Product Description
Captive Andromache, c. 1888 by Frederic, Lord Leighton. Published by Pomegranate with the Manchester Art Gallery.

Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), the acknowledged leader of the Victorian classical school of painting, was born in Scarborough, England. His childhood was largely spent traveling in Europe with his family, and he received his artistic training in Brussels, Paris, and Frankfurt. In 1858 Leighton settled in London, where he had a glittering career as a painter of historical and mythological scenes and was elected president of the Royal Academy in 1878. In 1896 he was ennobled the only English artist to receive this honor. His full title was Baron Leighton of Stretton.

It took Leighton over a year to complete Captive Andromache, the painting depicted on this puzzle. Large-scale paintings of scenes from ancient history and legend brought prestige to both the artist and the purchaser.

Thoughtfully conceived and engagingly intricate, this 1,000-piece interlocking jigsaw puzzle combines superb color reproduction, stunning and unusual images, and sturdy construction to delight generations of novice and veteran puzzleworkers. Puzzle size: 32 x 16 inches. Box size: 10 x 13 x 1 7/8 inches. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Frederic, Lord Leighton was the most prominent painter of Victorian England's artistic renaissance. His works combine the grand academic style with a sensuous delight in the human form and a feeling for colour and light. Leighton created the most elaborate figurative paintings of mythological, historical and literary subjects, as well as landscapes influenced by his European upbringing and training. As a powerful president of the Royal Academy, his passionate interest in painting revitalized British art in the nineteenth century and marks his out as a genius of his age. This monograph provides a commentary on Leighton's career and a gallery of the artist's finest works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Lord Leighton, an approach
It is a good first approach to this great painter, good images, good size, recommendable as an approach

Gorgeous, but could be more
The author states at the outset that Leighton's life has already been well documented, so only enough of his biography appears here to frame the context for his pictures. Instead, Newall chooses to analyze the art itself, which "... presents the world a hard, glossy carapace apparently designed to resist the critic's probe." Given this unpromising premise, I opted to study the pictures themselves, and dip only lightly into the text analyzing that which resists analysis.

The pictures themselves are easy to enjoy - skillful, classical, and carefully designed to appeal to Victorian tastes and to create a position for Leighton within the hierarchies of art and society. (He succeeded in both.) Many of this books reproductions honor his work beautifully, in lush color and fine printing, on bright, opaque paper. Those images generally make the most of the book's largish size,. As a result, the reader can enjoy much of Leighton's meticulous detail in rendering romanticized images of contemporary and classical topics.

Something like half of the reproductions, however, are black and white, undersized for the book's large format, and sometimes murky. The book chooses not to address Leighton's life, except tangentially, but under-represents the visual impact of his art, too. The large, lovely color reproductions are very enjoyable, but might not be enough to deliver the value that a reader might expect.

-- wiredweird

One Grand Painter: A Victorian Icon
Lord Frederic Leighton stands at the top of the pinnacle of British art of the late nineteenth century.Though his images of dramatic, cloaked figures are easily recognizable, few art collectors or even museum visitors recognize the name of Lord Leighton.Now, with the resurgence of interest in this school of painting his name will certainly become more of a household word.

This slim though fine monograph is strong on images and less successful on information: Christopher Newell is a fine writer, he just wasn't given enough space to tell us much about the artist.Divided into sections - 'Outsider 1855 - 1864', 'Academician 1864 - 1878', and 'President of the Royal Academy 1878 - 1896' - Newell outlines the rise of this figurative artist and gives some insights as to his subject matter and influences.

But the beauty of this book is in the fine reproductions of his dramatic, grand, elaborate renderings of both historic and literary subjects.A bit on the kitsch side? Yes, but that was part of the Grand Victorian tradition.The paintings may be saccharine but oh, they are lovely to look at!Grady Harp, September 05

Great Pics and info
Though I thought it could be thicker the pictures are well viewed and some like "Flaming June" take the whole page, awesome! ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more