Lord Frederic Leighton

Amongst the finest of his classical pictures were:
* Syracusan Bride leading Wild Beasts in Procession to the Temple of Diana (1866),
* Venus disrobing for the Bath (1867),
* Death of Brunelleschi (1852), oil on canvas
* The Fisherman and the Siren, c. 1856 - 1858 (66.3 x 48.7 cm)
* The Discovery of Juliet Apparently Lifeless (c.1858)
* The Villa Malta, Rome (1860s), oil on canvas
* The Painter's Honeymoon, c. 1864 (83.8 x 77.5 cm)
* Mother and Child, c. 1865, (48.2 x 82 cm)
* Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore (1868), oil on canvas, (57.2 x 102.2 cm) National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
* Daedalus and Icarus, c. 1869, (138.2 x 106.5 cm)
* Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis (1869-71) (132.4 x 265.4 cm)
* Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea, 1871 (84 x 129.5 cm)
* Music Lesson, c. 1877, (92.8 x 118.1 cm)
* An Athlete Wrestling with a Python (1877), bronze sculpture
* Nausicaa, c. 1878 (145 x 67 cm)
* Winding the Skein, c. 1878, (100.3 x 161.3 cm)
* Light of the Harem, c. 1880, (152.4 x 83.8 cm)
* Wedded, (c. 1881 - 1882) (145.4 x 81 cm)
* Captive Andromache, c. 1888 (197 x 406.5 cm)
* The Bath of Psyche, (c. 1889%u221290) (189.2 x 62.2 cm) Tate Gallery
* The Garden of the Hesperides, c. 1892, (169 x 169 cm)
* Flaming June (1895), oil on canvas, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico (120.6 x 120.6 cm)
* 'The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Fresco)'
* The armlet
* Phoebe (55.88 x 60.96 cm)
* A Bather

Below, Leighton's Garden of the Hesperides

Frederic Leighton received his Art education at the University College School London. He also received legal education on the European continent, first from Edward von Steinle and then from Giovanni Costa. Ay age 24, while in Florence, Italy, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti, he painted the procession of the Cimabue Madonna through the Borgo Allegri. He lived in Paris from 1855 to 1859, where he met such great contemporary painters as Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet and Picasso. In 1860, Leighton moved to London, England, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelite painters. He designed Elizabeth Barrett Browning's tomb for Robert Browning in the 'English' Cemetery, Florence, in 1861. In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its President (1878-96). His paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition.

The rich colors and his brilliant handling of fabrics and drapery show a skill and experience few could match. Leighton noted "Combination of expressed motion and rest [are the] source of fascination in drapery - wayward flow & ripple like a living water together with absolute repose". The painting below is entitled: The Maiden with the Golden Hair (1895)

Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878, and was created a baronet eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a peerage, in the New Year Honours List of 1896. I think he deserved the noble title more than some of the aristocrats who have created nothing meaningful throughout their life-time, if we for once don't count the speed of going through their inheritance and surrounding themselves with luxury they have never worked for. The patent making Leighton into Baron Leighton of Stretton in the County of Shropshire, was issued on 24 January 1896. Unfortunately, Leighton died the next day of angina pectoris (a heart condition).

Because he never married, after his death his Barony was extinguished after existing for only a day; this is an all-time record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London then became a museum, known today as "The Leighton House Museum." Many of his drawings and paintings, as well as some of his sculptures (including Athlete Wrestling with a Python) are exhibited in the museum. Its centerpiece is the magnificent Arab Hall. The house also features many of Leighton's inspirations, including his collection of Iznik tiles. Iznik is a lovely walled town on the shores of Lake Iznik in Turkey. This is the ancient Nicea [= N-IKEA], named after Nikaia, wife of Lysimakhos, one of the rulers who inherited the empire of Alexander the Great. One can easily see why Leighton felt attracted to the warm and bright colors of these tiles. You can see a few examples for Iznik tiles below:

To read more about Iznik and Iznik tiles, please visit my lens at http://www.squidoo.com/Iznik or click the link on the right side bar of this lens.

Leighton House Museum is the former studio-house of the great Victorian artist Lord Frederic Leighton (1830-1896). The museum is found just outside of London's Holland Park. Leighton's house is one of the most extraordinary and fascinating buildings of the 19th century English Architecture.

The sumptuous interiors include an exhibition of famous paintings by Leighton and contemporary 19th century masters, such as John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones and George Frederick Watts.

The Museum offers a rare glimpse into Leighton's private life and nurtures the understanding and appreciation of Victorian Art and Architecture.

After the decades of ignoring Leighton's mastery, his talent and lifetime accomplishments have finally achieved permanent attention, and afforded him with a place rightfully earned among the cream of the cream Artists. Leighton House Museum, with a unique atmosphere dedicated to Middle Eastern and European culture, will now become a major teaching center, funded by a £47,800 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund of England (HLF).

Leighton House Museum is open daily except Tuesdays from 11am to 5.30pm. The House is open on Spring and Summer bank holidays but closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day

1895

1863 - 64

1864 - 65

1877

1877 (detail)

a>