Hercules Brabazon Brabazon (born Hercules Brabazon Sharpe; 27 November 1821 – 14 May 1906) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
artist, accomplished in
Turner
Turner may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name
*One who uses a lathe for turni ...
-manner
watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
s.
Life and work
Brabazon was the younger son of Hercules Sharpe and his wife, Anne Mary, the daughter of Sir Anthony Brabazon, 1st Bt. Initially raised in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, he moved with his family to Oaklands, an estate near
Sedlescombe
Sedlescombe is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is on the B2244 road, about north of Hastings. The parish includes the hamlet of Kent Street, which is on the A21 road.
The parish is i ...
,
East Sussex, in 1832. He attended
Harrow School, the
École Privat,
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
, and
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, graduating with a B.A. in mathematics in 1844.
His father then wanted him to study law, but instead he left England and went to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
to study music and art, enrolling at the
Accademia di Santa Cecilia and
Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fi ...
. His father attempted to make him return by reducing his allowance, but in 1847, upon the death of his elder brother, he gained financial independence when he inherited family estates in
Connaught
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
, the will requiring that he change his surname to Brabazon. From then on he led a life of travel, art study and painting, inspired by the works of artists such as
Diego Velázquez and
J. M. W. Turner.
In 1858 he inherited Oaklands, whose management he left to his brother-in-law while he continued to travel – mostly in Europe, but with trips to Africa and India – always returning with his watercolours. Describing himself as living "for Art and Sunshine", he viewed himself as a gentleman
amateur, and did not show or try to sell his work until his mid-seventies.
With the encouragement of artist friends, particularly
John Singer Sargent, he began to exhibit, first at the
New English Art Club
The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...
, followed by successful one-man exhibitions at the
Goupil Gallery
Goupil & Cie is an international auction house and merchant of contemporary art and collectibles. Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil founded Goupil & Cie in 1850. Goupil & Cie became a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with its headquart ...
in Bond Street. He died at
Sedlescombe
Sedlescombe is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is on the B2244 road, about north of Hastings. The parish includes the hamlet of Kent Street, which is on the A21 road.
The parish is i ...
in 1906, and is buried there.
Reputation
Due to financial problems with the family estate, in 1926 Brabazon's relatives sold the works that they had inherited. The quantity, 3199 over 27 months, seriously devalued their price and Brabazon's reputation. Since the 1980s, however, the art dealership
Chris Beetles Ltd has led a revival, and many major museums have examples of his work.
Brabazon's work is held in the permanent collections of many institutions, including the
Indianapolis Museum of Art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres, the Gardens at Newfields, the Beer Garden, and more. It ...
, the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, the
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...
, the
University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...
, the
Brooklyn Museum, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...
, the
Huntington, and the
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is an art museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The Brooks Museum, which was founded in 1916, is the oldest and largest art museum in the state of Tennessee. The museum is a privately funded nonprofit institution located in ...
.
References
Emil von Sauer: Meine Welt - Bilder aus dem Geheimfache meiner Kunst und meines Lebens
Sources
*
External links
Hercules Brabazon Brabazon profile Tate.org.uk; accessed 19 May 2014.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brabazon, Hercules Brabazon
1821 births
1906 deaths
People educated at Harrow School
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
19th-century English painters
English male painters
20th-century English painters
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
People from Sedlescombe
20th-century English male artists
19th-century English male artists