Archives

Christchurch Priory on the Avon and Stour, Hampshire

August 9, 2022

Christchurch Priory on the Avon and Stour, Hampshire William Parrott was born in Aveley, Essex, and was the son of a farmer. He lived briefly in Paris and then Rome, and travelled round Germany, Brittany and Normandy. He was a painter of landscapes, urban scenes, architectural views and figures. He was also a lithographer, and […]

A Lion’s Head

May 31, 2022

A Lion’s Head Exotic animals, such as this magnificent lion, were extremely popular subject matter for Victorian artists. As well as showcasing the lion’s awesome beauty, this painting demonstrates imperial might. Capturing animals (both physically and artistically) represented Britain’s conquest of distant and foreign lands. The artist, Heywood Hardy, was a painter, watercolourist and engraver […]

A Good Joke

May 31, 2022

A Good Joke (All ‘e same T’e Pakeha’) This is a print of the painting All ‘e same T’e Pakeha by Charles F. Goldie. It is a portrait of Te Aho-o-te-Rangi Wharepu in European costume, wearing a shirt, coat, waistcoat and a bowler hat. A veteran of the Battle of Rangiriri (1863), the sitter had […]

Marie Antoinette (1744–1842)

May 31, 2022

Marie Antoinette (1744–1842) Renowned French artist Élisabeth Vigée LeBrun is considered the most important female painter of the 1700s. The daughter of a portraitist and fan painter, by the age of 15 she was earning sufficient money through her portraits to support her family. Her marriage to Jean-Baptiste-Pierre LeBrun, a painter and art dealer, gave […]

The Crater of Kilanea, Island of Hawaii

May 31, 2022

The Crater of Kilanea, Island of Hawaii or ‘Halemauman’ An Active Lake of Molten Fire Dated 1883, two years after Charles Furneaux settled in Hawaii, this painting reveals the artist’s experience of the flow of lava from the volcanoes of Hawaii. In this work, he has elected to paint by night, emphasising the dramatic qualities of the […]

Cornish Holiday

May 31, 2022

Cornish Holiday Born in Dartford, Kent, Dorothea Sharp studied art in London and Paris, despite parental disapproval. From 1940 to 1946, she lived in St Ives, Cornwall. The landscape and the quality of light in that part of Cornwall directly influenced her work. Dorothea Sharp, like Laura Knight, is renowned for her painting of open-air […]

Sir Henry Irving

May 18, 2022

Sir Henry Irving Today Sir Henry Irving is regarded as the archetype of the old-time actor, but in his own time he was regarded as a great theatrical innovator. Even George Bernard Shaw, who attacked him pitilessly, until his death, called him ‘modern’ when he first saw him act. He was, in fact, a typical […]