Lord Frederic Leighton b. December 3, 1830 Lord Frederic Leighton was one of the most famous British artists of the nineteenth century. The recipient of many national and international awards and honors, he was well acquainted with members of the royal family and with most of the great artists, writers and politicians of the late Victorian era. Leighton succeeded in becoming eminent in art with Queen Victoria buying his first painting in 1855 and in 1878 he reached the pinnacle of his profession, becoming the President of the Royal Academy of Arts. He never married and just before his death from heart failure in 1896, he was ennobled, becoming Frederic, Lord Leighton, Baron of Stretton. He is the only British artist to have been awarded this honor and is buried in St. Pauls Cathedral. Leighton preferred to paint subject matter that was connected to ancient Greek and Roman mythology. He intended for his paintings to be visually beautiful, and his work then and now has a reputation for luminous colours and solidly drawn figures. Leightons contemporaries included the French Impressionist painters and he would have seen the work of Monet, Renoir and others in both Paris and London.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:45:37 +0000