Alfred Edward Emslie (
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
1848–1918) was a British
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
and portrait painter, and photographer, living at The Studio, 34, Finchley Road, N. W.
Emslie was born in London, and was the son of the engraver, John Emslie (1813–1875), and brother of
John Philipps Emslie (1839–1913), the figure painter. He studied at the
Royal Academy Schools
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
and then in Paris at the
École des Beaux Arts
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région ...
.
He married the miniature painter
Rosalie M. Emslie and they had a daughter,
Rosalie Emslie, who became a figure, portrait and landscape painter. Emslie turned increasingly to portraiture later in life. He had a great passion for the
Orient
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, and spent three months exploring Japan. Emslie also worked in New York and contributed illustrations to ''
Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...
''.
He was an elected an associate of the
Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours
The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wat ...
in 1888 and a member of the
Royal Society of Portrait Painters
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture.
Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commissio ...
in 1892.
Emslie exhibited in London at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
between 1869 and 1897. Between 1897 and 1901, he painted a series of pictures illustrative of the theme "God is Love". Nine large oil paintings from this series were exhibited at
Towneley Hall
Towneley Park is owned and managed by Burnley Borough Council and is the largest and most popular park in Burnley, Lancashire, England. The main entrance to the park is within a mile of the town centre and the park extends to the south east, cov ...
in
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, Lancashire from May 1904 until April 1905. He also exhibited at the
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London.
History
In 1831 the so ...
,
Royal Institute of Oil Painters
The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists.
Histor ...
,
Royal Watercolour Society
The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wa ...
,
Royal Miniature Society,
Grosvenor Gallery
The Grosvenor Gallery was an art gallery in London founded in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay and his wife Blanche. Its first directors were J. Comyns Carr and Charles Hallé. The gallery proved crucial to the Aesthetic Movement because it provided ...
,
Dudley Gallery,
New Gallery,
Fine Art Society
The Fine Art Society is a gallery based in both London and in Edinburgh's New Town (originally Bourne Fine Art, established 1978). The New Bond Street, London gallery closed its doors in August 2018 after being occupied by The Fine Art Society si ...
and Agnew and Sons Gallery as well as at the
Royal Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.
History
The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...
. Also at the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a re ...
Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour
The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours (RSW) is a Scottish organisation of painters.
The first preliminary meeting of the society took place in Glasgow on 21 December 1877 as a reaction to a lack of interest in watercolour art by ...
,
Leicester Galleries
Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...
,
Walker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group.
History of the Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...
in Liverpool and
Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...
.
He won a bronze medal at the
Exposition Universelle in 1889.
References
James McNeill Whistler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emslie, Alfred Edward
19th-century British painters
British male painters
20th-century English painters
British genre painters
Photographers from London
1848 births
1918 deaths
19th-century British male artists
20th-century British male artists