Edwin Landseer: 101 Masterpiece E-Book

Maria Tsaneva

• Herausgeber: Maria Tsaneva
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer was an English painter, well known for his paintings of animals — particularly horses, dogs and stags. The best known of Landseer's works, however, are sculptures: the lions in Trafalgar Square, London. Much of his fame—and his income—was generated by the publication of engravings of his work, many of them by brother Thomas. Reproductions of his works were common in middle-class homes, while he was also popular with the aristocracy. Queen Victoria commissioned numerous pictures from the artists. Initially asked to paint various royal pets, he then moved on to portraits of gamekeepers. Landseer was particularly associated with Scotland, which he had first visited in 1824 and the Highlands in particular, which provided the subjects for many of his important paintings. His works can be found in Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kenwood House and the Wallace Collection in London.

Leseprobe

Edwin Landseer: 101 Masterpieces

By Maria Tsaneva

First Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Maria Tsaneva

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Edwin Landseer: 101 Masterpieces

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Foreword

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802 – 1873) was an English painter, well known for his paintings of animals—particularly horses, dogs and stags. The best known of Landseer's works, however, are sculptures: the lions in Trafalgar Square, London.Much of his fame—and his income—was generated by the publication of engravings of his work, many of them by brother Thomas.His appeal crossed class boundaries: reproductions of his works were common in middle-class homes, while he was also popular with the aristocracy. Queen Victoria commissioned numerous pictures from the artists. Initially asked to paint various royal pets, he then moved on to portraits of ghillies and gamekeepers. Landseer was particularly associated with Scotland, which he had first visited in 1824 and the Highlands in particular, which provided the subjects for many of his important paintings.Landseer's works can be found in Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kenwood House and the Wallace Collection in London. He also collaborated with fellow painter Frederick Richard Lee.

So popular and influential were Landseer's paintings of dogs in the service of humanity, that the name Landseer came to be the official name for the variety of Newfoundland dog that, rather than being black or mostly black, features a mix of both black and white. It was this variety Landseer popularised in his paintings celebrating Newfoundlands as water rescue dogs, most notably Off to the Rescue (1827), A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society (1838), and Saved (1856). The paintings combines the Victorian conception of childhood, with the appealing idea of noble animals devoted to humankind, a devotion indicated, in Saved, by the fact the dog has rescued the child without any apparent human involvement.

Landseer was born in London, the son of the engraver John Landseer. He was something of a prodigy whose artistic talents were recognised early on. He studied under several artists, including his father, and the history painter Benjamin Robert Haydon, who encouraged the young Landseer to perform dissections in order to fully understand animal musculature and skeletal structure. Landseer's life was entwined with the Royal Academy. At the age of just 13, in 1815, he exhibited works there. He was elected an Associate at the age of 24, and an Academician five years later in 1831. He was knighted in 1850, and although elected President in 1866 he declined the invitation.

In his late 30s Landseer suffered what is now believed to be a substantial nervous breakdown, and for the rest of his life was troubled by recurring bouts of melancholy, hypochondria, and depression, often aggravated by alcohol and drug use. In the last few years of his life Landseer's mental stability was problematic, and at the request of his family he was declared insane in July 1872.

Landseer's death on 1 October 1873 was widely marked in England: shops and houses lowered their blinds, flags flew at half mast, his bronze lions at the base of Nelson's column were hung with wreaths, and large crowds lined the streets to watch his funeral cortege pass. Landseer was buried in St Paul's Cathedral, London.

Paintings and Drawings

A Distinguished Member of the Humane Society (1838)

Oil on canvas

A Dog Looking Out of a Kennel (1837)

Oil on canvas

A Farmer Feeding His Pony in Geneva (1840)

Pencil

A Fishing Scene

Oil on canvas

A Highland Breakfast (1834)

Oil on canvas

A Lake Scene - Effect of a Storm (1833)

Oil on canvas