Lawrence Alma-Tadema

(Hardback)

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Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was one of the finest and most distinctive of the Victorian painters. Dutch-born, he moved to London in 1870, and became famous for his depictions of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, set in fabulous marbled interiors or against a backdrop of dazzling blue Mediterranean sea and sky. This study presents an absorbing and often amusing portrait of an exuberant personality who carved out a brilliant career for himself at the heart of London's artistic and cultural elite. The author also subjects the paintings to fresh scrutiny, and reveals that Alma-Tadema, a knowledgeable student of antiquity, repeatedly used literary and archaeological allusions in his paintings to play a game of interpretation with his viewers. Time and again the seeming innocence of the scenes he depicts is subverted by a mischievously placed inscription or statue, suggesting to the initiated a darker and usually risque meaning. Neglected after his death, Alma-Tadema's paintings are once again admired for their beauty and their remarkable mastery of light, colour and texture. Offering intriguing insights into his personality and intentions, this book aims to offer a challenging reassessment of a major artist.

Reviews

"This book, like the paintings themselves, is a joy of immaculate and comprehensive research with a lavish attention to detail."Arts Opinion

"In this original and penetrating study, Rosemary Barrow presents a portrait of an exuberant personality who carved out a brilliant career at the heart of London's artistic and cultural elite."The Argus

"A penetrating study of one of the finest and most distinctive Victorian painters."(Sotheby's Bookshop Brochure)

"Scholarly and informative book..."Times Literary Supplement

"A fresh and sympathetic appraisal of this artist."Daily Telegraph

"This fascinating book, well-illustrated with fine colour reproductions will help to reasses his [Lawrence Alma-Tadema's] reputation in the 21st century."Yorkshire Gazette

"Barrow's anecdotal, academic and absorbing study of this Dutch-born Victorian painter breathes life into a man famous for his depictions of the imagined excesses, decadence and languid passion of the Roman Empire."Antiques

Author Bio

Dr Rosemary Barrow is a Lecturer in Classics and Faculty of Arts Research Fellow at the University of Bristol. She completed her PhD thesis on Victorian classical-subject painting at King's College, London. She has lectured and published on Alma-Tadema and on Victorian classicism and is currently working on nineteenth-century constructions of decadence in the visual arts.