Frank Cowper Vanity, c. 1907 Oil on Panel - 21 1/2" x 14 1/2"

Victoria, however, was not always popular after she became Queen in 1837. She was shy, barely eighteen years old, and less than five feet in stature. She had had a difficult childhood with an overbearing mother. Her own father Edward, the Duke of Kent, (1767-1820) died before her first birthday. But, as a child she loved to draw and had a natural aptitude for watercolors, which she practiced most of her life. At a young age she fell madly in love with her cousin Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1819-1861). They were married in 1840. Most biographers agree that she gained strength and confidence by her association with Prince Albert. Together they frequented the Salon exhibitions at the Royal Academy. Prince Albert's favorite artist was the wildlife painter, Edwin Landseer (1802-1873). In 1855 at the Salon exhibition they bought a painting by a twenty-four-year old unknown English artist. The painting was the Cimabue's Madonna, for which the royal couple spent 600 guineas. The artist was of course, Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) who had spent almost his entire young life abroad. The Queen wrote of the purchase, "There was a very big picture by a young man, called Leighton... it is a beautiful painting quite reminding one of a Paul Veronese, so bright and full of lights. Albert was enchanted with it, so much that he made me buy it." (Page 17; Art of Lord Leighton; Christopher Newall.) Thus, began a friendship that lasted Lord Leighton's entire life. In 1878 Leighton became president of the Royal Academy, the same year he was knighted. He was made a baronet in 1886, and a year before his death in 1896, he was raised to the peerage. He is the only English artist to be accorded such an honor. Leighton was, in this author's opinion, the heart and soul of the Royal Academy in the Victorian era.
 
According to my good friend, art historian Vern Swanson, Ph.D., "He (Leighton) saved the Royal Academy, and at his best was the greatest artist of them all." He is represented in the exhibition by a serenely beautiful painting lent by the Maryhill Museum of Washington, entitled, Silence, and a few sculptural pieces that seem little more than sketches for maquettes. The next time you are in London, I suggest that you spend a day visiting Lord Leighton's house on Holland Park Road, which has become a museum. The house is exquisite in design containing a Moroccan room and some first rate works by Lord Leighton and many paintings by his close friend, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836- 1912). Alma-Tadema, who himself was knighted by Queen Victoria on the monarch's eightieth birthday, is well represented in the exhibition by four outstanding paintings.
 
Perhaps most noteworthy is an atypical portrait of his daughter, Anna. The painting captures the young girl at that awkward age in life between childhood and adolescence. It was painted with a naturalistic honesty that would have made John Singer Sargent proud. My own personal favorite painting in the exhibition is Solomon J. Solomon's (1860-1927) St. George. The heroic size, the design, composition, and exquisite drawing make it a tour de force. Solomon Joseph Solomon, who hailed from Jewish heritage, was best known for his mythological and biblical paintings. In his day he was perhaps most highly revered for his 1887 painting of Samson and Delilah. Solomon's unique power is in his draughtsmanship, and this quality is evident in St. George, in the foreshortening, not only of the female torso and wrist, but also in the two heads. There is a virile strength in St. George's armor-clad shoulder and in the gauntlet that grasps the magic sword, Ascalon.Certainly another favorite has to be Frank Cowper's Vanity (1907). The texture of satin, silk, flesh, and hair are flawlessly rendered. Even the intricate Florentine designs in the fabric are well composed, and yet the composition is not busy, perhaps because of the simple dark background. The painting is elegant, even lovely.