Temporary exhibition
Leighton House always surprises, its brick facade betraying no hint of the rich splendour within. But the Arab Hall, with its tiled walls, glittering dome of stained glass and tinkling fountain, is now vying for attention with other treasures on display.
A selection of 52 Victorian and Edwardian paintings from the collection of Mexican businessman Juan Antonio Pérez Simón has been arranged around the rooms of Leighton House, temporarily displacing the permanent collection but looking very much at home amid the Victorian decor and furnishings.
The studio house, built for the Victorian artist Frederic Leighton, forms the perfect backdrop to the paintings, which have returned to the domestic sphere for which they were intended. The curators have played their part by using alcoves, door frames and viewpoints to add dramatic impact to the exhibition.
Six of the works on display are by Leighton himself and four of these were painted in the house itself and are returning for the first time. Others were originally part of the artist’s collection and once hung on his walls.
Many of the artists represented in the exhibition, such as Albert Moore, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones, would have dined and conversed with Leighton in the reception rooms in which their paintings are now displayed, and their presence is pervasive.
The paintings are mesmeric in composition and luminous in colour, radiating with the intense light of the Mediterranean or the rich Tennysonian glow of the medieval.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s Her Eyes Are With Her Thoughts and They Are Far Away contrasts smooth white marble and flowing silks with the blue of the sea and the striking pink of blossom in an image of timeless, dreamy languor. John William Waterhouse conjures a magical atmosphere in The Crystal Ball with characteristic deep reds, blues and greens.
Light show
The luminosity of the colours is magnified by the quality of the lighting: curtains and blinds eliminate natural light, and paintings are either lit with traditional picture lights or by well-positioned overhead spotlights. The dark walls and gilded frames emphasise the dazzling effect of the light.
Even in the Silk Room, which Leighton added to the house as a purpose-built gallery with roof lights, natural light is replaced by artificial, which works well as the paintings are enhanced and enriched by skilful illumination.
The positioning of the paintings in many instances adds to their striking qualities. Edwin Long’s Queen Esther gazes at us from the top of the hall with her big, dark eyes, impossible to fathom as we walk up the stairs towards her.
Leighton’s Crenaia, the Nymph of the Dargle, is framed within the decorative architrave of a doorway, echoing the shape of the canvas and drawing our attention voyeuristically towards this modest yet provocative figure.
Elsewhere, framed sketches are propped against the backs of chairs below the paintings to which they relate, almost as though Leighton himself had placed them there for us to look at.
Polite audioguide
Despite the quality and number of the paintings, the rooms have not been changed to look more like a traditional gallery; instead, they retain the character of a home. There are no labels on the walls, and paintings are protected where possible by artfully placed furniture rather than ropes.
Visitors are guided through the exhibition by a pocket-sized booklet containing an introduction to each room and a paragraph about each painting, accompanied by a black-and-white reproduction to aid identification, replacing the need for labelling.
The interpretation is supplemented by an audioguide, which gives additional information on selected paintings marked in the booklet with a symbol, allowing visitors to decide how much detail they want. Both booklet and audioguide are impeccably polite, entreating the visitor to move on “when you are ready” and expressing thanks for visiting.
The exhibition ends spectacularly in the Upper Perrin Gallery, which was added to the house in the 1920s and is reached through Leighton’s studio. This displays Alma-Tadema’s masterpiece, The Roses of Heliogabalus, painted in 1888 and not seen in Britain since 1913. The huge canvas is given a room of its own, which means there is plenty of space for it to be viewed from a distance as well as up close.
Alma-Tadema has chosen the perfect subject for his artistic talents, a showcase for his love of antiquity and a gruesome tale appealing to Victorian minds. He depicts the moment when the banqueting guests of the emperor are engulfed in rose petals, languishing amid marble columns and silk cushions, suffocated by the decadence in which they luxuriate.
The individual rendering of each petal is evident as they spill from the painting, and the exquisitely painted details – the jewellery, the stitching on costumes, folds of drapery and feathers in a fan, the silverware and the soft bloom of grapes in a bowl – all appear delicate and real.
The painting is accompanied by photographs and sketches, lent for the exhibition by the University of Birmingham, that were used by Alma-Tadema as he strived for historical accuracy.
It is fascinating to see how these historical details have been incorporated into the painting, giving an insight into the artist’s methods and allowing us to appreciate not just the detail but the accuracy of the work.
While these images add to the appreciation of The Roses of Heliogabalus, the floral arrangements flanking the painting appear as unnecessary scene-setting. Even more superfluous is the “multi-sensory experience” created by Jo Malone using her Red Roses perfume to scent the gallery, which was barely discernible.
Heliogabalus mementoes
As visitors leave the exhibition, with the resplendent painting still vivid in the mind, the gift shop features the image in miniature on postcards, fridge magnets, coasters and bookmarks. This iconic painting embodies the allure of the exhibition and exemplifies the obsession of its title, expressed by artist and viewer, as well as collector.
A full-colour catalogue has been produced to accompany the exhibition, but no reproduction can do justice to these paintings, and to see them grouped together in the setting of Leighton House is a real delight.
Caroline Ikin, a former collections manager at the National Trust, is a writer and researcher
Leighton House always surprises, its brick facade betraying no hint of the rich splendour within. But the Arab Hall, with its tiled walls, glittering dome of stained glass and tinkling fountain, is now vying for attention with other treasures on display.
