Beard of the Week LXXIII: Neo-Classical Painting
This week's precisely styled beard belongs to Victorian artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912). This image I've cropped from his famous "Self-Portrait" of 1896. (visible, e.g., here.) I like the short biography at "Olga's Gallery", but perhaps the quick introductory summary from the longer Wikipedia article on Alma-Tadema will serve us here:
Born in Dronrijp, the Netherlands, and trained at the Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there. A classical-subject painter, he became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, with languorous figures set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky.
Universally admired during his lifetime for his superb draftsmanship and depictions of Classical antiquity, he fell into disrepute after his death and only in the last thirty years has his work been reevaluated for its importance within nineteenth-century English art.
I have seen him referred to as "that painter of Victorians in togas", apparently a phrase coined for a 1973 show of paintings by Alma-Tadema at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a fact I deduced from the name of the catalog of the show: Victorians in Togas: Paintings by Sir LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA from the Collection of Allen Funt, March-April 1973 ; catalogue by Christopher Forbes.
It seems that it was an apt title. Alma-Tadema's favorite subjects in his mature works were ancient and classical settings, Egypt and Rome. What they lacked in historic accuracy they made up for with animation, color, and style. For some reproductions of paintings, look here, here, and here.
I've read various descriptions of his style, none of which struck me as quite right until I read that he had admired the pre-Raphaelites (some example paintings). That was the similarity that had struck me in the paintings I had seen: the idealized, quasi-classical scenes of an imagined golden age of humanity painted in high-tone colors. It's not a style I'm terribly fond of, but on the other hand, it's hard to dislike the pre-Raphaelites very much. Alma-Tadema also puts me very much in mind of the paintings of the somewhat peculiar Abbott Thayer.
This all came up because this past weekend our friends Tom and James visited and we went to the National Gallery of Art to see the exhibition "Pompeii and the Roman Villa". There had been much talk about it and it was a very interesting exhibit with a number of interesting artifacts. One of the things we saw there that surprised me was this painting:
It's "A Sculpture Gallery", painted in 1874 by Alma-Tadema. That's Alma-Tadema himself, posing as the art patron with the scarf around his head (and dashing beard), along with members of his family, looking over some Roman antiquities.
This imposing painting was in a separate room, accompanied by reproductions or borrowed examples of 6 of the artifacts shown in the painting. The NGA exhibition page for this gallery notes:
Alma-Tadema’s painting exemplifies the vogue for antiquities that peaked in the nineteenth century. The artist and his family are portrayed as ancient Romans being shown works of art for purchase. Sir Lawrence sits at left and gestures toward his wife, Laura, who stands next to their daughters. Laura’s sister and brother are seated at far left.
Follow the link for more information about the objects and as a way in to the online materials for the entire exhibition, which closes on 22 March.
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on Thursday, 5 March 2009 at 23.36
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Some splendid paintings. I enjoyed viewing them. I don't think I ever
heard of Alma-Tadema before. It seems a shame in a way that with
his gift and impressive skill, Alma-Tadema didn't go for a broader
range of subjects and settings.
on Friday, 6 March 2009 at 22.36
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The muses are unpredictable but iron-willed and suffer no insubordination.
on Monday, 9 March 2009 at 14.00
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Good old Alma-Tadema! I see the Pre-Raphaelite connection now that you mention it. This was fun to read; if only my family portraits were half as interesting.