John Flaxman

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John Flaxman
Born(1755-07-06)6 July 1755
York, England
Died7 December 1826(1826-12-07) (aged 71)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Known forSculpture and engraving
MovementNeoclassicism
Spouse
Anne ("Nancy") Denman
​
​
(m. 1782; died 1820)​
John Flaxman by Musgrave Watson, University College London, 1847

John Flaxman RA (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several years in Rome, where he produced his first book illustrations. He was a prolific maker of funerary monuments.

Early life and education

He was born in York. His father, also named John (1726–1803), was well known as a moulder and seller of plaster casts at the sign of the Golden Head, New Street, Covent Garden, London. His first wife's maiden name was Lee, and they had two sons, William and John.

Within six months of John's birth, the family returned to London. He was a sickly child, high-shouldered, with a head too large for his body. His mother died when he was nine, and his father married Elisabeth Gordon in 1763. John had little schooling and was largely self-educated. He took delight in drawing and modelling from his father's stock-in-trade, and studied translations from classical literature in an effort to understand them.[1]

Memorial in the church at Badger, Shropshire

His father's customers helped him with books, advice, and later with commissions. Particularly significant were the painter

Royal Academy for the first time. In the same year, 1770, he entered the academy as a student and won the silver medal. In the competition for the gold medal of the academy in 1772, however, Flaxman was defeated, the prize being awarded by the president, Sir Joshua Reynolds, to a competitor named Engleheart. This episode seemed to help cure Flaxman of a tendency to conceit which led Thomas Wedgwood V to say of him in 1775, "It is but a few years since he was a most supreme coxcomb."[1]

He continued to work diligently, both as a student and as an exhibitor at the academy, with occasional attempts at painting. To the academy he contributed a wax model of

Neptune (1770); four portrait models in wax (1771); a terracotta bust, a wax figure of a child, a historical figure (1772); a figure of Comedy; and a relief of a Vestal (1773). During this period he received a commission from a friend of the Mathew family for a statue of Alexander the Great,[1]
but he was unable to obtain a regular income from private contracts.

Wedgwood

From 1775 he was employed by the potter Josiah Wedgwood and his partner Bentley, for whom his father had also done some work,[2] modelling reliefs for use on the company's jasperware and basaltware.[1] The usual procedure was to model the reliefs in wax on slate or glass grounds before they cast for production. D'Hancarville's engravings of Sir William Hamilton's collection of ancient Greek vases were an important influence on his work.[2]

His designs included the Apotheosis of Homer (1778), later used for a vase; Hercules in the Garden of Hesperides (1785); a large range of small bas-reliefs of which The Dancing Hours (1776–8) proved especially popular; library busts, portrait medallions, and a chess set.[2]

Early sculptural work

Gloucester cathedral

By 1780 Flaxman had also begun to earn money by sculpting grave monuments. His early memorials included those to

bas-reliefs of this type made up the bulk of his output, and are to be found in many churches throughout England.[1] One example, the monument to George Steevens, originally in St Matthias Old Church, is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.[3] His best monumental work was admired for its pathos and simplicity, and for the combination of a truly Greek instinct for rhythmical design and composition with a spirit of domestic tenderness and innocence.[1]

Marriage

Anne, Flaxman's wife, by Henry Howard, c. 1797

In 1782, aged 27, Flaxman married Anne ("Nancy") Denman, who was to assist him throughout his career. She was well-educated, and a devoted companion. They set up house in

Soane Museum.[5]

Italy

In 1787, five years after their marriage, Flaxman and his wife set off for

Renaissance art.[6]

While in Rome he produced the first of the book illustrations for which he was to become famous, and which promoted his influence all over Europe,

Ingres, and were used as an academic source for 19th-century art students.[9]

He had originally intended to stay in Italy for little more than two years, but was detained by a commission for a marble group of the Fury of Athamas for

Thomas Hope, who arrived in Rome in 1791, and is often said to have commissioned it. Hope was later to make it the centrepiece of a "Flaxman room" at his London home. It is now in the collection of the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool.[10]

Return to England

During their homeward journey, the Flaxmans travelled through central and northern Italy. On their return they took a house in Buckingham Street, Fitzroy Square, which they never left.

Peace of Amiens to go to Paris to see the despoiled treasures collected there.[8]

While still in Rome, Flaxman had sent home models for several sepulchral monuments, including one in relief for the poet

Lord Mansfield in Westminster Abbey.[1]

A 1795 engraving after Flaxman's drawing of Achilles mourning Patrocles
UCL
main library in the Octagon building

In 1797 he was made an associate of the

Nelson or Howe for St Paul's Cathedral, but more often memorials for churches, with symbolic Acts of Mercy or illustrations of biblical texts, usually in low relief.[8] He made a large number of these smaller funerary monuments; his work was in great demand, and he did not charge particularly high prices.[6] Occasionally he would vary his output with a classical piece like those he favoured in his earlier years.[8] Soon after his election as Associate of the academy, he published a scheme for a grandiose monument to be erected on Greenwich Hill, in the form of a figure of Britannia 200 ft (61 m) high, in honour of British naval victories.[8]

Later life

In 1800 he was elected a full Academician, and in 1810 the academy appointed him to the specially created post of Professor of Sculpture. He was a thorough and judicious teacher, and his lectures were often reprinted. According to

Sir John Moore for Glasgow (1813).[8]

He was commissioned to create the monument to

St. Mary's Church, Handsworth, Birmingham, where Boulton is buried.[13] It includes a marble bust of Boulton, set in a circular opening above two putti, one holding an engraving of the Soho Manufactory
.

