William Cave Thomas (8 May 1820 – 1896? 1906?), generally referred to as Cave Thomas was an English painter of historical, religious and literary subjects, also known as a sculptor and author.

History

Thomas was born in London, a son of a picture-frame maker and gilder. He studied 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 ...

in the 1830s and in 1840 travelled to Munich, where for several years he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, learning the techniques of

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

painting, working at the basilica of St. Boniface's Abbey and elsewhere under Heinrich Maria von Hess, and was influenced by " Nazarenes" Peter von Cornelius and Johann Friedrich Overbeck. In 1843 he returned to London, where he had some success as a painter and taught at an art school in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

, and over the years wrote articles for art journals and specialist magazines such as '' The Builder''. In April 1842 H.M. Government established a competition to select British artists to create artwork on which to base frescoes for the new Houses of Parliament, then under construction. A royal commission was formed with Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793–1865), as secretary, and a panel which included the

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

, various noblemen and connoisseurs, and such men as the historian Henry Hallam, the poet Samuel Rogers, and the painter William Etty. Over three years, monochrome cartoons in height by some 200 artists were displayed in a series of exhibitions ("Westminster competitions") held at Westminster Hall. From these, six artists were selected:— Charles West Cope, William Dyce, John Callcott Horsley,

Daniel Maclise Daniel Maclise (25 January 180625 April 1870) was an Irish history painter, literary and portrait painter, and illustrator, who worked for most of his life in London, England. Early life Maclise was born in Cork, Ireland, the son of Alexan ...

, Richard Redgrave and William Cave Thomas. The subjects Thomas chose for his entries were "St Augustine Preaching to the Britons", "The Bark of the Prosperous", "Justice", and "Philosophy". These last two, for which Thomas was awarded two

acquisition prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

s totalling £400, were shown at, respectively,

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

and University College, London. ''Justice'' was used as ''modello'' of Lady Justice in the House of Lords fresco. Thomas was described as a fringe member of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

, perhaps an understatement as although his output was not large, he was a friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and shared a studio with Ford Madox Brown in the 1840s. It has been suggested that it was he who gave the original title, '' The Germ'', for their famous magazine.

Selected works

''Rivalry'' was exhibited at the

in 1855 and the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester 1857. It found its way to Australia in 1861, where it was later advertised as ". . . without doubt, the finest work of art in the colony". Thomas had a brother, James Henry Thomas, an art patron in Sydney. *''Albrecht Dürer'' is a large oil on canvas full-length portrait commissioned in 1863 by the builder of the Victoria and Albert Museum for its " Kensington Valhalla" court at South Kensington. Various artists were so commissioned, to be copied as mosaics representing great artists, and in the end Thomas's was not used.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Cave 1820 births 1896 deaths 19th-century English painters Pre-Raphaelite painters Pre-Raphaelite sculptors

History

Selected works

Further reading

References