Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (; born Lourens Alma Tadema ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter of special British denizenship.
Though admired during his lifetime for his draftsmanship and depictions of Classical antiquity, his work fell into disrepute after his death, and only since the 1960s has it been re-evaluated for its importance within nineteenth-century British art. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Lourens Alma Tadema was born on 8 January 1836 in the village of Dronryp in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands.
His parents' first child died young, and the second was Atje (–1876), Lourens' sister, for whom he had great affection. The Tadema family moved in 1838 to the nearby city of Leeuwarden, where Pieter's position as a notary would be more lucrative.
He received his first art training with a local drawing master hired to teach his older half-brothers. It was intended that the boy would become a lawyer; but in 1851 at the age of fifteen he suffered a physical and mental breakdown.
Portrait of my sister, Artje, painted in 1851, is numbered opus I, while two months before his death he completed Preparations in the Coliseum, opus CCCCVIII.
Left to his own devices, he regained his health and decided to pursue a career as an artist. === Move to Belgium === In 1852 he entered the Royal Academy of Antwerp in Belgium where he studied early Dutch and Flemish art, under Gustaf Wappers.
During Alma-Tadema's four years as a registered student at the Academy, he won several awards. Before leaving the Academy, towards the end of 1855, he became assistant to the painter and professor Louis (Lodewijk) Jan de Taeye, whose courses in history and historical costume he had greatly enjoyed at the Academy.
He was encouraged to depict historical accuracy in his paintings, a trait for which the artist became known. Alma-Tadema left Taeye's studio in November 1858 returning to Leeuwarden before settling in Antwerp, where he began working with the painter Baron Jan August Hendrik Leys, whose studio was one of the most highly regarded in Belgium.
Despite any reproaches from his master, The Education of the Children of Clovis was well received by critics and artists alike and was eventually purchased and subsequently given to King Leopold of Belgium. In 1860 he befriended the Anglo-Dutch Dommersen family of artists in Utrecht In 1862 he made pencil drawings of Mrs.
Despite any reproaches from his master, The Education of the Children of Clovis was well received by critics and artists alike and was eventually purchased and subsequently given to King Leopold of Belgium. In 1860 he befriended the Anglo-Dutch Dommersen family of artists in Utrecht In 1862 he made pencil drawings of Mrs.
In 1862 Alma-Tadema left Leys's studio and started his own career, establishing himself as a significant classical-subject European artist. 1863 was to alter the course of Alma-Tadema's personal and professional life: on 3 January his invalid mother died, and on 24 September he was married, in Antwerp City Hall, to Marie-Pauline Gressin-Dumoulin de Boisgirard, the daughter of Eugène Gressin-Dumoulin, a French journalist living near Brussels.
In stating his reasons for the move, Tadema simply said "I lost my first wife, a French lady with whom I married in 1863, in 1869.
This, his first visit to Italy, developed his interest in depicting the life of ancient Greece and Rome, especially the latter since he found new inspiration in the ruins of Pompeii, which fascinated him and would inspire much of his work in the coming decades. During the summer of 1864, Tadema met Ernest Gambart, the most influential print publisher and art dealer of the period.
In 1865, Tadema relocated to Brussels where he was named a knight of the Order of Leopold. On 28 May 1869, after years of ill health, Pauline died of smallpox at Schaerbeek in Belgium, aged 32.
Nothing is known of their meeting and little of Pauline herself, as Alma-Tadema never spoke about her after her death in 1869.
In 1865, Tadema relocated to Brussels where he was named a knight of the Order of Leopold. On 28 May 1869, after years of ill health, Pauline died of smallpox at Schaerbeek in Belgium, aged 32.
Soon after his arrival in London in December 1869, Alma-Tadema was invited to the home of the painter Ford Madox Brown.
In stating his reasons for the move, Tadema simply said "I lost my first wife, a French lady with whom I married in 1863, in 1869.
Born in Dronryp, the Netherlands, and trained at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there.
There he met Laura Theresa Epps, who was seventeen years old, and fell in love with her at first sight. ===Move to England=== The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870 encouraged Alma-Tadema to leave the continent and move to London.
Having always had a great predilection for London, the only place where, up till then my work had met with buyers, I decided to leave the continent and go to settle in England, where I have found a true home." With his small daughters and sister Atje, Alma-Tadema arrived in London at the beginning of September 1870.
They married in July 1871.
By 1871 he had met and befriended most of the major Pre-Raphaelite painters and it was in part due to their influence that the artist brightened his palette, varied his hues, and lightened his brushwork. In 1872 Alma-Tadema organised his paintings into an identification system by including an opus number under his signature and assigning his earlier pictures numbers as well.
