\'s life saw the rise of which he heartily disapproved. As his pupilJohn Collierwrote, \'it is impossible to reconcile the art of Alma-Tadema with that style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">His artistic legacy almost vanished. As attitudes of the public in general and the artists in particular became more sceptical of the possibilities of human achievement, his paintings were increasingly denounced. He was declared \"the worst painter of the 19th century\" byJohn Ruskin, and one critic even remarked that his paintings were \"about worthy enough to adorn bourbon boxes.\" After this brief period of being actively derided, he was consigned to relative obscurity for many years. Only since the 1960s has Alma-Tadema\'s work been re-evaluated for its importance within the nineteenth century, and more specifically, within the evolution of English art.

Portrait ofIgnacy Jan Paderewski, 1891, Oil on canvas, 45.7 × 58.4cm,National Museum, Warsaw. In his portraits he employed psychological realism to reveal the sitter\'s personality.

He is now regarded[by whom?]as one of the principal classical-subject painters of the nineteenth century whose works demonstrate the care and exactitude of an era mesmerised by trying to visualise the past, some of which was being recovered through archaeological research.

Alma-Tadema\'s meticulous archaeological research, including research into Roman architecture (which was so thorough that every building featured in his canvases could have been built using Roman tools and methods) led to his paintings being used as source material by Hollywood directors in their vision of the ancient world for films such asD. W. Griffith\'sIntolerance(1916),Ben Hur(1926),Cleopatra(1934), and most notably of all,Cecil B. DeMille\'s epic remake ofThe Ten Commandments(1956).[32]Indeed,Jesse Lasky Jr., the co-writer onThe Ten Commandments, described how the director would customarily spread out prints of Alma-Tadema paintings to indicate to his set designers the look he wanted to achieve. The designers of the Oscar-winning Roman epicGladiatorused the paintings of Alma-Tadema as a central source of inspiration.[33]Alma-Tadema\'s paintings were also the inspiration for the design of the interior of Cair Paravel castle in the 2005 filmThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.[34]

In 1962, New York art dealerRobert Isaacsonmounted the first show of Alma-Tadema\'s work in fifty years;[35][36]by the late 1960s, the revival of interest in Victorian painting gained impetus, and a number of well-attended exhibitions were held.[37]Allen Funt, the creator and host of the American version of the television showCandid Camera, was a collector of Alma-Tadema paintings at a time when the artist\'s reputation in the 20th century was at its nadir;[38]in a relatively few years he bought 35 works, about ten percent of Alma-Tadema\'s output. After Funt was robbed by his accountant (who subsequently committed suicide), he was forced to sell his collection at Sotheby\'s in London in November 1973.[39]From this sale, the interest in Alma-Tadema was re-awakened.[citation needed]

In 1960, the Newman Gallery firstly tried to sell, then give away (without success) one of his most celebrated works,The Finding of Moses(1904). The initial purchaser had paid £5,250 for it on its completion, and subsequent sales were for £861 in 1935, £265 in 1942, and it was \"bought in\" at £252 in 1960 (having failed to meet its reserve),[40]but when the same picture was saleed at Christies in New York in May 1995, it sold for £1.75 million. On 4 November 2010 it was sold for $35,922,500 to an undisclosed buyer atSotheby\'sNew York, a new record for the artist and a Victorian painting.[41]On 5 May 2011 his \"The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra: 41 BC\" was sold at the same sale house for $29.2 million.[42]

Ablue plaqueunveiled in 1975 commemorates Alma-Tadema at 44 Grove End Road,St John\'s Wood, his home from 1886 until his death in 1912.[43][44][45]

Frederic LeightonFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe Right Honourable
The Lord Leighton
PRASelf portrait of Leighton (1880)Born3 December 1830
Scarborough, England,United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandDied25 January 1896(aged65)
London, EnglandEducationEduard von SteinleKnownforPainting and sculptureNotable workFlaming de Rome,Légion d\'honneur

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron LeightonPRA(3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known asSir Frederic Leightonbetween 1878 and 1896, was an English painter and sculptor. His works depicted historical,biblical, andclassicalsubject matter. Leighton was bearer of the shortest-livedpeeragein history; after only one day his hereditary peerage became extinct upon his death.[1]

Contents[hide]

• 1Biography
  • 1.1Honours timeline
• 2Selected works
• 3Gallery
• 4See also
• 5Notes
• 6References
• 7External links

Biography[edit]Flaming June(1895;Museo de Arte de Ponce).After Vespers(1871;Princeton University Art Museum)

