View source for Edmund Leighton

{{Short description|British painter (1852–1922)}}
{{distinguish|Frederic Leighton}}

{{Infobox artist
| name          = Edmund Blair Leighton
| image         = Edmund Blair Leighton, 1900.jpg
| caption       = Leighton in 1900
| birth_name    = Edmund Blair Leighton
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1852|9|21|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = London, England
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1922|9|1|1852|9|21|df=yes}}
| death_place   = London, England
| nationality   = [[Great Britain|British]]
| field         = [[Painting]]
| training      = 
| movement      = 
| awards        =
}}
'''Edmund Blair Leighton''' {{post-nominals|list=[[Royal Institute of Oil Painters|ROI]]}} (21 September 1852 – 1 September 1922) was an English painter of historical genre scenes, specialising in [[British Regency|Regency]] and [[medieval]] subjects. His art is associated with the [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood|pre-Raphaelite movement]] of the mid-to-late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=de La Sizeranne |first=Robert |title=The Pre-Raphaelites |publisher=Parkstone Press International |year=2008 |pages=24}}</ref>

==Biography==
Leighton was the son of the artist [[Charles Blair Leighton]] (1823–1855) and Caroline Leighton (née Boosey). He was educated at [[University College School]], leaving at 15 to work for a tea merchant. Wishing to study art, he went to evening classes in South Kensington and then to the [[Heatherley School of Fine Art]] in Newman Street, London. Aged 21, he entered the [[Royal Academy|Royal Academy Schools]].{{sfn|Yockley|1913}}{{sfn|De Cordova|1905}} Among his first commissions were monochrome illustrations for ''[[Cassell's Magazine]]'' and its ''Book of British Ballads''.{{sfn|De Cordova|1905}} His first painting to be exhibited at the Royal Academy was ''A Flaw in the Title'' in 1874; it sold for £200. He soon gave up "black and white" illustrations, working for the rest of his career in oil on canvas.{{sfn|De Cordova|1905}} He married Katherine Nash in 1885; they had a son, the painter Edmund J. Blair Leighton, and a daughter. He exhibited annually at the Royal Academy until 1920.

Leighton was a fastidious craftsman, producing highly finished, decorative historical paintings. These were romanticised scenes, often of chivalry and women in medieval dress with a popular appeal.<ref name="Auckland - In Time of Peril">{{cite web |title=In Time of Peril |url=https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artwork/11478/in-time-of-peril |publisher=Auckland Art Gallery |access-date=18 January 2021 |quote=Edmund Blair Leighton specialised in the historical genre that stood at the apex of the academic system, edifying audiences with scenes of chivalry as well as entertaining them with glimpses of Lady Godiva.}}</ref> It would appear that he left no diaries, and though he exhibited at the Royal Academy for over forty years, he was never an Academician or an Associate.

==Works==
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<gallery mode="nolines" heights="185" widths="185">
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - Abelard and his Pupil Heloise.jpg|''[[Peter Abelard|Abelard]] and his Pupil [[Héloïse (abbess)|Heloise]]'' (1882)<ref name="bridgeman" />
File:Faded Laurels by Edmund Leighton.jpg|''Faded Laurels'' (1889)
File:Leighton-Lady Godiva.jpg|''Lady Godiva'' (1892)<ref name="bridgeman" />
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - The Elopement - 1893.jpg|''The Elopement'' (1893)
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - My Next-Door Neighbour.jpg|''My Next-Door Neighbour'' (1894)
File:Leighton in1816.jpg|''In 1816'' (1895)
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - In Time of Peril - Google Art Project.jpg|''In Time of Peril'' (1897)<ref name="Auckland - In Time of Peril" />
File:Leighton-The King and the Beggar-maid.jpg|''The King and the Beggar-maid'' (1898) ([[The King and the Beggar-maid|legend]])<ref name="Sotheby's King and Beggar-maid">{{cite web | url =http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/british-irish-art-l14132/lot.211.html| title ="A King and a Beggar Maid" |publisher =[[Sotheby's]]| access-date = 18 July 2016}}</ref>
File:Leighton-Off-1900.jpg|''Off'' (1899)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?irn=741 |title=Off |publisher=Manchester City Galleries – Search the collection }}</ref>
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - On the Threshold.jpg|''On the Threshold'' (1900)<ref name="On the Threshold">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?irn=736 |title=On the Threshold |publisher=Manchester City Galleries – Search the collection}}</ref>
File:Leighton-God Speed!.jpg|''[[God Speed (painting)|God Speed!]]'' (1900)
File:Accolade by Edmund Blair Leighton.jpg|''The Accolade'' (1901)<ref name="bridgeman" />
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - The End of the Song (1902).jpg|[[Tristan and Iseult|''Tristan and Isolde'']] or ''The End of the Song'' (1902)
File:Leighton-Courtship.jpg|''Courtship'' (1903)
File:Leighton-Alain Chartier-1903.jpg|''The Queen kisses the sleeping poet [[Alain Chartier]]'' (1903)<ref>{{cite web |title=Live Auction 6520, Lot 27 |url=https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-edmund-blair-leighton-alain-chartier-3827976/ |publisher=[[Christie's]] |access-date=18 January 2021 |date=28 November 2001}}</ref>
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - Courtship.jpg|''Courtship by the Piano'' (1903)
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - Ribbons and Lace.jpg|''Ribbons and Laces for Very Pretty Faces'' (1904)
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - The Dedication (1908).jpg|''The Dedication'' (1908)
File:Leighton-Stitching the Standard.jpg|''Stitching the Standard'' (1911)<ref name="Sotheby's">The painting was named as "Preparing the Flag" at Christies in 1928, and as "Awaiting his Return" at Philips in 1977. Sotheby's called it "Stitching the Standard" in 1978. It may be the painting catalogued as "The Device" in 1911. {{cite web| url =http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.pdf.L11133.html/f/51/L11133-51.pdf| title =Victorian & Edwardian Art| publisher =[[Sotheby's]]| date =15 November 2011| access-date =28 June 2014| archive-date =24 September 2015| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150924141535/http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.pdf.L11133.html/f/51/L11133-51.pdf| url-status =dead}}</ref>
File:The Boyhood of Alfred the Great (1913).jpg|''The Boyhood of [[Alfred the Great]]'' (1913)
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - My fair Lady.jpg|''My Fair Lady'' (1914)
File:Elisabet av Thüringen.jpg|''The Charity of [[Elisabeth of Thuringia|Elisabeth of Hungary]]'' (1915)
File:Edmund Blair Leighton - The Hostage.jpg|The Hostage (1912)
</gallery>
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Among Leighton's other works<!--i.e., those not illustrated--> are:

