Edward Poynter
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Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet Template:Post-nominals (20 March 1836Template:Snd26 July 1919) was an English painter, designer, and draughtsman, who served as President of the Royal Academy.
LifeEdit
Poynter was the son of architect Ambrose Poynter. He was born in Paris, France, though his parents returned to Britain soon after his birth. He was educated at Brighton College and Ipswich School, but left school early for reasons of ill health, spending winters in Madeira and Rome. In 1853, he met Frederick Leighton in Rome, who made a great impression on the 17-year-old Poynter. On his return to London he studied at Leigh's Academy in Newman Street and the Royal Academy Schools, before going to Paris to study in the studio of the classicist painter Charles Gleyre where James McNeill Whistler and George du Maurier were fellow-students.
In 1866 Poynter married the famous beauty Agnes MacDonald, daughter of the Rev. G. B. MacDonald of Wolverhampton, and they had three children. Her sister Georgiana married the artist Edward Burne-Jones; her sister Alice was the mother of writer Rudyard Kipling; and her sister Louisa was the mother of three-times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Stanley Baldwin.
Poynter's sister Clara Bell became a noted translator of literary and scientific works.
CareerEdit
He became best known for his large historical paintings such as Israel in Egypt (1867; Guildhall Art Gallery, London), followed by St George for England (1869), a mosaic for the Central Lobby of the Palace of Westminster, depicting St George and the Dragon<ref>Jarrold Publishing, Norwich. Palace of Westminster Collection</ref> and perhaps culminating with The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon (1884–90; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney). He was admitted as an associate of the Royal Academy in 1869.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Poynter held a number of official posts: he was the first Slade Professor at University College London from 1871 to 1875, principal of the National Art Training School from 1875 to 1881 and director of the National Gallery from 1894 to 1904 (overseeing the opening of the Tate Gallery). He became a full Royal Academician in 1876. In 1896, on the death of Sir John Millais, Poynter was elected President of the Academy.Template:Sfn He received a knighthood in the same year and an honorary degree from Cambridge University in 1898.<ref>Template:Acad</ref> It was announced that he would receive a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of King Edward VII,<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet, of Albert Gate, in the city of Westminster, in the county of London.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>
Poynter's old school, Brighton College, held an exhibition of Poynter's paintings and drawings entitled Life at Arms Length in its Burstow Gallery in November–December 1995.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
WorksEdit
PaintingsEdit
- At low tide.jpg
At Low Tide
- The Siren by Edward John Poynter (1864).jpg
The Siren (1864)
- Sir Edward John Poynter — Cave of the Storm Nymphs.jpg
The Cave of the Storm Nymphs (1903; Private collection)
- Edward John Poynter - Psyche in the Temple of Love - Google Art Project.jpg
Psyche in the Temple of Love
- 1869 Edward Poynter - Andromeda.jpg
Andromeda, Edward Poynter, 1869
- Edward Poynter - The Fortune Teller.jpg
The Fortune Teller (1877)
- Lillie Langtry00.jpg
Portrait of Lillie Langtry, 1878
- Corner of the marketplace, by Edward John Poynter.jpg
Corner of the Marketplace (1887)
- Pea Blossoms.jpg
Pea Blossoms
- 1867 Edward Poynter - Israel in Egypt.jpg
Israel in Egypt (1867)
- Catapulta by Edward Poynter.jpg
Catapulta
- Edward John Poynter - Barine.jpg
Barine (1894)
- Edward John Poynter - The Vision of Endymion, 1902.jpg
The Vision of Endymion (1902)
- Women consulting Aesculapius. Colour reproduction of a paint Wellcome V0036062.jpg
Women Consulting Aesculapius
- Wild Blossoms.jpg
Wild Blossoms (c. 1880)
- The Ides of March Edward John Poynter (1836–1919).jpg
The Ides of March (1883)
Stained glassEdit
Early in his career, Poynter designed some works in stained glass.<ref>Brooks, Alan. The Stained Glass Designs of Sir Edward Poynter. Victorian Society Annual, 1996, pp 27–36.</ref> Parts of the original designs were sometimes re-used in later windows.
Written worksEdit
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- Template:Cite book with Buxton, H. J. Wilmot (co-author)
- Template:Cite book with Percy Head (co-author)
ReferencesEdit
CitationsEdit
SourcesEdit
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- Calinski, Tobias (2021): Edward J. Poynter "Lesbia and her Sparrow", in: Catull in Bild und Ton, WBG Darmstadt, 223-261
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External linksEdit
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- Edward Poynter online (ArtCyclopedia)
- Edward Poynter – biography and paintings (artmagick.com)
- Edward Poynter – biography and paintings (Art Renewal Center)
- Poynter, Edward John, Sir (Dictionary of Art Historians)
- Pears Soap Company & Sir Edward Poynter – "At Low Tide" ("Art of the Print")
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