Leighton was born inScarboroughto Augusta Susan and Dr. Frederic Septimus Leighton. He had two sisters includingAlexandrawho wasRobert Browning\'s biographer.[2]He was educated atUniversity College School, London. He then received his artistic training on the European continent, first fromEduard von Steinleand then fromGiovanni Costa. At age 17, in the summer of 1847, he met the philosopherArthur Schopenhauerin Frankfurt and painted his portrait, in graphite and gouache on paper—the only known full-length study of Schopenhauer done from life.[3]When he was 24 he was inFlorence; he studied at theAccademia di Belle Arti, and painted the procession of theCimabueMadonna through the Borgo Allegri. From 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he style=\"margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with thePre-Raphaelites. He designedElizabeth Barrett Browning\'s tomb forRobert Browningin theEnglish Cemetery, Florencein 1861. In 1864 he became an associate of theRoyal Academyand in 1878 he became its President (1878–96). His 1877 sculpture,Athlete Wrestling with a Python, was considered at its time to inaugurate a renaissance in contemporary British sculpture, referred to as theNew Sculpture. American art criticEarl Shinnclaimed at the time that \"Except Leighton, there is scarce any one capable of putting up a correct frescoed figure in the archway of the Kensington Museum.\"[4]His paintings represented Britain at the great1900 Paris Exhibition.

Leighton wasknightedatWindsorin 1878,[5]and was created a baronet, of Holland Park Road in the Parish ofSt Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, eight years later.[6]He was the first painter to be given apeerage, in the New Year Honours List of 1896. The patent creating himBaron Leighton, ofStrettonin the County of Shropshire, was issued on 24 January 1896;[7]Leighton died the next day ofangina pectoris.

Sir Frederick Leighton byGeorge Frederic Watts

Leighton remained a bachelor and rumours of his having an illegitimate child with one of his models in addition to the supposition that Leighton may have been homosexual continue to be debated today.[8]He certainly enjoyed an intense and romantically tinged relationship with the poetHenry William Grevillewhom he met in Florence in 1856.[9]The older man showered Leighton in letters, but the romantic affection seems not to have been reciprocated. Enquiry is furthermore hindered by the fact that Leighton left no diaries and his letters are telling in their lack of reference to his personal circumstances. No definite primary evidence has yet come to light that effectively dispels the secrecy that Leighton built up around himself, although it is clear that he did court a circle of younger men around his artistic studio.[8]

After his death hisBaronywas extinguished after existing for only a day; this is a record in thePeerage. His house inHolland Park, London has been turned into a museum, theLeighton House Museum. It contains many of his drawings and paintings, as well as some of his former art collection including works byOld Mastersand his contemporaries such as a painting dedicated to Leighton bySir John Everett Millais. The house also features many of Leighton\'s inspirations, including his collection of Iznik tiles. Its centrepiece is the magnificent Arab Hall. The Hall is featured in issue ten ofCornucopia.[10]Ablue plaquecommemorates Leighton at Leighton House Museum.[11]

Leighton was an enthusiastic volunteer soldier, enrolling with the first group to join the 38th Middlesex (Artists)Rifle volunteers(later to be known as TheArtists Rifles) on 5 October 1860.

Sir Frederick Leighton, later in his career.

His qualities of leadership were immediately identified, and he was promoted to command A Company within a few months. On 6 January 1869CaptainLeighton was elected to command The Artists Rifles by a general meeting of the corps. In the same year he was promoted to major and in 1875 tolieutenant colonel. Leighton resigned ascommanding officerin 1883. The painterJames Whistlerfamously described the then, Sir Frederic Leighton, the commanding officer of The Artists Rifles, as the: “Colonel of the Royal Academy and the President of the Artists Rifles – aye, and he paints a little!\" At his funeral, on 3 February 1896, his coffin was carried intoSt Paul\'s Cathedral, past aguard of honourformed by The Artists Rifles.[12]

Honours timeline[edit]

• 1864 – Associate of theRoyal Academy
• 1868 – Royal AcademyAcademician
• 1878 – President of the Royal Academy
• 1878 –Légion d\'honneurOfficer
• 1878 –Knight Bachelor
• 1886 – Created a baronet in theBaronetage of the United Kingdom
• 1889 – Associate member of theInstitute of France
• 1896 – Created a baron in thePeerage of the United Kingdom

Selected works[edit]Cimabue\'s Celebrated Madonnais carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence, 1853–1855Daphnephoria, oil on canvas painting, 1874–1876,Lady Lever Art Gallery

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1887 Three Large Engravings - \"SHRINE OF VENUS\", \"GREEK GIRLS \", \"CLEOPATRA\":
$15.00