ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Lord Frederic Leighton, 1830-1896

Frederic Leighton was a prominent figure in Academic art of the nineteenth century, holding the title of the President of the Royal Academy at Burlington House in London from 1878 to 1896. He studied primarily in continental Europe and developed an aesthetically-focused style inspired by classical antiquity (see Music and Perseus and Andromeda). Leighton was awarded numerous international awards during his lifetime, but he was hugely unlucky with his noble status: he died aged 65 the day after being given the title of Baron Leighton. This makes his peerage the shortest lived ever. Now that is impressive!

In 1864, Leighton began the planning and construction of his house in London, which took around thirty years to complete. I visited it just a couple of weeks ago and it really is one of the most beautiful examples of interior decoration I have ever seen. Leighton was an avid collector of both Iznik ceramics and textiles from across the Mediterranean and Middle East, and his stunning personal collection can be seen for just a small entrance fee. The peacock-blue William de Morgan tiles, William Morris wallpaper and interior floor fountain were some of my favourite features of the house. Go there if you can!

Bacchante by Lord Frederic Leighton, 1895. Bacchantes were the female followers of Bacchus, the god of wine and harvests, in Roman mythology. They were known as maenads in Greek mythology, where Bacchus’ counterpart was Dionysus.

Study of Hills by Lord Frederic Leighton, 1879. Leighton uses richness of colour to emphasise the definition between foreground, middle ground and background of this hilly landscape.

Flaming June by Lord Frederic Leighton, 1895. When researching art, Wikipedia is only usually any good for dates and locations. However, every now and again theres a snippet of information that is really quite interesting. For example here, the Oleander tree branch in the top right is a poisonous specimen and symbolises the closeness between deep sleep and death. Pretty sinister!

Music Lesson by Lord Frederic Leighton, 1887. I like the Renaissance-inspired triangular composition here, as well as the intimacy of the moment. The girls are completely unaware of the presence of the viewer.