Around this time there was much debate over the merits of the sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, which had been brought to Britain by Lord Elgin, and were hence popularly known as the

Elgin marbles.[8] When Flaxman first saw them at Elgin's house in 1807, he advised against their restoration.[14] Flaxman's statements in favour of their purchase by the government to a parliamentary commission carried considerable weight; the sculptures were eventually bought in 1816.[8] His designs for the friezes of Ancient Drama and Modern Drama, for the facade of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, made in 1809 and carved by John Charles Felix Rossi, provide an early example of the direct influence of the marbles on British sculpture.[15]

In the years immediately following his Roman period he produced fewer outline designs for publication, except three for William Cowper's translations of the Latin poems of John Milton (1810). In 1817, however, he returned to the genre, publishing a set of designs to Hesiod, which were engraved by Blake. He also designed work for goldsmiths at around this time—a testimonial cup in honour of John Kemble, and the famous and beautiful (though quite un-Homeric) "Shield of Achilles"[8] designed between 1810 and 1817 for Rundell, Bridge and Rundell.[16] Other late works included a frieze of Peace, Liberty and Plenty, for the Duke of Bedford's sculpture gallery at Woburn Abbey, and a heroic group of St Michael overthrowing Satan, for Lord Egremont's Petworth House,[8] delivered after Flaxman's death.[17] He also wrote several articles on art and archaeology for Rees's Cyclopædia (1819–20).[8]

Design for the façade decoration of Buckingham Palace (1821–1826)

In the last six years of his life, Flaxman designed decorations for the facades of

Royal Collection Trust.[18]

In 1820 Flaxman's wife died. Her younger sister, Maria Denman, and his half sister, Mary Ann Flaxman, continued to live with him, and he continued to work hard. In 1822 he delivered at the academy a lecture in memory of his old friend,

Canova, who had recently died; in 1823 he received a visit from Schlegel, who wrote an account of their meeting.[8]

Burdett Coutts memorial

Flaxman died, aged 71, on 7 December 1826.

Old St. Pancras Churchyard. He was buried at St. Giles' Cemetery, King's Road (St Giles in the Fields), beside his wife Anne and his sister Mary Ann Flaxman.[19]

Flaxman Terrace in Bloomsbury, London, is named after him.[20][21] The Chelsea telephone exchange that became 020 7352 was also named after him, the digits 352 still corresponding to the old three-letter dialling code FLA.

Studio practice

Most of the carving of his works was carried out by assistants; Margaret Whinney thought that, as a result, "the execution of some of his marbles is a little dull" but that "his plaster models, cast from his own designs in clay, frequently show more sensitive handling".[6] Early in his career, Flaxman made his works in the form of small models which his assistants would scale up when making the finished marble versions. In many cases, notably with the monument to Lord Howe, this proved problematic, and for his later works, he produced full-sized plaster versions for his employees to work from.[17]

Critical reception

Flaxman's complicated monuments in the round, such as the three in

University College, London.[22]

Collections of Flaxman's work

The principal public collections of Flaxman's work are at University College London, in the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.[23] University College London also holds archival material belonging to Flaxman and a collection of books illustrated by him.[24][25]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Colvin 1911, p. 489.
  2. ^ a b c d "John Flaxman Jr (1755–1826)". The Wedgwood Museum. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  3. ^ Hermione Hobhouse (1994). "Plate 14: The Church of St Matthias". Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  4. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.127
  5. ^ "Portrait of Miss Maria Denman (Fl.1808 - 1861), sister-in-law of the sculptor John Flaxman".
  6. ^ a b c d e Whinney 1971, p. 137.
  7. Tate Gallery
    . Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Colvin 1911, p. 490.
  9. ISBN 978-0486455587
    .
  10. Liverpool Museums
    . Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  11. ^ "John Flaxman 1". www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk.
  12. Master
    1764–1807, and Matthew Rolleston, Fellow of the College.
  13. ^ "(untitled)". Birmingham Post. 18 November 2008. pp. 1, 14.
  14. ^ Whinney 1971, p. 140.
  15. ^ Whinney 1971, p. 140. The friezes survived the theatre's destruction by fire in 1856 and were reused on the present building.
  16. ^ "The Shield of Achilles, 1821". Royal Collection. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  17. ^ a b Whinney 1971, p. 144.
  18. ^
    Royal Collection Trust
    . Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  19. ^ The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol II - Cansick 1872. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuc.3421902v2&seq=305&q1=flaxman
  20. ^ Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p. 120.
  21. ^ Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p. 133.
  22. ^ John Flaxman Collection Archived 22 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, University College London.
  23. ^ Colvin 1911, p. 491.
  24. ^ UCL Special Collections. "Flaxman Manuscripts". UCL Archives Catalogue. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  25. ^ UCL Special Collections (23 August 2018). "Flaxman Book Collection". UCL Special Collections. Retrieved 6 December 2023.

Sources

  • Whinney, Margaret (1971). English Sculpture 1720–1830. Victoria and Albert Museum Monographs. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Colvin, Sidney (1911). "Flaxman, John". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 489–491. This includes a detailed assessment by Colvin of the artist's work.

Further reading

External links

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