By 1871 he had met and befriended most of the major Pre-Raphaelite painters and it was in part due to their influence that the artist brightened his palette, varied his hues, and lightened his brushwork. In 1872 Alma-Tadema organised his paintings into an identification system by including an opus number under his signature and assigning his earlier pictures numbers as well.
Artje took over the role of housekeeper and remained with the family until 1873 when she married. During the summer Tadema himself began to suffer from a medical problem which doctors in Brussels were unable to diagnose.
Such a system made it more difficult for fakes to be passed off as originals. In 1873 Queen Victoria in Council by letters patent made Alma-Tadema and his wife what are still up to the present time the last British Denizens created (the legal process has theoretically not yet been abolished in the United Kingdom), with some limited special rights otherwise only accorded to and enjoyed by British subjects (that is, those would now be called British citizens).
As with other painters, the reproduction rights for prints were often worth more than the canvas, and a painting with its rights still attached may have been sold to Gambart for £10,000 in 1874; without rights it was sold again in 1903, when Alma-Tadema's prices were actually higher, for £2,625.
In January 1876, he rented a studio in Rome.
When an admirer of the painting offered to pay a substantial sum for a painting with a similar theme, Alma-Tadema simply turned the emperor around to show him leaving, in After the Audience. On 19 June 1879, Alma-Tadema was made a Royal Academician, his most personally important award.
Nevertheless, he continued to exhibit throughout the 1880s and into the next decade, receiving a plentiful amount of accolades along the way, including the medal of Honour at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889, election to an honorary membership of the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1890, and the Great Gold Medal at the International Exposition in Brussels of 1897.
Typical prices were between £2,000 and £3,000 in the 1880s, but at least three works sold for between £5,250 and £6,060 in the 1900s.
Three years later, a major retrospective of his entire oeuvre was organised at the Grosvenor Gallery in London, including 185 of his pictures. In 1883 he returned to Rome and, most notably, Pompeii, where further excavations had taken place since his last visit.
There was not a hint of the delicate artist about him; he was a cheerful lover of wine, women, and parties. ===Later years=== Alma-Tadema's output decreased with time, partly on account of health, but also because of his obsession with decorating his new home, to which he moved in 1883.
The blossoms depicted were sent weekly to the artist's London studio from the French Riviera for four months during the winter of 1887–1888. Among Alma-Tadema's works of this period are: An Earthly Paradise (1891), Unconscious Rivals (1893) Spring (1894), The Coliseum (1896) and The Baths of Caracalla (1899).
Nevertheless, he continued to exhibit throughout the 1880s and into the next decade, receiving a plentiful amount of accolades along the way, including the medal of Honour at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889, election to an honorary membership of the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1890, and the Great Gold Medal at the International Exposition in Brussels of 1897.
Nevertheless, he continued to exhibit throughout the 1880s and into the next decade, receiving a plentiful amount of accolades along the way, including the medal of Honour at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889, election to an honorary membership of the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1890, and the Great Gold Medal at the International Exposition in Brussels of 1897.
Nevertheless, he continued to exhibit throughout the 1880s and into the next decade, receiving a plentiful amount of accolades along the way, including the medal of Honour at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889, election to an honorary membership of the Oxford University Dramatic Society in 1890, and the Great Gold Medal at the International Exposition in Brussels of 1897.
In 1899 he was knighted in England, only the eighth artist from the Continent to receive this honour.
Not only did he assist with the organisation of the British section at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, he also exhibited two works that earned him the Grand Prix Diploma.
Typical prices were between £2,000 and £3,000 in the 1880s, but at least three works sold for between £5,250 and £6,060 in the 1900s.
In late 1902 he visited Egypt.
Between 1903 and his death, Alma-Tadema painted less but still produced ambitious paintings such as The Finding of Moses (1904). On 15 August 1909 Alma-Tadema's wife, Laura, died at the age of fifty-seven.
As with other painters, the reproduction rights for prints were often worth more than the canvas, and a painting with its rights still attached may have been sold to Gambart for £10,000 in 1874; without rights it was sold again in 1903, when Alma-Tadema's prices were actually higher, for £2,625.
Louis World's Fair of 1904 where he was well represented and received. During this time, Alma-Tadema was very active with theatre design and production, designing many costumes.
Between 1903 and his death, Alma-Tadema painted less but still produced ambitious paintings such as The Finding of Moses (1904). On 15 August 1909 Alma-Tadema's wife, Laura, died at the age of fifty-seven.
