Walter Armstrong

“ As a practical sculptor Sir Edgar Boehm takes a high place in the English school, but as an artist he scarcely deserved the patronage he received. In the large bronze population with which he endowed his adopted country, it would be difficult to find a single true work of art, while some of his productions, notably the Wellington group at Hyde Park Corner, fall lamentably short of their purpose. ”

“ But in design, as distinguished from draughtsmanship, he is often as nearly great as a man without creative genius can be. His studies of drapery are exquisite, and nothing could well be more rhythmical than the organisation of line in such pictures as the three just mentioned. Leighton contributed designs to George Eliot's novel of 'Romola' and to 'Dalziel's Bible,' which take a very high place among illustrations in black and white ”

“ The young Frederic Leighton showed an early love for drawing and filled many books with his sketches, but these do not seem to have been of a kind to impress his family very profoundly, and his father, it must be said, disliked the idea of art as a profession. ”

“ Work was begun in earnest in the Accademia delle Belle Arti, under Bezzuoli and Servolini, whose influence did little but harm. Leighton soon left Florence for Frankfort, where he resumed his general education. At the age of seventeen he finally left school, and worked at art for a year in the Staedel Institute. In 1848 he moved with his family to Brussels, where he painted one or two pictures, including a 'Cimabue finding Giotto.' In 1849 he was in Paris, copying pictures in the Louvre, and attending a so-called school of art in the Rue Richer. ”

“ Boehm's work soon became popular, and, from about 1865 to the end of his life, commissions came to him in an unbroken stream from fashionable patrons as well as from the government. For some years he had almost a monopoly in providing statues of public men and of members of the royal family. ”

“ Early in life Doyle had studied art practically, but never attained any great proficiency. For some time, however, he was political cartoonist to 'Fun,' and never entirely abandoned his pencil. A good many portraits by him are in existence, including two 'Cardinal Wiseman' and 'Richard Doyle' in the Irish National Gallery. ”

“ Lord Leighton was an honorary D.C.L. of Oxford, a LL.D. of Cambridge, and a LL.D. of Edinburgh, all of which degrees were conferred in 1879. He was a member of many foreign artistic societies. He was president of the international jury of painting for the Paris Exhibition of 1878. He was a member of the Society of Painters in Watercolours from 1888 onwards. He was for many years colonel of the artists' regiment of volunteers, but resigned the post in 1883. He was unmarried. ”

“ MACALLUM, HAMILTON (1841–1896) , painter, born at Kames, Argyllshire, on 22 May 1841, was the second son of John Macallum, J.P., of the Kames gunpowder works. While still a boy at school he showed a strong inclination towards art. This, however, was opposed by his father, who insisted on his entering a merchant's office in Glasgow, in preparation for an Indian commercial career. In 1864, when he was twenty-three years of age, he finally rebelled, and, winning a reluctant assent from his father, went to London to become a painter. ”

“ Leighton's individuality was not robust enough for such constant change, and it is probable that he would have been a greater artist than he was, had his early training been more favourable to concentration. ”

“ His last important work was a statue of the German Emperor Frederick for Windsor Castle. Among his few 'ideal' works the best known, and perhaps the best, is the 'Young Bull.'
Boehm was elected an A.R.A. in 1878, and an R. A. in 1880. He was a member of several foreign academies, lecturer on sculpture at the Royal Academy, and sculptor-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria. He was created a baronet on 13 July 1889. He married, on 20 June 1860, Louise Frances, daughter of F. L. Boteler of West Derby, Liverpool. He died in his studio, at 25 Wetherby Gardens, London, very suddenly, on 12 Dec. ”

“ After leaving school he worked for a short time in an architect's office, which he left to become a clerk in the office of the Guardian Insurance Company. At about the age of eighteen he began to be known in a narrow circle by the strange designs which were soon to make him famous. ”

“ To the next few years belong some of his best pictures, e.g. the 'Daphnephoria' and the 'Portrait of Sir Richard Burton' (1876) , 'The Music Lesson' (1877) , 'Winding the Skein,' and 'Nausicaa' (1878) . In 1877 he burst on the world as a sculptor, exhibiting the ' Athlete struggling with a Python,' which is now in the gallery at Millbank.
In 1878 Sir Francis Grant [q. v.] died, and Leighton succeeded him as president of the Royal Academy, the usual knighthood following his election (25 Nov. 1878) . As president he completely realised the hopes of his friends. ”

“ Early in 1895 his health had given disquieting signs of collapse. He was ordered to cease all work, and to take rest in a warm climate. Prompt obedience to his doctor gave him temporary relief from his most distressing symptoms. ”