Harry Quilter
Harry Quilter (24 January 1851 in London – 10 July 1907 in London), was an English art critic, writer and artist.
Life
He was the youngest of five children of William Quilter (1808–1888), first president of the Institute of Accountants, and a collector of watercolours, and younger brother of
Quilter was intended for a business career, but on leaving university travelled abroad, and studied in Italy. A student of the
Quilter subsequently did not settle into a career, but undertook numerous projects. Between 1879 and 1887 he lectured on art and literature in London and the provinces. In 1885 he studied landscape painting at Van Hove's studio at Bruges, and in 1886 was an unsuccessful candidate for the Slade professorship at Cambridge in succession to Sidney Colvin. From 1894 to 1896 he ran boarding schools at Mitcham and Liverpool on a system which he had himself formulated, and on which he wrote an article, "In the Days of her Youth", in the Nineteenth Century (June 1895).[2]
Feud with Whistler
As a critic Quilter roused the anger of
Last years
Until the end of his life Quilter occupied himself with periodical writing, travelling, and collecting works of art. He died at 42 Queen's Gate Gardens, London in 1907, and was buried at Norwood. Most of his collections were sold at Christie's in April 1906, and fetched over £14,000.[2]
Works
From 1876 to 1887 Quilter was an art critic and journalist, writing chiefly for The Spectator. In 1880–81 he was also for a time art critic for The Times in succession to Tom Taylor.[2]
In January 1888 Quilter started an ambitious periodical, the Universal Review. The first number was published on 16 May 1888; it was illustrated, and contained articles by leading British and French writers. George Meredith contributed in 1889 his Jump to Glory Jane. After initial success there were money troubles, and the Review ended with the issue for December 1890.[2]
In 1902 Quilter published What's What, a miscellany; of the 1182 pages he wrote about a third, containing 350,000 words. His other publications included:[2]
- A volume of light verse, Idle Hours, by "Shingawn" (a name taken from a sensational story in the London Journal of the time), 1872.
- Giotto, 1880; new edit. 1881.
- The Academy: Notice of Pictures exhibited at the R.A. 1872-82, 1883.
- Sententiæ Artis: First Principles of Art, 1886.
- Preferences in Art, Life, and Literature, 1892.
- Opinions on Men, Women and Things, 1909 (a collection of periodical essays made by his widow).
He edited an edition of Meredith's Jump to Glory Jane (1892).[2]
Besides writing, Quilter was a collector and a practising artist. His work was regularly hung at the
Family
Quilter married in 1890 Mary Constance Hall, who survived him with two sons and four daughters.[2] Their daughter Gwendolen Harriet married A. P. Herbert.[4]
Notes
- ^ "Quilter, Harry (QLTR870H)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ISBN 978-0-85115-871-6.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31222. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). "Quilter, Harry". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.