Herbert James Draper ( (baptism record) – ) was an English

Classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Cla ...

painter whose career began in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

and extended through the first two decades of the 20th century.

Life

Born in London, the son of a fruit merchant named John James Draper and his wife Emma, he was educated at

Bruce Castle School Bruce Castle School, at Bruce Castle, Tottenham, was a progressive school for boys established in 1827 as an extension of Rowland Hill's Hazelwood School at Edgbaston. It closed in 1891. Origins In 1819, Rowland Hill moved his father's Hill ...

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

''The Times'', Thursday, Sep 23, 1920; pg. 1; Issue 42523; col A and then went on to study art 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 ...

. He undertook several educational trips to Rome and Paris between 1888 and 1892, having won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship in 1889. In the 1890s, he worked as an illustrator, eventually settling in London. In 1891, he married Ida (née Williams), with whom he had a daughter, Yvonne. He died of

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which ...

at the age of 56, in his home on

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although '' Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly ...

Career

Draper's most productive period began in 1894. He focused mainly on mythological themes from ancient Greece. His painting ''

The Lament for Icarus ''The Lament for Icarus'' is a painting by Herbert James Draper, showing the dead Icarus, surrounded by lamenting nymphs. The wings of Icarus are based on the bird-of-paradise pattern.Jacob E. Nyenhuis''Myth and the creative process: Michael Ayrt ...

'' (1898) won the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 and was later bought for the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

by the Chantrey Trustees. He was also responsible for the decoration of the ceiling of the Drapers' Hall in the City of London. Though Draper was neither a member nor an associate of the

, he took part in the annual expositions from 1890 on. In later years as the public tastes changed and mythological scenes became less popular he concentrated more on portraits. During his lifetime Draper was quite famous, a well-known portrait painter. In his last years, his popularity faded, though there has recently been a revival of interest in his work on the art market. The sale of his painting ''The Sea Maiden'' by the Royal Cornwall Museum in 2010, to help secure its finances, generated debate about the policy of disposing of art works for this purpose.''The Independent'', 26 July 2010: Jenkins, Tiffany, 'Don't put a price on our national treasures
Independent.co.uk
/ref> Simon Toll's book on Draper, published by the Antique Collector's Club is the only modern study of his work and includes a full catalogue of his drawings and paintings.

Gallery

File:Herbert James Draper, The Vintage Morn.jpg, ''The Vintage Morn'' File:Herbert James Draper, A Young Girl by a Pool.jpg, ''A Young Girl by a Pool'' File:Herbert James Draper, Calypso's Isle.jpg, ''Calypso's Isle'' File:Thekelpie large.jpg, ''The

Kelpie A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Each-Uisge''), is a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore. It is usually described as a black horse-like creature, able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpi ...

'', 1903 File:DrapersTristanIsolde.jpg, ''Tristan and Isolde'' File:Draper-The Water Nymph.jpg, ''The

Water Nymph In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who ...

'', 1908 File:Herbert James Draper, Portrait of Ida Draper.jpg, Ida Draper File:Herbert James Draper, Ariadne.jpg, Ariadne File:Herbert James Draper, A Nymph in a Sunlit Glade.jpg, ''A Nymph in a Sunlit Glade'' File:Herbert James Draper, By Summer Seas.jpg, ''By Summer Seas'' File:Draper Herbert The Pearls of Aphrodite.jpg, ''The Pearls of Aphrodite'' File:Draper-Lamia.jpg, ''The

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

'', 1909 File:Herbert James Draper, Bather.jpg, ''Bather'' File:Herbert James Draper, Art and the Jade.jpg, ''Art and the Jade'' File:Miss Barbara de Selincourt, by Herbert James Draper.jpg, ''Portrait Of Miss Barbara De Selincourt'' File:Herbert James Draper, Oil study for Clyties of the Mist.jpg, ''Clyties of the Mist'' File:Herbert Draper - The Lament for Icarus - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

'', 1898 File:Herbert James Draper For Saint Dorothea's Day 1899.jpg, ''For Saint Dorothea's Day'', 1899 File:AWaterBaby.jpg, ''A Water Baby'' File:Herbert James Draper, Prospero Summoning Nymphs and Deities.jpg, ''Prospero'' File:Herbert James Draper, The Sea Maiden.jpg, ''The Sea Maiden'' File:Herbert James Draper, The Gates of Dawn, 1900.jpg, ''Gates of Dawn'' File:Herbert James Draper, In the Studio.jpg, ''In the Studio'' File:Herbert James Draper, Sea Melodies.jpg, ''Sea Melodies'' File:Ulysses and the Sirens by H.J. Draper.jpg, '' Ulysses and the Sirens'', 1909 File:Herbert James Draper - Halcyone (1915).jpg, ''Halcyone'', 1915

Notes

External links

H J Draper
(Victorian Web)

(ArtCyclopedia)
Works by H J Draper
(Tate Gallery)
H J Draper
(Art Renewal Center) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Draper, Herbert James 1863 births 1920 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters Alumni of St John's Wood Art School English illustrators Mythological painters People educated at Bruce Castle School English portrait painters Painters from London 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists

Life

Career

Gallery

Notes

Further reading

External links