The Artist's Studio

by Michael Del Priore

The Leighton House was the home of Sir Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896). He was the great classical painter of Victorian times and was the seventh president of the Royal Academy, as well as the first artist in England to be knighted as a "lord."

Being one of the most successful and prominent artists of his day, he began to show high society that an artist, too, can live as gentlemen, even as a lord. So he set out to build the ultimate "jewel." The Leighton House has been described as "the jewel in the crown," in the royal borough of Kensington (12 Holland Park Road).

The home-studio is prestigious and represents the height of the Victorian style. It was built between 1864-1879 by George Atchison, as a result of the vision of Lord Leighton. Due to the growing economic and social status of artists in the mid-19th century, Leighton felt he had to surpass his contemporaries – George F. Watts, Alma Tadema, Luke Fields and Marcus Stone – by constructing one of the finest home-studios ever seen. He must have accomplished this, for the Leighton House is the only one of these that is still maintained and used for social events today.

There is so much in the house to mention, from the Arab hall to the gilded dome, that one has to detail only a single aspect of it to know how the artist lived and worked.

The studio itself measures 60 by 40 feet with a 20-foot ceiling. Its lofty proportions and its sumptuous "objects d'art" were a visible manifestation of Frederic's social eminence.

The studio was used for painting and playing music, as it is today. The walls were painted a brick red with black and gold trim. The floor was oak, but always covered with Persian rugs. Over the doors on the south wall was installed a cast of a section of the Parthenon. The north wall has a very large window with three sides (like a bay window), and an angled top with skylights. Incoming light was controlled by shades that could be adjusted over each glass panel or section.

The spirit or aura of the room was enchanting. It was filled with bric-a-brac – Persian rugs, tapestries, statues, paintings, screens, bookcases, desks, chairs, tables and many easels.

The house stands as a memorial to that day, and is indeed a palace of art. It is still, as Lord Leighton called it, the "House Beautiful."

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was born in Florence, Italy of American expatriot parents. Though he was trained in Paris under Carolus Duran, he spent most of his working life in London.

Due to the patronage of Henry James and others, he became the most popular and successful portraitist of his day. His grand style, like Van Dyck or Sir Joshua Reynolds, garnered him many awards and honors. In 1886, he settled permanently in London. His new residence was 31 Tite Street. Needing more room, he later took over 33 as well.

The studio was in Chelsea, by the River Thames, which was outside the city and quiet. Many other artists, including J. Whistler, Boldoni, Furse and later, Augustus John, were also moving in that direction due to the growth of the city.

The studio had a battery of props at Sargent's disposal; chairs, tables, fabrics, screens, statues, rugs and easels.

Today, Sargent's studio is not a museum and is privately owned by Julian Barrow. He has lived there for over thirty years and knows much about the history of Sargent and others from that area.

Barrow is an accomplished landscape painter and portraitist. He is quite English – pleasant but private. Occasionally, he will loan out the studio for sittings, such as Nelson Shanks' painting Princess Diana or Margaret Thatcher.

My own studio I refer to as "cathedral-like." It measures 40 by 20 feet with 16-foot ceilings and has a 12- by 6-foot arched window on the north side and a set of skylights in the center of the room.

When planning my studio, I looked at many turn-of-the-century studios in books and visited many around the United States and other countries. The old-world aura of the room to me seems fitting for working in such a traditional genre as portraiture. I tried to have much the same look as the Leighton House studio. Ninety percent of the room is filled with antiques, French and Italian furniture, a 9-foot, 10-panel coromandel screen, books and bookcases, bronze and plaster busts and casts, Persian rugs, paint and watercolor boxes, library steps, an old camera, cast-iron drafting tables and a large collection of easels, all of which are over 100 years old. I have a desk in the studio, but my real "office" is in a separate room.

The most important consideration when building a studio is good light. Keep the light high. Northern light is preferable, blocking off any horizontal light.

Studios are the private world where great things are created, designed and produced to enlighten or uplift mankind. . .a studio should be a place of creativity and inspiration.

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