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26 chapters
VOL. I
VOL. I
" If any man should be constantly penetrated with a gift bestowed on him, it is the artist who has realised as his share a genuine love for nature; for his enjoyment, if he puts his gift to usury, increases with the days of his life. " " Every man who has received a gift, ought to feel and act as if he was a field in which a seed was planted that others might gather the harvest. " FREDERIC LEIGHTON. August 1852....
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VOL. II
VOL. II
" I am a workman first, and an official after. "— Fred. Leighton, 1888....
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Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. At the Ballantyne Press
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. At the Ballantyne Press
LORD LEIGHTON From the portrait by G.F. Watts ToList...
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Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. At the Ballantyne Press
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. At the Ballantyne Press
EARLY PORTRAIT OF LORD LEIGHTON From the Painting by G.F. Watts (Photogravure) By permission of the Hon. Lady Leighton-Warren and Sir Bryan Leighton, Bart. ToList...
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VOLUME II
VOLUME II
By G.F. Watts. A wedding gift to H.R.H. The Prince of Wales , who graciously gave permission for the painting to be reproduced in this book. By kind permission of Mrs. Stephenson Clarke . By kind permission of Lord Armstrong . By kind permission of the Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain . Leighton House Collection. Designed as an illustration for Dalziel's Bible. Leighton House Collection. In " Cornhill Magazine ," July 1861. Leighton House Collection. By kind permission of Messrs. Smith, Elder, &a
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PREFACE
PREFACE
Ten years and more have passed since Leighton died, yet it is still difficult to get sufficiently far away, to take in the whole of his life and being in their just proportion to the world in which he lived. When we are in Rome, hemmed in by narrow streets, St. Peter's is invisible; once across that wonderful Campagna and mounting the slopes of Frascati, there, like a huge pearl gleaming in the light, rises the dome of the Mother Church. As distance gives the true relation between a lofty buildi
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ERRATA
ERRATA
Motto facing Title-page, line 3, for "from," read "for." Page xx, No. 49, for "Figures for Ceiling, &c.," read "By kind permission of Sir A. Henderson, Bart." Page 31, line 7, for "at all," read "to all." Page 60, omit note. Page 67, line 31, for "unscorched," read "sunscorched." Page 103, line 31, for "worse that," read "worse than." Page 127, line 16, for "Wasash," read "Warsash." Page 169, line 8, for "Pantaleoni," read "Pantaleone." Page 197, note, for "Vol. I.," read "Vol. II." Page
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INTRODUCTIONToC
INTRODUCTIONToC
Sir William Richmond, R.A. , and Mr. Walter Crane have kindly contributed the following notes:— It was in 1860 that I first knew Leighton. We met over affairs connected with the Artist Rifle Corps at Burlington House, and afterwards at the studios of various artists, where discussions took place regarding the formation and means of conduct of the Corps. On several occasions I walked home with Leighton to his house in Orme Square. I don't think I have ever known a man who grew more steadily than
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INTRODUCTIONToC
INTRODUCTIONToC
In 1860, when Leighton, at the age of thirty, definitely settled in England, art was alive in two distinctly new directions. Ruskin was writing, the Pre-Raphaelites were painting, and Prince Albert, besides encouraging individual painters and sculptors, had, through his fine taste and the exercise of his patronage in every branch of art, developed an interest in good design as it can be carried out in manufactures and various crafts. Leighton followed the Prince Consort's initiatory lead; and, b
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CHAPTER IToC
CHAPTER IToC
In 1858 Leighton was represented on the Royal Academy walls by two pictures, "The Fisherman and the Syren"—a subject from Goethe's ballad, and by a scene from "Romeo and Juliet," both small canvases painted in Rome and in Paris. [8] Leighton at this time received an encouraging letter from Robert Fleury, from whom he had learned much:— Que parlez vous de reconnaissance, mon cher Monsieur Leighton? de l'amitié je le veux bien, et je reçois, à ce titre seulement, le dessin que vous m'avez envoyé.
