Sidney Starr ( Kingston upon Hull 10 June 1857 – New York City, 3 March 1925) was an English

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

painter who spent the latter part of his career in the United States. In addition to urban and parkland scenes, he also did portraits.

Life and work

Starr did his studies at the Slade School of Fine Art, where Edward Poynter and

Alphonse Legros Alphonse Legros (8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911) was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist. He moved to London in 1863 and later took British citizenship. He was important as a teacher in the British etching rev ...

were among his teachers. In 1874, the school awarded him their prestigious scholarship. From 1882 to 1886, he exhibited 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 ...

. His early works were influenced by

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, in whose studio he worked. When Whistler left 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 ...

in 1888, after a disagreement about the organization's future, he took several of his associates, including Starr, Walter Sickert, Philip Steer and

Theodore Roussel Theodore Casimir Roussel (1847–1926) was a French-born English painter and graphic artist, best known for his landscapes and genre scenes. Life and work He came to painting late, in 1872, after his military service had ended, and he was en ...

. Starr then joined Sickert's New English Art Club, and began painting in a more Impressionistic style. In 1889, he participated in an exhibition at the Goupil Gallery in Paris, which introduced English-style Impressionism to the French.Biography of Sydney Starr
@ Nicholas Bagshawe Fine Art Later that year, he won a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle for his depiction of Paddington Station. His most famous work is "The City Atlas", which can be found in most works on English Impressionism. In 1892, following the collapse of an affair with the wife of his biggest patron, he emigrated to New York, where his work was popular among collectors. He soon received several commissions, including murals for the chapel in

Grace Church Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

and 24 paintings for what is now called the Simmons Corridor at the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. He died in 1925 at the age of sixty-two. Some of his works can be seen in the Tate Gallery in London and the National Gallery of Canada.

Gallery

File:Paddington Station Sidney Starr.jpg, Paddington Station File:Starr Study in bleu and gray.jpg, Study in
Blue and Gray File:Sydney Starr Figures on the seashore.jpg, Figures at the Seashore File:Starr cafe royal.jpg, Café Royal File:Charles Kensington Salaman.jpg, Portrait of

Charles Kensington Salaman Charles Kensington Salaman (3 March 1814 – 23 June 1901) was a British Jewish composer, pianist, and writer. He was the composer of more than one hundred settings of Hebrew texts for the West London Synagogue, as well as numerous songs in Engl ...

References

External links

Sydney Starr
@ the Tate Gallery
Correspondence between Starr and Whistler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Sydney 1857 births 1925 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters British Impressionist painters English emigrants to the United States 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists