Sketchbook or Notebook

Painting details

Title: Sketchbook or Notebook
Date: 1894-95
Media: Pencil on white paper
Dimensions: 8.5 x 12.1 cm
Location: Leighton House Museum
Picture credit: Leighton House Museum, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Interpretation

Leighton was in the habit of keeping small pocket sized notebooks or sketchbooks with him wherever he went in order to write down information on private collections he may want to borrow from for the Royal Academy Winter exhibitions of Old Masters, or to make sketches and notes from life, or from the work of other artists. This notebook is one of the last Leighton kept before his death in January 1896. On the back pages, he has made notes of the art works seen on a visit to Crewe Hall in Cheshire, Staffordshire. The last Lord Crewe occupied Crewe Hall until his death on Wednesday 03 January 1894 at the age of 81. As he was unmarried, the estate of Crewe Hall was inherited by his nephew, Lord Houghton. The notes in this book were made by Leighton as research for the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition on a visit to Crewe Hall, probably some time in 1894, after the death of Lord Crewe. On 05 January the following year, in a review of the Winter Exhibition, 'The Times' noted "Lord Houghton sends all the famous Reynoldses from Crewe-hall..." [see: 'The Times', Friday, 05 January 1894, issue 34153, p.8; 'The Times', Saturday, 05 January 1895, issue 34466, p.8] To the left of Leighton's notes from Crewe Hall he has made single, double or triple crosses by some of the art works, presumably his own system for rating the quality of the works. Pages 11 to 24 are entirely blank and pages 25 to 28 verso should be read in reverse order, as here the artist began making notes from the back of the sketchbook towards the front.

Description

A pocket sized notebook or small sketchbook including drawings of landscapes, and figure studies, inscribed by the artist. One of the drawings is dated 1895.

Provenance

Swann Gallery, New York; Collection of Leighton House Museum