Edmund Leighton Explained

Edmund Leighton should not be confused with Frederic Leighton.

Edmund Leighton
Birth Name:Edmund Blair Leighton
Birth Date:21 September 1852
Birth Place:London, England
Death Place:London, England
Nationality:British
Field:Painting

Edmund Blair Leighton (21 September 1852 – 1 September 1922) was an English painter of historical genre scenes, specialising in Regency and medieval subjects. His art is associated with the pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-to-late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[1]

Biography

Leighton was the son of the artist Charles Blair Leighton (1823–1855) and Caroline Leighton (née Boosey). He was educated at University College School, leaving at 15 to work for a tea merchant. Wishing to study art, he went to evening classes in South Kensington and then to Heatherley's School in Newman Street, London. Aged 21, he entered the Royal Academy Schools. Among his first commissions were monochrome illustrations for Cassell's Magazine and its Book of British Ballads. His first painting to be exhibited at the Royal Academy was A Flaw in the Title in 1874; it sold for £200. He soon gave up "black and white" illustrations, working for the rest of his career in oil on canvas. He married Katherine Nash in 1885; they had a son, the painter E. J. Blair Leighton, and a daughter. He exhibited annually at the Royal Academy until 1920.

Leighton was a fastidious craftsman, producing highly finished, decorative historical paintings. These were romanticised scenes, often of chivalry and women in medieval dress with a popular appeal.[2] It would appear that he left no diaries, and though he exhibited at the Royal Academy for over forty years, he was never an Academician or an Associate.

Works

Among Leighton's other works are:

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: de La Sizeranne, Robert . The Pre-Raphaelites . Parkstone Press International . 2008 . 24.
  2. Web site: In Time of Peril . Auckland Art Gallery . 18 January 2021 . Edmund Blair Leighton specialised in the historical genre that stood at the apex of the academic system, edifying audiences with scenes of chivalry as well as entertaining them with glimpses of Lady Godiva..
  3. Web site: Un Gage d'Amour . Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki . 12 August 2012 . 6 October 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006073822/http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/the-collection/browse-artwork/1598/un-gage-d-amour . dead .
  4. Web site: Conquest . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924132948/http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/british-irish-art-l13132/lot.20.lotnum.html . dead . 24 September 2015 . Sotheby's .
  5. Listed at Bridgeman Art Library .
  6. Web site: Waiting for the Coach . Manchester City Galleries – Search the collection .
  7. Web site: Adieu painting . Manchester City Galleries – Search the collection .
  8. Web site: Visitor Information Guide . https://web.archive.org/web/20070710094108/http://www.cardiffcityhall.com/Cardiff%20City%20Hall%20Guide%202006.pdf . dead . 10 July 2007 . Cardiff City Hall . 2006 .
  9. Web site: After Service by Edmund Leighton . leicestergalleries.com .

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