Frederic Leighton

An early 19th Century drawing by the British pre-Raphaelite artist Lord Leighton

Lord Frederick Leighton (British, 1830-1896) Apprehending a thief pencil on paper the fragment measures approx. 17.1/3 x 11in. (44 x 28cm.) signed ‘F Leighton’ (lower right) Provenance: Gifted by Leighton to his cousin Edith Emily Jellicorse, nee Garnham, and thence by descent We would like to thank Daniel Robins, the curator at Leighton House for the authenticating this work in full. Daniel has suggested this study would have been executed when Leighton was studying in Frankfurt Leighton was born in Scarborough to Augusta Susan and Dr. Frederic Septimus Leighton. He received his artistic training on the European continent, first from Eduard von Steinle and then from Giovanni Costa. According to Daniel Robbins, the curator at Leighton House, This drawing comes from the time Leighton studied under Eduard von Steinle. He then studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. From 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he met Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet. In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its President (1878–96). American art critic Earl Shinn claimed at the time that "Except Leighton, there is scarce any one capable of putting up a correct frescoed figure in the archway of the Kensington Museum." His paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition. Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878 and was created a baronet, of Holland Park Road eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a peerage. Leighton remained a bachelor and rumours of him having an illegitimate child with one of his models, in addition to the supposition that Leighton may have been a homosexual, continue to be debated. On his death his barony was extinguished after existing for only a day; this is a record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum. It contains many of his drawings and paintings, as well as some of his former art collection including a painting dedicated to Leighton by Sir John Everett Millais. The house also features many of Leighton's inspirations, including his collection of Iznik tiles. Its centrepiece is the magnificent Arab Hall. Leighton was an enthusiastic volunteer soldier, enrolling with the first group to join the 38th Middlesex (Artists') Rifle Volunteer Corps (later to be known as the Artists Rifles...

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