Alma-Tadema, Lawrence (1836-1912; Dutch/English)

Works included in this catalogue
Alma-Tadema The Vintage Festival 1871 {1888} NGV [PA]
Van Loo after Alma-Tadema Frédégonde et Prétextat {1868} NGV [PR]

Alma-Tadema transferred his successful studio from Brussels to London in 1870, and was admitted to the Royal Academy in 1879. His detailed, meticulously-researched images of ancient Rome fell from favour after his death, but his reputation was recuperated in the 1970s, and his works are once again highly prized.

Wood (1995) insists that Alma-Tadema remained quintessentially Dutch even after transferring to England, especially in his fascination with detail. Wood also observes that the painter was admired by early film-makers D.W.Griffiths and Cecil B.de Mille.

Refs.

For Alma-Tadema, see AKL 2 (1986), pp.294-7; Bénézit 1, pp.341-43; R.J.Barrow, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Phaidon, 2001; and the additional details noted under the entry on the NGV’s painting listed above. See also Wood Victorian Painters (1995), vol.2, pp.56-58