kids encyclopedia robot

Edmund Leighton facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Edmund Leighton
Edmund Blair Leighton, 1900.jpg
In 1900
Born
Edmund Blair Leighton

(1852-09-21)21 September 1852
Died 1 September 1922(1922-09-01) (aged 69)
London, England
Nationality British
Known for Painting

Edmund Blair Leighton ROI (21 September 1852 – 1 September 1922) was an English painter of historical genre scenes, specialising in Regency and medieval subjects.

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 Heatherley's School in Newman Street, London. Aged 21, he entered the Royal Academy Schools. Among his first commissions were monochrome illustrations for Cassell's Magazine and its Book of British Ballads. 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. He married Katherine Nash in 1885; they had a son, the painter E. 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. 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


Among Leighton's other works are:


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Edmund Blair Leighton para niños

kids search engine
Edmund Leighton Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.