William Blake Richmond
Arts and Crafts Movement | |
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Spouses |
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Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath |
Sir William Blake Richmond
Richmond was influential in the early stages of the
Early life and education
William Blake Richmond was born on 29 November 1842 in Marylebone.[1] His father, George Richmond RA, was an important portrait painter; his mother was Julia Tatham (1811–1881). He was named after a close friend of his father, the poet William Blake.[2]
Richmond was tutored at home due to health problems as a child. In 1858, at the age of 14, Richmond enrolled at the
Artistic career
Painting
Richmond became a successful portrait painter at an early age. In 1861, at the age of 19, he exhibited his first major work for the Royal Academy. The painting, a portrait of his two brothers, was highly praised by Ruskin.[4] That year, Richmond continued to work in portraits, and study anatomy at St Bartholomew's Hospital. Richmond's widely regarded portraits led to several commissions, a few of which took him to the north of England for several months.[4][6]
Richmond was elected to the Royal Academy in 1861, where he continued to exhibit his work until 1877. In 1865, Richmond returned to Italy, where he lived in Rome for four years and studied art.[3] While in Italy, he met the painters Frederic Leighton and Giovanni Costa, both of whose work he admired. When Richmond returned to England, he exhibited A Procession in Honour of Bacchus at the Royal Academy in 1869.[5]
In 1877, Richmond left the Royal Academy and began exhibiting his paintings with the
Richmond travelled often to Italy, Greece, Spain and Egypt in the 1880s. He would spend a few months each year exploring new areas, absorbing the history and mythology of the region, and making numerous drawings and coloured sketches.[4]
In 1888, Richmond resumed his relationship with the Royal Academy when he was elected an Associate Member (ARA), and was then further elected a Royal Academician (RA) in 1895.[3] He served as Professor of Painting at the academy from 1895 to 1899 and from 1909 to 1911, and continued to exhibit with the academy until 1916.[6] He was elected Senior RA at the academy in 1920.[7]
Mosaic design
Attaining financial success as a portrait painter led Richmond to explore new areas of interest. He began working on large, allegorical paintings, and developed an interest in the design of stained glass mosaic.[1] In 1882, Richmond gave a lecture on monumental decoration in which he criticised the bland decorations in many British churches. He viewed the churches as "caves of white-washed sepulchres, uncoloured, or if coloured at all, only in parts, patchily, and with little general idea of design."
Nine years later, in 1891, Richmond put his theory into practice when he started work on the quire and apse of St Paul's Cathedral.[2] Richmond worked on the interior decorations, as both designer and craftsman involved in the installation of the mosaics, from 1891 to 1904.[8]
Influenced by the vibrant colours of Byzantine and early Christian work in Italy, Greece and Egypt, Richmond designed bold, colourful mosaics for the Cathedral quire and apse; over seventy allegorical mosaic panels were installed, along with spandrels and ornamental mosaic ceiling decoration. Richmond's work was a complete renewal of the quire, the decorations painted directly onto the existing architectural ornaments and stained-glass windows.[2]
"Richmond chose to abandon the flat surface of mosaicists like Salviati, in favour of a more vibrant treatment, based on the use of jagged, irregular glass, set at angles to the plaster, so that it would catch the light. The new installation was a complete renewal of the quire, the decorations painted directly onto the existing architectural decorations and stained glass windows."[9]
When completed, the newly remodeled quire and apse, met with public controversy. Several people criticised the mosaics as not being traditionally British and did not belong in a Cathedral.[8] There was a continual debate throughout the 1890s, "partly reflecting a High-Low church debate between ornament and plainness."[10]
Stained-glass design
Richmond collaborated with
The influence of the mosaic work done at the cathedral and the invention of new medieval-like colours by Powell, influenced Richmond in the stained-glass windows that he designed for St Mary's, Stretton, Staffordshire. Richmond's five-light east window in the chancel of St Mary's Church, Stretton, East Staffordshire, completed in 1896, was a successful translation of his previous work into stained glass. His mosaic-influenced work at Stretton is displayed in the surface of the glass, roughly painted to resemble the effects of mosaic.[11] The three-light north and south chancel windows that he designed for St Mary's (1898), were similar in theme to his earlier mosaic work with his choice of heavy leading in the windows and glass that gave off a sparkling appearance. The raw materials he selected for the windows included thick slabs of glass, streaked with light veins of colour. This glass may have been used in his work at the cathedral.[11]
Richmond designed three large windows (1904—1910) in the Lady Chapel of Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London.[5]
Sculpture
Richmond created a number of highly acclaimed sculptures, including a piece titled An Athlete exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1879, a bronze sculpture of a Greek runner donated to his village of Hammersmith, and an Arts-and-Crafts style monument of William Gladstone in St Deiniol's Church in Hawarden, Flintshire.[12]
Environmental activism
Richmond was an early advocate for
Richmond wrote magazine articles and gave public lectures on the danger of coal smoke. CSAS was the oldest environmental
Awards and recognition
- 1888: Elected Associate of the Royal Academy of ArtARA
- 1891: Elected Master of the Art Workers' Guild[15][16]
- 1895: Elected Royal Academician of the Royal Academy of Art RA
- 1897: Awarded Order of the Bath[17]
- 1908: Elected 35th President of The Birmingham and Midland Institute
Personal life
Richmond married Charlotte Foster (1841–1865) at Marylebone in 1864. Charlotte died a year later on 31 December 1865.[citation needed]
He subsequently married Clara Jane Richards (1846–1915) at
Richmond died at his home, Beavor Lodge, in Hammersmith on 11 February 1921.[5][6]
Gallery
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William Richmond's first wife, Charlotte Foster
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Rev. Lord Arthur Hervey
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Hera in the House of Hephaistos
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Portrait of Mrs Ernest Moon
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William Morris, leader of the Arts and Crafts Movement
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William and Catherine Gladstone monument, St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden
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Youth, stained-glass window, Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London
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Charity, Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, London
References
- ^ a b c "Richmond, Sir William Blake". Suffolk Artists. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ a b c "Mosaics in the quire". St. Paul's Cathedral. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b c Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 307.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lascelles, Helen (1902). The life and work of Sir W.B. Richmond, K.C.B., R.A., D.C.L (1842–1921). London: Virtue Publishers.
- ^ a b c d "Sir William Blake Richmond". A Victorian.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ a b c Blackett-Ord, Carol. "Sir William Blake Richmond (1842–1921), Painter; son of George Richmond". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "Sir William Blake Richmond RA (1842–1921)". Royal Academy. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Sir William Blake Richmond". National Galleries Scotland. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ "Mosaics designed by Sir William Blake Richmond (1842–1921)". Victorian Web.org. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ISBN 978-1138761452.
- ^ ISBN 978-0300209709.
- ^ "Sir William Blake Richmond RA". Mapping Sculpture Project. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ISBN 978-1783603855.
- ^ Boettcher, Daniel (28 November 2011). "The UK's oldest environmental charity faces closure". BBC News. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ "The Art Workers' Guild Expeditions". The Reviews of Reviews (6): 62. 1893.
- ^ Past Master List (PDF). Art Workers' Guild.
- ^ "No. 26867". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 June 1897. p. 3568.
- ^ "William Blake Richmond (Tatham Family History)". Saxon Lodge.net. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
External links
- 57 artworks by or after William Blake Richmond at the Art UK site