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CHAPTER IToC
CHAPTER IToC
Some light is thrown on Leighton's ancestry by the following letter, written by Sir Baldwyn Leighton to Sir Albert Woods, Garter, at the time when a peerage was bestowed on Frederic Leighton. It deals with the question of associating the name of Stretton with the Barony. " Tabley House, Knutsford, January 10, 1896. " Dear Sir ,—In answer to yours of January 9, I beg to say that there are two places called Stretton in the County of Salop; one, now known as Church Stretton, having become a small t
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CHAPTER IIToC
CHAPTER IIToC
In 1860 Leighton drew his first illustration for the Cornhill Magazine :— Translation. ] Friday, 30th November 1860. My dear Friend and Master ,—Best thanks for your dear letter of the 7th, thanks also especially, because in your kind praise you do not spare criticism also; you could give me no better proof that you still esteem and love your old pupil. I feel the justice of your remarks about the drapery of the Saviour very much, and can only say in my excuse that I have treated this kind of su
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CHAPTER IIToC
CHAPTER IIToC
The first group of letters from Leighton to his family from Rome tells of his instalment, his projects, his disappointments, his indifferent health, and his eye-troubles. But more important are the views he expresses on his " artistic impressions," and the ideas which force themselves on his mind, resulting from these impressions; the increased anxiety with which he regards the task he has set before him; the "paralysing diffidence" which he feels with regard to "composing." In the letter he wro
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CHAPTER IIIToC
CHAPTER IIIToC
Leighton visited Spain in 1866. There exists apparently no letters or written record of this journey, but he made many sketches remarkable for strong and characteristic colouring. The letter written to Mrs. Mark Pattison in 1879, already quoted, contains an amusing endeavour on Leighton's part to date the various journeys he had made in answer to questions she had asked. "I am sorely perplexed to answer this; I can only approach an answer by a sort of memoria technica . I made studies in Algiers
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CHAPTER IVToC
CHAPTER IVToC
In 1869, the year after his journeyings in Egypt, Leighton was elected a Royal Academician. The picture which he chose as his Diploma work to be deposited in the Academy on his election was the "S. Jerome," one of those few works which reflected the side of his nature about which he was profoundly reserved. Another work of which the same might be said is "Elijah in the Wilderness," painted in 1879. Leighton told a friend he had put more of himself into that picture than into any other he had eve
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CHAPTER IIIToC
CHAPTER IIIToC
No attempt at an appreciation of Leighton's art would be complete were it not to include, and even accentuate, the distinct value of the exquisite drawings of flowers and leaves which he made in pencil and silver point between the years 1852 and 1860. [37] As regards certain all-important qualities these studies are unrivalled. I was well acquainted with the drawings Leighton made for his pictures during the last twenty-five years of his life, and I had oftentimes heard Watts express an unbounde
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CHAPTER IVToC
CHAPTER IVToC
It was in the summer of 1855, in consequence of his father having summoned him suddenly back to England, that Leighton first became known as a notable person to the London world. His picture of "Cimabue's Madonna" had preceded him, and gave him an introduction to the art magnates; while the fact that the Queen had bought it of the young and, till then, unknown artist, raised the curiosity of those to whom the intrinsic value of the work was insignificant, compared to its having received this mar
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CHAPTER VToC
CHAPTER VToC
Leighton was at Lerici in the autumn of 1878, visiting his dear old friend Giovanni Costa ("an artist in a hundred—a man in ten thousand," were Leighton's words describing him), when he received a telegram stating that Sir Francis Grant was dead. "The President is dead! Long live the President!" exclaimed Costa. Leighton remained in Italy, sketching landscapes and painting heads—one, the portrait of Costa—till his holiday was over, the end of October. On the 18th of November he was elected Presi
