Herbert James Draper

Life

Born in Covent Garden, London, the seventh child and only son of a fruit merchant named John James Draper and his wife Emma, Draper was educated at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham and then went on to study art at the Royal Academy. He undertook several educational trips to Rome and Paris between 1888 and 1892, having won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship in 1889. In the 1890s, he worked as an illustrator, eventually settling in London. In 1891, he married Ida (née Williams), with whom he had a daughter, Yvonne. He died of arteriosclerosis at the age of 56, in his home on Abbey Road.

Career

Draper's most productive period began in 1894. He focused mainly on mythological themes from ancient Greece. His painting The Lament for Icarus (1898) won the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 and was later bought for the Tate Gallery by the Chantrey Trustees. He was also responsible for the decoration of the ceiling of the Drapers' Hall in the City of London. His draftsmanship was excellent in sensuous portrayals of both male and female nudes; and The Kelpie (1913).

In later years as the public tastes changed and mythological scenes became less popular, he concentrated more on portraits. Among his portrait subjects are the army officer Sir William Edmund Franklyn, Lucius O'Brien, 15th Baron Inchiquin, his wife and his eldest son Donough as a young boy, the physician Philip Pye-Smith (commissioned by Guy's Hospital), the actress June Tripp (twice), in addition to his wife, who may also have served as the model for his Autumn. Draper was well-known as a portrait painter. At a charity auction for the Red Cross in 1918, his offer to paint a child's portrait brought in a bid of £250, .

Draper took part in the annual expositions of the Royal Academy from 1890 on. He was proposed for membership in 1898, 1903, 1905 and 1920, but was passed over for election. In his last years, his popularity faded, though there has recently been a revival of interest in his work on the art market. The Royal Cornwall Museum's 2010 auction of his The Sea Maiden and Ernest Normand's Bondage to help secure its finances generated debate about the policy of disposing of art works for this purpose.

Gallery

File:Herbert James Draper, The Sea Maiden.jpg|The Sea Maiden, 1894 File:Herbert James Draper, Bather.jpg|Bather, 1896 File:Herbert James Draper, The Vintage Morn.jpg|The Vintage Morn, 1896 File:Herbert James Draper, The Foam Sprite.jpg|The Foam Sprite, 1896 File:Herbert James Draper, Calypso's Isle.jpg|Calypso's Isle, 1897 File:Herbert Draper - The Lament for Icarus - Google Art Project.jpg|The Lament for Icarus, 1898 File:Herbert James Draper For Saint Dorothea's Day 1899.jpg|For Saint Dorothea's Day, 1899 File:AWaterBaby.jpg|A Water Baby, c. 1900 File:Herbert James Draper, The Gates of Dawn, 1900.jpg|Gates of Dawn, 1900 File:DrapersTristanIsolde.jpg|Tristan and Isolde, 1901 File:Herbert James Draper, Prospero Summoning Nymphs and Deities.jpg|Prospero Summoning Nymphs and Deities, c. 1902 File:Thekelpie large.jpg|The Kelpie, 1903 File:Herbert James Draper, Sea Melodies.jpg|Sea Melodies, 1904 File:Herbert James Draper, The Golden Fleece.jpg|The Golden Fleece, 1904 File:Herbert James Draper, Ariadne.jpg|Ariadne, c. 1905 File:Herbert James Draper, Art and the Jade.jpg|Art and the Jade, 1906 File:Draper Herbert The Pearls of Aphrodite.jpg|The Pearls of Aphrodite, 1907 File:Draper-The Water Nymph.jpg|The Water Nymph, 1908 File:Ulysses and the Sirens by H.J. Draper.jpg|Ulysses and the Sirens, 1909 File:Draper-Lamia.jpg|The Lamia, 1909 File:Herbert James Draper, By Summer Seas.jpg|By Summer Seas, 1912 File:Herbert James Draper, Oil study for Clyties of the Mist.jpg|Clyties of the Mist, 1912 File:Herbert James Draper - Halcyone (1915).jpg|Halcyone, 1915 File:Herbert James Draper, A Young Girl by a Pool.jpg|A Young Girl by a Pool File:Herbert James Draper, In the Studio.jpg|In the Studio File:Herbert James draper, The Golden Rays.jpg|The Golden Rays File:Go Lovely Rose! Tell her that Wastes her Time and Mine).jpg|Go Lovely Rose! Tell her that Wastes her Time and Mine File:Herbert James Draper, A Nymph in a Sunlit Glade.jpg|A Nymph in a Sunlit Glade File:Miss Barbara de Selincourt, by Herbert James Draper.jpg|Portrait Of Miss Barbara De Selincourt File:Herbert James Draper, Portrait of Ida Draper.jpg|Ida Draper File:Livery Hall ceiling by Herbert James Draper, Drapers' Hall.jpg|Ceiling of Livery Hall in Drapers' Hall, London

Notes

References

1. 1871 British census St. Paul, Covent Garden
2. Simon Toll, ''Herbert Draper, 1863–1920: A Life Study'', Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 2001, {{ISBN. 9781851493784, p. 49. Toll, p. 171, notes that 1864 and 1865, both sometimes given as Draper's birth year, are incorrect.
3. ''The Times'', September 23, 1920; p. 1; Issue 42523; col A.
4. "The Livery Hall".
5. several of his paintings portray proud, in some cases predatory female sexuality, for example ''The Gates of Dawn'' (1899), ''The Water Nixie'' (1908), ''Ulysses and the Sirens'' (1909){{usurped
6. [https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/actor:draper-herbert-james-18641920 "Works by Herbert James Draper], ''Art UK'', retrieved 31 October 2023.
7. Toll, pp. 103, 105.
8. Toll, p. 105.
9. Toll, pp. 160–62, 167.
10. ''The Times'', July 15, 1918, p. 4; Issue 41842; col A.
11. Toll, p. 167.
12. [[George P. Landow]], [https://victorianweb.org/painting/draper/toll.html "A Review of Simon Toll's ''Herbert Draper, 1863-1920: A Life Study''"], ''The Victorian Web'', 5 April 2007, retrieved 31 October 2023.
13. His painting ''The Sea Maiden'' was sold for £937,250 ($1,384,318) in Sale 7856 at Christie's in London, 16 June 2010.
14. [https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/11280/lot/75/#/! Auction 11280, Lot 75: Herbert James Draper, ''By Summer Seas''], Bonhams, 2004.
15. Tiffany Jenkins, [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/donrsquot-put-a-price-on-our-national-treasures-2035297.html "Don't put a price on our national treasures"], ''The Independent'', 26 July 2010.
16. Martin Gammon, ''Deaccessioning and Its Discontents: A Critical History'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2018, {{ISBN. 9780262345200, p. 114.