Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

by Elizabeth Prettejohn

A comprehensive survey of one of turn-of-the-century Europe's greatest artistic talents.

Genres: Art, History, Victorian

287 pages, Hardcover

Published January 15, 1997

Reviews

[Jan Peter van Kempen]

Eind 2016 zette het Fries Museum te Leeuwarden zichzelf op de kaart met een uitgebreide overzichtstentoonstelling over leven en werk van Lourens Alma Tadema, later beter bekend als Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Het Fries Museum heeft uiteindelijk 158000 bezoekers mogen ontvangen: 2 à 3 keer zoveel als bij aanvang werd verwacht. Dit is des te opvallender aangezien Alma-Tadema in Nederland nooit de populariteit en waardering heeft gekend, die hij buiten de landsgrenzen (en met name in Groot-Brittannië) wel heeft mogen ontvangen. Dit rijke geïllustreerde boek is meer dan een catalogus: in de 13 hoofdstukken van verschillende auteurs komen niet alleen leven en werk van Alma-Tadema aan bod, maar lezen we ook bijvoorbeeld over zijn invloed op Gustav Klimt en op films als Gladiator (2000). Een mooi boek om af en toe weer eens door te bladeren en aandachtig de schilderijen te bekijken.

[Servabo]

This book tells the tale of an extraordinary journey: from the tiny village of Dronryp in a remote corner of the northern Netherlands, to the magnificent surroundings of Edwardian London and on to the international worlds of art and cinema in the 20th century. Later, he is known as one of Britain's finest painters.

Some of the most exciting developments in 19th century art emerged from the practice of painting en plein air - in the open air. Textbooks on modern art invariably emphasize the crucial role of plein-air or outdoor painting in the art of the mainstream avant-garde, the French Impressionists and their followers throughout Europe. Tadema himself excelled in painting outdoor scenes. Yet the fashion for plein-air painting - however good at it he might have become - never diverted Tadema from his principal modus operandi: painting indoors, and preferably in his own house.

1) The Flower Market, 1868
2) Flowers, 1868
3) Gallo-Roman Women 1865
4) Improvisatore, 1872
5) Amo Te Ama Me, 1881
6) Love's Missile, 1909
7) The Roses of Heliogabalus, 1888
8) Under the Roof of Blue Ionian Weather, 1901
9) Coign of Vantage, 1895
10) Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema, Satisfaction, 1893
11) Spring, 1895
12) Silver Favourites, 1903
13) Spring Festival (On the Road to the Temple of Ceres), 1879

[♥ℳelody]

I had this book on my wishlist for years and honestly? Really disappointed. The cover is gorgeous but the actual content inside doesn't live up to it. It's more text than imagery and most of (not all) the pictures are very small black and white pictures of Sir Lawrence's work placed sparsely throughout. It looks like a coffee table book but the actual content inside doesn't "read" like one. The "comprehensive survey" isn't all that comprehensive. This reads like a textbook disguised as an artbook.

[Andrea Engle]

Sumptuously illustrated in full color, this biography and artistic analysis of Anglo-Dutch painter, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, is absolutely fascinating ... his Victorian ladies and gentlemen cavorting in Greco-Roman interiors and processing through sunlit landscapes incorporates all the contemporaneous archeological discoveries ... especially interesting is the final essay concerning Alma-Tadema's influence on cinema ...

[Julia Macfarlane]

This is the big £25 guide book that is sold at the Alma Tadema exhibition being held at Sir Frederic Leighton's House in London (https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/muse...). Great exhibition, beautifully presented book. Now that I have read it, I can appreciate Tadema's work and influence on our images of Roman and Ancient Greek society - he even had an impact on Ridley Scott's films. And for the next five minutes, I can probably even sound intelligent on the life and times of this great artist.