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{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* ''Un Gage d'Amour'' (1881), [[Auckland Art Gallery|Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/the-collection/browse-artwork/1598/un-gage-d-amour |title=Un Gage d'Amour |publisher=Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki |access-date=12 August 2012 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006073822/http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/the-collection/browse-artwork/1598/un-gage-d-amour |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* ''Conquest'' (1884)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/british-irish-art-l13132/lot.20.lotnum.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924132948/http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/british-irish-art-l13132/lot.20.lotnum.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 September 2015 |title=Conquest |publisher=Sotheby's }}</ref>
* ''The Rehearsal'' (1888), [[Croydon Clocktower]], UK.<ref name="bridgeman">Listed at [http://www.bridgeman.co.uk Bridgeman Art Library] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822002641/http://bridgeman.co.uk/ |date=22 August 2013 }}.</ref>
*''How Liza Loved the King'' (1890), [[Towneley Park|Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum]], Burnley.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
* ''Waiting for the Coach'' (1895), [[Manchester Art Gallery]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?irn=699 |title=Waiting for the Coach |publisher=Manchester City Galleries – Search the collection }}</ref>
*''[[:File:Edmund_Blair_Leighton_-_On_the_Threshold.jpg|On the Threshold]]'' (1900), Manchester Art Gallery.<ref name="On the Threshold"/>
*''[[:File:Edmund blair leighton accolade.jpg|The Accolade]]'' (1901), private collection.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
*''Adieu'' (1901), Manchester Art Gallery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?irn=690 |title=Adieu painting |publisher=Manchester City Galleries – Search the collection }}</ref>
*''[[:File:Edmund_Blair_Leighton_-_The_Shadow.jpg|The Shadow]]'' (1909), [[City Hall, Cardiff]]<ref name="cardiffcityhall">{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffcityhall.com/Cardiff%20City%20Hall%20Guide%202006.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710094108/http://www.cardiffcityhall.com/Cardiff%20City%20Hall%20Guide%202006.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 July 2007 |title=Visitor Information Guide |publisher=Cardiff City Hall |year=2006 }}</ref>
*''A Nibble'' (1914), private collection.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
*''An Arrival'' (1916), [[City Hall, Cardiff]]<ref name="cardiffcityhall" />
*''The Lord of Burleigh, Tennyson'' (1919), private collection.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
*''Sweet Solitude'' (1919), private collection.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
*''After Service'' (1921), private collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leicestergalleries.com/provenart/dealer_stock_details.cgi?d_id=253&a_id=13283 |title=After Service by Edmund Leighton |publisher=leicestergalleries.com }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
*''Signing the Register'' (undated), [[Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery]].<ref name="bridgeman"/>
*''The Fond Farewell'' (1891), [[Messum's]], London.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
*''Lord of the Manor'' (undated), private collection.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
*''Sorrow and Song'' (undated), Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.<ref name="bridgeman"/>
{{div col end}}
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==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==

* {{cite journal |last=De Cordova |first=Rudolph |title=The Art of Mr. E. Blair Leighton |journal=[[The Windsor Magazine]] |volume=21 |issue=December 1904 to May 1905 |publisher=[[Ward, Lock & Co.]] |location=London |date=1905 |url=http://www.artmagick.com/articles/article.aspx?id=11813|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918162639/http://www.artmagick.com/articles/article.aspx?id=11813 |archive-date=18 September 2016 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Yockley |first=Alfred |title=The Art of Edmund Blair Leighton |journal=Art Annual |location=London |date=December 1913 |issue=Christmas 1913 |pages=11, 31, illustrations}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|position=left|Edmund Blair Leighton}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leighton, Edmund Blair}}
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1922 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century English painters]]
[[Category:English male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century English painters]]
[[Category:British genre painters]]
[[Category:People educated at University College School]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Heatherley School of Fine Art]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools]]
[[Category:19th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:English children's book illustrators]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters]]
[[Category:20th-century English male artists]]
[[Category:Pre-Raphaelite painters]]