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (; born Lourens Alma Tadema ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter of special British denizenship.
In the summer of 1912, Alma-Tadema was accompanied by his daughter Anna to Kaiserhof Spa, Wiesbaden, Germany where he was to undergo treatment for ulceration of the stomach.
He died there on 28 June 1912 at the age of seventy-six.
Prices held well until the general collapse of Victorian prices in the early 1920s, when they fell to the hundreds, where they remained until the 1960s; by 1969 £4,600 had been reached again (although the effect of inflation must be allowed for with these figures). The last years of Alma-Tadema's life saw the rise of Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism, all of which he disapproved.
The initial purchaser had paid £5,250 for it on its completion, and subsequent sales were for £861 in 1935, £265 in 1942, and it was "bought in" at £252 in 1960 (having failed to meet its reserve), but when the same picture was auctioned at Christies in New York in May 1995, it sold for £1.75 million.
The initial purchaser had paid £5,250 for it on its completion, and subsequent sales were for £861 in 1935, £265 in 1942, and it was "bought in" at £252 in 1960 (having failed to meet its reserve), but when the same picture was auctioned at Christies in New York in May 1995, it sold for £1.75 million.
Though admired during his lifetime for his draftsmanship and depictions of Classical antiquity, his work fell into disrepute after his death, and only since the 1960s has it been re-evaluated for its importance within nineteenth-century British art. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Lourens Alma Tadema was born on 8 January 1836 in the village of Dronryp in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands.
Prices held well until the general collapse of Victorian prices in the early 1920s, when they fell to the hundreds, where they remained until the 1960s; by 1969 £4,600 had been reached again (although the effect of inflation must be allowed for with these figures). The last years of Alma-Tadema's life saw the rise of Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism, all of which he disapproved.
Alma-Tadema's paintings were also the inspiration for the design of the interior of Cair Paravel castle in the 2005 film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In 1962, New York art dealer Robert Isaacson mounted the first show of Alma-Tadema's work in fifty years; by the late 1960s, the revival of interest in Victorian painting gained impetus, and a number of well-attended exhibitions were held.
From this sale, the interest in Alma-Tadema was re-awakened. In 1960, the Newman Gallery firstly tried to sell, then give away (without success) one of his most celebrated works, The Finding of Moses (1904).
The initial purchaser had paid £5,250 for it on its completion, and subsequent sales were for £861 in 1935, £265 in 1942, and it was "bought in" at £252 in 1960 (having failed to meet its reserve), but when the same picture was auctioned at Christies in New York in May 1995, it sold for £1.75 million.
Alma-Tadema's paintings were also the inspiration for the design of the interior of Cair Paravel castle in the 2005 film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In 1962, New York art dealer Robert Isaacson mounted the first show of Alma-Tadema's work in fifty years; by the late 1960s, the revival of interest in Victorian painting gained impetus, and a number of well-attended exhibitions were held.
Prices held well until the general collapse of Victorian prices in the early 1920s, when they fell to the hundreds, where they remained until the 1960s; by 1969 £4,600 had been reached again (although the effect of inflation must be allowed for with these figures). The last years of Alma-Tadema's life saw the rise of Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism, all of which he disapproved.
After Funt was robbed by his accountant (who subsequently committed suicide), he was forced to sell his collection at Sotheby's in London in November 1973.
The initial purchaser had paid £5,250 for it on its completion, and subsequent sales were for £861 in 1935, £265 in 1942, and it was "bought in" at £252 in 1960 (having failed to meet its reserve), but when the same picture was auctioned at Christies in New York in May 1995, it sold for £1.75 million.
Alma-Tadema's paintings were also the inspiration for the design of the interior of Cair Paravel castle in the 2005 film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In 1962, New York art dealer Robert Isaacson mounted the first show of Alma-Tadema's work in fifty years; by the late 1960s, the revival of interest in Victorian painting gained impetus, and a number of well-attended exhibitions were held.
On 5 May 2011, The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra: 41 BC was sold at the same auction house for $29.2 million. Alma-Tadema's The Tepidarium (1881) is included in the 2006 book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die.
On 4 November 2010 it was sold for $35,922,500 to an undisclosed bidder at Sotheby's New York, a new record both for an Alma-Tadema work and for a Victorian painting.
On 5 May 2011, The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra: 41 BC was sold at the same auction house for $29.2 million. Alma-Tadema's The Tepidarium (1881) is included in the 2006 book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die.
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