Leighton and Landscape

Frederic Leighton, Study of a Lemon Tree, Capri, 1859. Private Collection

Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896) is recognised as one of the most prominent figures of 19th century British art. Travel was an important part of Leighton’s life from childhood. By his late teens, he was living with his family in Frankfurt, Germany and had already visited many of Europe’s major cities, including Florence and Rome; places which he would return to on many occasions over the next decades. Once settled in London in the 1860s to pursue an artistic career, he continued to make extensive trips on an annual basis. The countries that Leighton visited on at least one occasion include Austria, Algeria, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, The Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Syria and Turkey.

Leighton and Landscape is the first major exhibition of his small landscape oil sketches, painted en plein air as he travelled. It reveals the celebrated Victorian artist in a new light, showing us a spontaneous, experimental artist who took the road less well trodden by his contemporaries, documenting the places he encountered. Created between 1856 up until his death in 1896, many of these delicate artworks will be returning to Leighton's house for the first time over 120 years, including new acquisition Bay of Cádiz, Moonlight (1866).

 All the pictures on display in the exhibition were created between 1856 and his death in 1896, but despite his successful and influential career, this aspect of his work across 40 years was largely unknown in his lifetime, and this remains the case today. This may be, in part, because Leighton was an intensely private individual, choosing to live and travel alone. He scarcely ever exhibited the landscapes. Upon his death, he left no journals and his letters barely referred to his personal circumstances, making these landscape sketches additionally fascinating and precious, offering insights into moments in his life.