A selection of 52 Victorian and Edwardian paintings from the collection of Mexican businessman Juan Antonio Pérez Simón has been arranged around the rooms of Leighton House, temporarily displacing the permanent collection but looking very much at home amid the Victorian decor and furnishings.
The studio house, built for the Victorian artist Frederic Leighton, forms the perfect backdrop to the paintings, which have returned to the domestic sphere for which they were intended. The curators have played their part by using alcoves, door frames and viewpoints to add dramatic impact to the exhibition.
Six of the works on display are by Leighton himself and four of these were painted in the house itself and are returning for the first time. Others were originally part of the artist’s collection and once hung on his walls.
Many of the artists represented in the exhibition, such as Albert Moore, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones, would have dined and conversed with Leighton in the reception rooms in which their paintings are now displayed, and their presence is pervasive.
The paintings are mesmeric in composition and luminous in colour, radiating with the intense light of the Mediterranean or the rich Tennysonian glow of the medieval.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s Her Eyes Are With Her Thoughts and They Are Far Away contrasts smooth white marble and flowing silks with the blue of the sea and the striking pink of blossom in an image of timeless, dreamy languor. John William Waterhouse conjures a magical atmosphere in The Crystal Ball with characteristic deep reds, blues and greens.
Light show
The luminosity of the colours is magnified by the quality of the lighting: curtains and blinds eliminate natural light, and paintings are either lit with traditional picture lights or by well-positioned overhead spotlights. The dark walls and gilded frames emphasise the dazzling effect of the light.
Even in the Silk Room, which Leighton added to the house as a purpose-built gallery with roof lights, natural light is replaced by artificial, which works well as the paintings are enhanced and enriched by skilful illumination.
The positioning of the paintings in many instances adds to their striking qualities. Edwin Long’s Queen Esther gazes at us from the top of the hall with her big, dark eyes, impossible to fathom as we walk up the stairs towards her.
Leighton’s Crenaia, the Nymph of the Dargle, is framed within the decorative architrave of a doorway, echoing the shape of the canvas and drawing our attention voyeuristically towards this modest yet provocative figure.
Elsewhere, framed sketches are propped against the backs of chairs below the paintings to which they relate, almost as though Leighton himself had placed them there for us to look at.
Polite audioguide
Despite the quality and number of the paintings, the rooms have not been changed to look more like a traditional gallery; instead, they retain the character of a home. There are no labels on the walls, and paintings are protected where possible by artfully placed furniture rather than ropes.
Visitors are guided through the exhibition by a pocket-sized booklet containing an introduction to each room and a paragraph about each painting, accompanied by a black-and-white reproduction to aid identification, replacing the need for labelling.
The interpretation is supplemented by an audioguide, which gives additional information on selected paintings marked in the booklet with a symbol, allowing visitors to decide how much detail they want. Both booklet and audioguide are impeccably polite, entreating the visitor to move on “when you are ready” and expressing thanks for visiting.
The exhibition ends spectacularly in the Upper Perrin Gallery, which was added to the house in the 1920s and is reached through Leighton’s studio. This displays Alma-Tadema’s masterpiece, The Roses of Heliogabalus, painted in 1888 and not seen in Britain since 1913. The huge canvas is given a room of its own, which means there is plenty of space for it to be viewed from a distance as well as up close.
Alma-Tadema has chosen the perfect subject for his artistic talents, a showcase for his love of antiquity and a gruesome tale appealing to Victorian minds. He depicts the moment when the banqueting guests of the emperor are engulfed in rose petals, languishing amid marble columns and silk cushions, suffocated by the decadence in which they luxuriate.
The individual rendering of each petal is evident as they spill from the painting, and the exquisitely painted details – the jewellery, the stitching on costumes, folds of drapery and feathers in a fan, the silverware and the soft bloom of grapes in a bowl – all appear delicate and real.
The painting is accompanied by photographs and sketches, lent for the exhibition by the University of Birmingham, that were used by Alma-Tadema as he strived for historical accuracy.
It is fascinating to see how these historical details have been incorporated into the painting, giving an insight into the artist’s methods and allowing us to appreciate not just the detail but the accuracy of the work.
While these images add to the appreciation of The Roses of Heliogabalus, the floral arrangements flanking the painting appear as unnecessary scene-setting. Even more superfluous is the “multi-sensory experience” created by Jo Malone using her Red Roses perfume to scent the gallery, which was barely discernible.
Heliogabalus mementoes
As visitors leave the exhibition, with the resplendent painting still vivid in the mind, the gift shop features the image in miniature on postcards, fridge magnets, coasters and bookmarks. This iconic painting embodies the allure of the exhibition and exemplifies the obsession of its title, expressed by artist and viewer, as well as collector.
A full-colour catalogue has been produced to accompany the exhibition, but no reproduction can do justice to these paintings, and to see them grouped together in the setting of Leighton House is a real delight.
Caroline Ikin, a former collections manager at the National Trust, is a writer and researcher
Project data
- Cost £205,000
- Principal sponsor Strutt & Parker
- Exhibition supporters Christie’s; Foyle Foundation; Exhibition Supporters Circle; The Friends of Leighton House Museum; Jo Malone London
- Exhibition organiser Culturespaces in collaboration with Il Chiostro del Bramante and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, with the support of the Foundation JAPS
- Curators Daniel Robbins; Véronique Gerard-Powell
- Exhibition ends 29 March
