Leighton's final masterpiece

Clytie
Frederic Leighton
Oil on canvas, c.1895-96

Frederic, Lord Leighton's work Clytie will stay in Leighton House Museum, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, thanks to grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, and Friends of Leighton House.

Clytie powerfully depicts a sense of loss and despair at a time of departure, giving the work a powerful autobiographical resonance, as it was this very painting that Leighton struggled with whilst facing his final illness. He left it unfinished at the time of his death in 1896, and when his coffin was moved to the studio the painting was placed at its head.

The unfinished areas of the picture reveal the processes and layers involved in Leighton’s picture making. Careful planning was paramount to his methods as seen in the areas clearly displaying his preparatory sketches. However, areas of heavy painterly brushwork can also be seen elsewhere on the canvas, making it an unusual example of Leighton’s work.

Throughout his career Leighton increasingly turned to classical subjects and used techniques based upon his knowledge of the skills of the Old Masters. Clytie is the nymph that featured in Metamorphoses by the Roman writer Ovid. She is rejected by Apollo, the god of light, music and poetry, and spends nine heartbroken days in a wild and isolated place watching as her former lover drives his chariot across the sky.

Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown, the Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Environmental Management and Leisure, said:

"I am absolutely delighted that awards from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund and Friends of Leighton House have made it possible to purchase this enormously significant work for the House.

"The acquisition of Clytie will fill a significant gap in the Museum's collection and contribute to our aims and ambitions in preserving Leighton's legacy and bringing it to the wider public."

Clytie was purchased for £420,000, with a grant of £337,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £82,500 from The Art Fund and the remaining amount from local and museum funds. The acquisition of the art work will be accompanied by a series of education projects, also funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Clytie is on loan to the National Museums Liverpool from December 2008 and will be displayed in the Lady Lever Art Gallery.