scroll views of paintings by Frederic Leighton

A selection of paintings by the British 19th century academic style painter Frederic Leighton (1830-1896). Click to expand the images and see the details !

Standing beauties painted in academic style

Invocation: Woman in Greek white clothing imploring her god for something.

The Bath of Psyche : Psyche is the Greek term for “soul”

Crenaia, the Nymph of the Dargle (1880) : In Greek myth, Crenaia was one of the three goddesses of rocks, headlands and cliffs. The river Dargle (Ireland) is in the background.

Nausicaa (1879) : Daughter of the king and queen of Phaeacia in Homer’s *Odyssey*

Classical suject matter painted in academic style

Orpheus and Eurydice (1864) : In Greek myth Orpheus was a renowned Greek musician who rescued his wife from the underworld of Hades.

Perseus and Andromeda (1891) : Andromeda, daughter of the King and Queen of Ethiopia in Greek myth is the woman in white. Perseus on flying horse Pegasus is above, rescuing her.

Bacchante: priestess of Bacchus the wine god

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Lord_Frederic_Leighton_-_Wedded_-_Google_Art_Project-800pix

Lord_Frederic_Leighton_-_Cymon_and_Iphigenia_-_Google_Art_Project-1200pix

Numbered from left to right

The Fisherman and the Syren (1856–1858) : Inspired by a poem by Goethe where a mermaid complains to the fisherman that he is enticing her children to death.
Wedded (1882) : Young couple embracing after marriage. The setting for the picture is said to be a Greek amphitheatre in Sicily.
Cymon and Iphigenia (1884) : Depicts “Cymon” which means “the brute,” discovering a young woman “Iphigenia” fast asleep.

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Frederic_Leighton_-_Venus_Disrobing_for_the_Bath

Lord_Frederic_Leighton_-_Winding_the_skein_-_Google_Art_ProjectFXD__0_crop

Lord_Frederic_Leighton_-_Winding_the_skein_-_Google_Art_ProjectFXD__1_crop

Numbered from left to right, top to bottom

Flaming June (1895) : Said to be Leighton’s magnum opus. One of his last paintings. The woman’s figure hidden by the red cloth entices.
Venus Disrobing for the Bath : Critics said the paleness of Venus was unnatural. Leighton placed the “beauty of the painting” above “naturalness”.
Solitude (1890) : Inspired by a spot in Scotland where winter was so deep absolute night reigned and solitude was unbroken.
Winding the skein (1878) detail view 1
Winding the skein (1878) detail view 2

Portraits

Leighton’s beautiful women portraits. All classical. Leighton loved the classical style.

The life of Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896) was born in North Yorkshire England to Augusta Susan and Dr. Frederic Septimus Leighton. His grandfather had been physician to Russian tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I and was a rich man. Because of this, Frederic received an allowance all his life from his father. He had two sisters. He went to University College School, London. In Florence when he was 24 he studied at the “Accademia di Belle Arti”. Then he lived in Paris for 4 years before relocating to London in 1860. In1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 its president (1878–96). He was knighted in 1878. It is said that he was the most important figure in English art during the second part of the 19th century.

Frederic Leighton depicted historical, biblical, and classical subjects in an academic style that was well received. His paintings were popular and sold well in his lifetime. However tastes changed and his work fell out of favour in the early 20th century. “Flaming June” the famous Leighton painting shown above was auctioned in the 1960s but failed to sell for its low reserve price of US$140. Afterwards it was purchaced by the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Victorian era paintings were not in vogue at that time. However the beauty of Leighton’s paintings remains.

Notes

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