Thomas Francis Dicksee

Thomas Francis Dicksee
Thomas Francis Dicksee, self-portrait, date unknown
Born(1819-12-13)13 December 1819
London, England
Died6 November 1895(1895-11-06) (aged 75)
London, England
EducationH. P. Briggs.

Thomas Francis Dicksee (1819–1895) was a British painter. He was a portraitist but is best known as a painter of historical genre subjects, most often single imaginary "portraits" of young women from literature or history, many from the works of Shakespeare.

Dicksee belonged to an illustrious artistic family. His brother was the artist John Dicksee (1817–1905), whose son was Herbert Dicksee, who often painted dogs. Thomas's son was Sir Frank Dicksee (1853–1928), president of the Royal Academy from 1924 until his death. He painted somewhat similar subjects to his father, but with a wider range and more flamboyant treatment; medieval figure subjects were a speciality. Thomas's daughter Margaret Isabel Dicksee also painted in a similar vein, with more sentimental subjects usually of women and children.

Life and career

Thomas Francis Dicksee was born in London on 13 December 1819 and was the pupil of H. P. Briggs. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1841 until the year of his death.

He produced a series of portraits of family members, and also painted idealised portraits, including the Shakespearean characters Ophelia, Beatrice, Miranda and Ariel. A Juliet is in the Sunderland Art Gallery, and At the Opera is in the collection of Leicester Art Gallery. A portrait of Lady Teasdale is in the Adelaide Art Gallery, Australia[citation needed] and an Ophelia (1875) is in the Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts. Dicksee would become particularly well known for his depictions of Shakespearean heroines and exhibited a total of seven at the Royal Academy. Other oil paintings have been seen in several auctions including Christ of the Cornfield, Distant Thoughts, and paintings of Beatrice, Miranda, and Amy Robsart. He died in London on 6 November 1895.

He lived in Fitzroy Square, Bloomsbury.

References

  1. ↑ Ophelia Archived 22 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine (1875, oil on canvas - "Five College Museums")
  2. ↑ Ross Anderson, ''A Brush with Shakespeare, The Bard in Painting, 1780–1910'', exh. cat., Montgomery, Alabama, 1986, p. 51
  3. ↑ "Thomas Francis Dicksee (1819-1895)". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Thomas Francis Dicksee (British, 1819-1895)". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "Thomas Francis Dicksee (1819-1895)". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  6. ↑ "(#622) Thomas Francis Dicksee R.A." Sothebys.com. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Thomas Francis Dicksee (1819-1895)". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Fitzroy Square Pages 52-63 Survey of London: Volume 21, the Parish of St Pancras Part 3: Tottenham Court Road and Neighbourhood. Originally published by London County Council, London, 1949". British History Online. Retrieved 4 August 2020.