Edwin Austin Abbey
Edwin Austin Abbey | |
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
Died | August 1, 1911 | (aged 59)
Nationality | American |
Education | Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts |
Known for | Painting |
Spouse | Gertrude Mead |
Edwin Austin Abbey
Biography
Abbey was born in
He moved to England in 1878, at the request of his employers, to gather material for illustrations of the poems of
It must be taken into consideration that he is still very young; that he now for the first time visits the studios and galleries of Europe; that his advantages for a regular art education have been very moderate, and that he is practically self-educated. And then compare with these disadvantages the amount and the quality of the illustrations he has turned out, and we see represented in him genius of a high order, combining almost inexhaustible creativeness, clearness and vividness of conception, a versatile fancy, a poetic perception of beauty, a quaint, delicate humor, a wonderful grasp of whatever is weird and mysterious, and admirable chiaro-oscuro, drawing, and composition. When we note such a rare combination of qualities, we cease to be surprised at the cordial recognition awarded his genius by the best judges, both in London and Paris, even before he had left this country.[10]
He also created illustrations for Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer (1887), for a volume of Old Songs (1889), and for the comedies (and a few of the tragedies) of Shakespeare. Among his water-colours are "The Evil Eye" (1877), "The Rose in October" (1879), "An Old Song" (1886), "The Visitors" (1890), and "The Jongleur" (1892). Possibly his best known pastels are "Beatrice", "Phyllis", and "Two Noble Kinsmen".[8]
In 1890 he made his first appearance with an oil painting, "A May Day Morn", at the
He completed murals for the Boston Public Library in the 1890s.[4] The frieze for the Library was titled "The Quest and Achievement of the Holy Grail". It took Abbey eleven years to complete this series of murals in his England studio. In 1897 he received the honorary degree of A.M. from Yale university.[4] In 2024, Yale University Art Gallery completed restoration of his "Study for the Apotheosis of Pennsylvania" using a technique known as "mist lining" which repaired structural defects in the canvas.[11]
In 1904 he painted a mural for the Royal Exchange, London Reconciliation of the Skinners & Merchant Taylors' Companies by Lord Mayor Billesden, 1484.
Pennsylvania State Capitol
In 1908–09, Abbey began an ambitious program of murals and other artworks for the newly completed
Abbey died in August 1911. William Simmonds travelled from England to install the completed murals with Abbey's widow Gertrude. The remaining two rooms, which Abbey had been unable to finish, were given to Violet Oakley, who completed the commission using her own designs.
Legacy
Abbey was elected to the
In 1890, Edwin married Gertrude Mead, the daughter of a wealthy New York merchant. Mrs Abbey encouraged her husband to secure more ambitious commissions, although with their marriage commencing when both were in their forties, the couple remained childless.[13] After her husband's death, Gertrude was active in preserving her husband's legacy, writing about his work and giving her substantial collection and archive to Yale. In 1932, through the Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Fund for Mural Painting, she endowed the Abbey Mural Prize to support the creation and restoration of public murals in the United States. It is awarded each year by a jury of National Academicians through the National Academy of Design.[14] She was a sponsor of the Survey of London.[15]
Edwin had been a keen supporter of the newly founded
Edwin also left bequests of his works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and to the National Gallery in London.[12]
Abbey is buried in the churchyard of
Works by Abbey
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Edwin Austin Abbey (1898), by Leslie Ward, Vanity Fair, 29 December 1898.
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Bob Acres and His Servant (c. 1895), Yale University Art Gallery.
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Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail (1896-1901), Boston Public Library.
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The Play Scene in Hamlet (1897), Yale University Art Gallery.
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The Queen in Hamlet (c. 1897), private collection.
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Potpourri (1899), private collection.
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Apotheosis of Pennsylvania (1908–11), House Chamber, Pennsylvania State Capitol.
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Fairies
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Within the Tent ofCaesar, Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III
Bibliography
- Dickens, C. - Christmas Stories, Harper & Brothers, 1875
- Longfellow, H. W. - The Poetical Works, Houghton, 1880-1883
- Herrick, R. - Selections from the Poetry of Robert Herrick, Harper & Brothers, 1882
- Black, W. - Judith Shakespeare, Harper & Brothers, 1884
- Boughton, G. H. - Sketching Rambles in Holland, Macmillan 1885
- Sheridan, R. B. - Comedies, Chatto & Windus, London, 1885
- Goldsmith, O. - She Stoops to Conquer, Harper & Brothers, 1887
- Abbey, E. A. - Old Songs, Harper & Brothers, 1888
- ----- The Quiet Life, Harper & Brothers, 1890
- Shakespeare, W. - The Comedies, Harper & Brothers, 1896
- Goldsmith, O. - The Deserted Village, Harper & Brothers, 1902
- Stevens, L. O. - King Arthur Stories, Houghton 1908
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
- ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 2
- The World's Work: A History of Our Time. XVI: 10191–10124. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
- ^ a b c d This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1906). "Abbey, Edwin Austin". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. Boston: American Biographical Society. p. 22. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- . Retrieved August 22, 2022.
Abbey, Edwin Austin (01 April 1852–01 August 1911), artist, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of William Maxwell Abbey, a commercial broker, and Margery Ann Kiple
- ^ Leonard, John William; Marquis, Albert Nelson, eds. (1908), Who's who in America, vol. 5, Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, Incorporated, p. 2.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84573-473-2.
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abbey, Edwin Austin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 11. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ a b Swenson, Eleanor B. (1997). "Edwin Austin Abbey". In Johnston, Bernard (ed.). Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. I A to Ameland (First ed.). New York, NY: P.F. Collier. p. 8.
- ^ S.G.W. Benjamin, Art in America: A Critical and Historical Sketch, Harpers, 1880
- ^ YaleToday (March 11, 2024). "P.S." YaleNews.
- ^ a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Abbey, Edwin Austin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 1.
- ^ "Oakley. L., 'Abbey, Edwin Austin (1852–1911)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004".
- ^ "National Academy of Design". nationalacademy.org. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ "Members of the Survey Committee Pages 4-7 Survey of London Monograph 12". British History Online. Guild & School of Handicraft, London, 1926. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Abbey Awards website". Archived from the original on January 14, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ "Edwin Abbey by Thomas Brock on The Victorian Web website".
- ^ Historic England. "Tombstone to Edwin Austin Abbey in St Andrews Old Churchyard, Wembley (1267873)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
Sources
- http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol19/vol19_iss24/record1924.33
- Nancy Mendes. "Edwin Austin Abbey: A Capital Artist." Pennsylvania Heritage magazine 32, no. 3 (Summer 2006): 6–15.
- Elisa Tamarkin. "The Chestnuts of Edwin Austin Abbey: History Painting and the Transference of Culture in Turn-of-the-Century America." Prospects 24 (1999): 417–448.
- Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
External links
- Edwin Austin Abbey at American Art Gallery
- Jim Vadeboncoeur's biography of Edwin Austin Abbey
- Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee's E.A. Abbey Bio
- Drawings by Edwin A. Abbey: illustrating the comedies of Shakespeare
- Who Is Sylvia? What Is She, That All the Swains Commend Her? (1896–99; reworked 1900), Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- Texts on Wikisource:
- "Abbey, Edwin Austin". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
- "Abbey, Edwin Austin". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
- "Abbey, Edwin Austin". Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). 1912.
- "Abbey, Edwin Austin". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
- Edwin Austin Abbey letters, 1874–(ca. 1887) from the Archives of American Art
- Edwin Austin Abbey paintings Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- 3 artworks by or after Edwin Austin Abbey at the Art UK site