Bringing home Alma-Tadema's In My Studio
Read the story of this exquisite painting by celebrated Victorian artist, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, a gift to his friend Frederic Leighton and our efforts to bring it back home.
Alma-Tadema and Leighton: Celebrated artists and close friends
In My Studio (also known as The Corner of the Studio), depicts a glimpse of Alma-Tadema’s own studio and collections at Casa Tadema and was gifted to Leighton in 1893 in exchange for The Bath of Psyche, Leighton’s contribution to Tadema’s famous ‘Hall of Panels’, at Grove End Road, in St. John’s Wood, London.
The painting was on show at Leighton House as part of the 2017 exhibition: Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity, exploring Tadema’s fascination with ancient Greek and Roman domestic interiors, expressed vividly in his work as well as through the spaces he created in his own home. Bringing back In My Studio to Leighton House enables the public to appreciate the close links between two of the most celebrated artists of the Victorian age and gain further understanding about the purpose-built studio-house phenomenon, a defining feature of the late Victorian art world.
In My Studio on display in Leighton's Silk Room
Bringing In My Studio back home
As part of the museum's ongoing efforts to recover Leighton's original collection, a unique opportunity arose to re-acquire this exquisite painting and return it permanently to Leighton House. Art Fund provided invaluable support with a grant of £350,000, alongside a public fundraising campaign led by The Friends with the aim of raising a further £50,000 towards the cost of the acquisition.
We are delighted to confirm that we reached our target and In My Studio has now returned to the museum on permanent display! Thank you to all our donors, Art Fund and the assistance of Christie’s for making this possible.
In My Studio can now be found in the exact location Leighton chose for it in his Silk Room, where it has been reunited with other pictures acquired over recent years which were given to Leighton by his contemporaries, including John Everett Millais, Albert Moore, Marie Cazin and Giovanni Costa. Alongside the recent addition of Leighton’s only colour study for Flaming June, the museum’s permanent collection continues to be enhanced with original artworks from Leighton's collection, dispersed after his death in 1896.
Leighton and Alma-Tadema had many professional points of interaction through the Royal Academy. Socially, they knew each other well, spending time in each other’s homes and studios. To return this stunning image by Alma-Tadema to the museum is a major step in recreating Leighton’s lost collections and the authentic presentation of his house. At the same time it is a permanent record of the close connection between these two artists and the remarkable homes that they created.
Leighton's Silk Room in 1895