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Artist Collier John

Collier John - an artist of the English school, one of the best portrait painters at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. He worked in the style of the Pre-Raphaelites. His best works are distinguished by special solemnity, “weightlessness” of colors, impeccable use of light and colors.

collier john

Collier John: biography

John Maler Collier was born on January 27, 1850 in a wealthy and influential family. He was the son of Lord Monkswell, a judge of the Privy Council of Britain and part-time amateur artist. John's elder brother was the Under Secretary of State for Military Affairs and chairman of the London County Council.

Collier John studied drawing at the Felix Slade School of Fine Arts in London. Here he met his first wife, Marian Huxley (Huxley), with whom he legalized relations in 1879. After the birth of a daughter, the spouse became depressed, from whom she was treated in Paris. John also moved here. He entered the Academy of Arts. However, Marian soon contracted pneumonia and died.

In 1889, Collier married Ethel Huxley, the younger sister of the late wife. In the marriage, a daughter and son were born, who was the British ambassador to Norway (1941-1951). Collier John died on April 11, 1934.

Collier John Biography

Study

Before becoming a great portrait painter, the British artist devoted much time to studying the basics of the profession. Initial skills were instilled in him at the Slider school, where Edward John Poynter had a great influence on Collier.

Then John studied art in Paris (France), Munich and Heidelberg (Germany), Milan (Italy). The closest to the heart was the style of painting professed by members of the Brotherhood of the Pre-Raphaelites. His idols and indirectly teachers were the English artists Lawrence Alma-Tadema and John Everett Millet.

It was from Millet that he adopted the method, which is still accepted in portraiture. Namely: to place the model and the canvas side by side, looking at them from some distance, and move back and forth to make the picture more realistic.

Creation

In the end, Collier John became a recognized master of the portrait genre. He also painted landscapes, paintings on historical themes, dramatic plots. His works were exhibited 83 times at the famous Royal Academy (London). More than a hundred exhibitions were held in other prestigious galleries, including Suffolk Street, the Society of French Artists, and the Royal Academy of Hibernian.

Among his sitters were Charles Darwin, Rudyard Kipling, Prince of Wales (Edward VIII), Professor Huxley, Dukes of Cornwall and York, Lord Chancellors, Speakers of the House of Commons and other celebrities. His thematic portraits were not ceremonial. They expressed the complex, contradictory inner world of members of high society. Some dramatic situations were displayed (sometimes real, often far-fetched), prompting the plot hero to reveal his soul in front of the audience. It was the passion to show the true face of the sitter, no matter what regalia he possessed, that made the author incredibly popular at the turn of the century. Collier's work is an excellent example of a picturesque approach to light, color and design.

Collier John artist

Best works

Collier John (a photo of his works can be seen in the article) wrote many paintings. Among the most famous:

  • Clytemnestra (1882, 1914).
  • The Circe (1885).
  • Lilith (1887).
  • The Delphic Priestess (1891).
  • The Arden Forest (1892).
  • A Glass of Wine (1893).
  • "Lady Godiva" (1898);
  • “Tannhäuser on Venus Mountain” (1901).
  • The Sinner (1904).
  • "Angela McInns" (1914).
  • The Little Mermaid (1923).
  • "Madame Huxley" (1928).
  • “Portrait of the artist’s daughter” (1929).

Achievements

Collier John was one of the 24 founding members of the Royal Society of Portraitists. Subsequently, he became his vice president. He is the author of the textbooks “The Art of Primer” (1882), “Manual on Oil Painting” (1886) and “The Art of Portraiture” (1905). He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1920.

A lot of work has been written about Collier. Sixteen paintings by John are now in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery (London), two are on display at the Tate Gallery. The self-portrait of 1907 was preserved in the Uffizi Museum (Florence).

Other works can be seen in private collections and public institutions. For example, a large and colorful canvas "Clytemnestra" is in the gallery of the Town Hall Gallery in London. The painting “Death Sentence” is exhibited at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. His portrait of Earl Onslow (1903) is in Clandon Park (Surrey, England). The full-length portrait of Sir Charles Mander (the first baronet) is in one of the collections of Gloucestershire.

Collier John photo

Criticism

Critics have different opinions on the work of John Collier. In the “Dictionary of Art” (1996), Jeffrey Ashton noted that due to the peculiarities of applying strokes (they are almost invisible), “paints are used flat and uninteresting,” but the expert admits that “Collier had a strong and amazing sense of color, leading confused by the realism of the mood and appearance of the characters in the paintings. ”

"The Dictionary of the Portraitists of Great Britain until 1920" (1997) describes his portraits as "paintings with a fresh use of light and color."

In the “National Biographical Dictionary” (1949), Collier’s works are compared with the works of Frank Hollem due to special solemnity. “His paintings of old people, men, women and children cover everyday life scenes, often very vibrant and fresh.”

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