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CHAPTER VToC
CHAPTER VToC
Leighton's friendships were very salient, vivid interests to him among the varied occupations of his life. In any complete picture of his personality these must take a prominence only secondary to his passion for Art and Beauty,—and for "his second home,"—the land that had cast such a strange spell and charm over him from the early days of childhood,—to his love for his family, and his reverent devotion to his master, Steinle, and to Mrs. Sartoris. To these two inspiring friends and teachers he
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CHAPTER VIToC
CHAPTER VIToC
Already in 1887 his friends noticed that Leighton showed at times that he was overtaxing his strength. On retiring from the Academy as an active member, Mr. George Richmond wrote:— 20 York Street, Portman Square, W., January 13, 1887 . My dear Sir Frederic, —I have just received your most kind and generous note, and thank you and the Council for so promptly complying with my request to retire from the R. Academy as an active member. To do it was much worse than making a will; but, having done it
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CHAPTER VIToC
CHAPTER VIToC
In Mr. Henry Greville's diary we find the following entry:— Thursday, July 24th, 1856. Went on Monday to Hatchford with Leighton, and passed all Tuesday with him and Mrs. Sartoris on St. George's Hills. The day was enchanting, and the Hills in their greatest beauty. Before leaving London in 1856 Leighton wrote to his mother:— London , Wednesday, 1856 . As my stay in London is drawing to a close, and nobody writes to me, I must write to somebody. I am happy to say (for I know it will interest you
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PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSToC
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESSToC
Delivered by Sir F. Leighton , Bart., P.R.A., at the Art Congress, held at Liverpool, December 3rd, 1888 . I cannot but feel that to some of my hearers, and to not a few of those who do not hear me, but whom the words spoken in this place may chance to reach through the Press, some brief explanation is, at the outset, due as to my occupancy of this chair. To them it is known that weighty reasons have for many years compelled me to decline all requests—and those requests have been frequent, urgen
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LORD LEIGHTON'S HOUSEToC
LORD LEIGHTON'S HOUSEToC
Preface To Catalogue Two miles and a quarter from Hyde Park Corner, removed but a few steps from the main thoroughfare between London and Hammersmith, and running parallel to it, is Holland Park Road, facing which stands Lord Leighton's House. "I live in a mews," he used to say. This meant more than a figure of speech merely, though the "mews" in question is very different from a London street mews. Low, odd-shaped, irregular buildings, formerly stables (a few are still used as such), were in Lo
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LIST OF DIGNITIES AND HONOURS CONFERRED ON FREDERIC LEIGHTONToC
LIST OF DIGNITIES AND HONOURS CONFERRED ON FREDERIC LEIGHTONToC
Knighted, 1878; created a Baronet, 1886; created Baron Leighton of Stretton, 1896; elected Associate of the Royal Academy, 1864; Royal Academician, 1869; President of the Royal Academy, 1878; Hon. Member, Royal Scottish Academy, and Royal Hibernian Academy, Associate of the Institute of France, President of the International Jury of Painting, Paris Exhibition, 1878; Hon. Member, Berlin Academy, 1886; also Member of the Royal Academy of Vienna, 1888; Belgium, 1886; of the Academy of St. Luke, Rom
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LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKSToC
LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKSToC
With Date and Place of Exhibition. [93] Corrected and amplified from "Frederic, Lord Leighton, His Life and Work," by Ernest Rhys....
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ERRATA
ERRATA
Page 41, note 2, for "sœür," read "sœur." Page 148, line 21, for "Lindas," read "Lindos." Page 260, line 16, for "Rispah," read "Rizpah." Page 316, line 1, for "altmodish," read "altmodisch." Page 320, line 34, for "men-schlich," read "mensch-lich." Page 301, line 10, for "Gambia Parry," read "Gambier Parry." Typographical errors corrected in text: Note that the date "Friday, 28th" on page 147 is out of order. By checking the dates it clearly should be the 23rd, which is confirmed with the date
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