Opens on 16 November: Leighton and Landscape
A major survey presents Leighton at his most experimental.
Frederic Leighton, the traveller
Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896) is recognised as one of the most prominent figures of 19th century British art. Travel was an important part of Leighton’s life from childhood. By his late teens, he was living with his family in Frankfurt, Germany and had already visited many of Europe’s major cities, including Florence and Rome; places which he would return to on many occasions over the next decades.
Once settled in London in the 1860s to pursue an artistic career, he continued to make extensive trips on an annual basis. The countries that Leighton visited on at least one occasion include Austria, Algeria, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, The Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Syria and Turkey.
Leighton House, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
All the pictures on display in the exhibition Leighton and Landscape were created between 1856 and his death in 1896, but despite his successful and influential career, this aspect of his work across 40 years was largely unknown in his lifetime, and this remains the case today. This may be, in part, because Leighton was an intensely private individual, choosing to live and travel alone. He scarcely ever exhibited the landscapes. Upon his death, he left no journals and his letters barely referred to his personal circumstances, making these landscape sketches additionally fascinating and precious, offering insights into moments in his life.
Leighton at his most experimental
Leighton and Landscape offers an opportunity to see the celebrated Victorian artist in a totally new light – that of a spontaneous, experimental artist who took the road less well trodden by his contemporaries, documenting the people and places he encountered as he travelled.
Seen together, the sketches demonstrate Leighton’s eye for intriguing views and surprising settings, where he generally avoided famous landmarks, instead seeking out a particular backstreet, hill, rock, or tree that caught his attention. Often employing small sized canvases, he was nevertheless able to vividly encapsulate huge subjects and vistas.
"Leighton’s landscape paintings bring together a lot of what makes Leighton such a fascinating artist, namely his home, his travels and his skill as a draftsman. Working on the exhibition has revealed the importance of these small studies within his wider practice and presents new ways of looking at him as an artist.”
Exhibition highlights
Works showcased in the Verey Exhibition Gallery explore key characteristics of Leighton as a landscape artist through eight different thematic blocks, from painting techniques to his interest in architecture.
Particularly gifted for documenting the impact of light and weather, he deftly captured different conditions and times of day in his landscapes, from the hot sun on a bright white building in Tangier, to a storm on the Irish sea. Bay of Cádiz, Moonlight, painted during Leighton’s trip to the southernmost part of the Spanish mainland in 1866, is one of the very few landscape scenes painted at night and containing figures. The atmospheric composition and focus on the reflected moonlight, captured in just a few brushstrokes, are evocative of Leighton’s contemporary, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and the Impressionists.
In the Tavolozza Drawings Gallery, an entire display is devoted to the island of Capri, 'the island of his heart'. Leighton first went to paint there in the 1850s and became a frequent visitor during his life. On this first visit, he famously worked ‘from daylight to dusk for a week or two’ to produce his Study of a Lemon Tree. This extraordinary drawing, in which every leaf and branch is painstakingly observed and set down, became famous in Leighton’s lifetime and is shown here with other drawings made on that same visit.
In Leighton's historic house, the Drawing Room features a number of landscapes made by fellow artists, including John Constable (1776-1837), Marie Cazin (1844-1924) and Giovanni Costa (1826-1903). A highlight is George Frederic Watts’ (1817-1904) Haystacks (Study of Brighton Downs). Painted circa 1882, it was gifted to Leighton by Watts, apparently because ‘he admired it’. Haystacks was acquired by Leighton House in 2023, as part of the museum’s ongoing efforts to re-establish Leighton’s lost collections.
George Frederic Watts, Haystacks (Study of Brighton Downs), c. 1882. Leighton House, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Acknowledgments
The exhibition and its accompanying publication have been generously supported by The Albert Dawson Educational Trust, The Foyle Foundation, The Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust, The Finnis Scott Foundation, the Exhibition Circle and The Friends of Leighton House.
Carthusia – The Scents of Capri – proudly sponsors Leighton and Landscape: Capri. Carthusia’s Room Diffuser Mediterraneo creates the perfect olfactory backdrop for Leighton’s vibrant depiction of the iconic island.
The purchase of Frederic Leighton, Bay of Cádiz, Moonlight (from Christie’s) was made possible thanks to generous support from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and Friends of Leighton House.
The purchase of George Frederic Watts, Haystacks (Study of Brighton Downs) was made possible with support from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund and The Friends of Leighton House.
