In the Venusberg Tannhauser (1901), oil

John Maler Collier (January 27, 1850–April 11, 1934) was a British writer and painter in the Pre-Raphaelite style. Download high resolution version (490x700, 150 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (490x700, 150 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets and critics, founded in 1848 by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. ...

Life and career

The artist, the Hon. John Collier OBE RP ROI, was one of the most prominent portrait painters of his generation. He was born in 1850, the son of a judge and amateur artist, Lord Monkswell. He was educated at Eton and studied at the Slade under (Sir) Edward Poynter, in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens, and in Munich. Although not their pupil, he was encouraged and influenced by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Sir John Everett Millais. "It was from Millais that he learnt the method, which he has ever since adopted in portraiture, of putting sitter and canvas side by side, looking at them from some distance, and walking backwards and forwards to do the actual painting." (Polloch, W H, The Art of the Honourable John Collier (1914), p 2). Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are... Robert Porrett Collier, 1st Baron Monkswell (June 21, 1817 - November 3, 1886), English judge, was born at Plymouth, and was the son of a prominent merchant of Quaker extraction. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a prestigious and internationally known Public School for boys. ... Slade were an English glam rock and hard rock band. ... Edward Poynter: Cave of the Storm Nymphs Sir Edward John Poynter (March 20, 1836 - July 26, 1919) was a British painter. ... Jean-Paul Laurens (Fourquevaux, (1838–Paris, 1921), was a French academic painter. ... Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (January 8, 1836--June 25, 1912) was a Dutch-born painter of the Victorian era, best known for his sumptuous portrayals of life in the ancient world. ... John Everett Millais (June 8, 1829–August 13, 1896) was a British painter and illustrator who was one of founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Collier was one of the 24 founding members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, of which he became Vice President. He was also a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. He exhibited no fewer than 130 paintings at the Royal Academy and 165 at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, as well as many others in galleries throughout the country and abroad. He was the author of The Primer of Art (1882), A Manual of Oil Painting (1886) and The Art of Portrait Painting (1905). He was awarded the OBE in 1920. He was the subject of The Art of the Honourable John Collier (1914) by W H Pollock, published by the Art Journal, which lists all his most important subjects between 1875 and 1914, whether portraits, or historical or other dramatic scenes. It has 50 illustrations and 6 colour plates of his works, and an interesting photograph of his studio. The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a British association of portrait painters which holds an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. ... This article refers to an art institution in London. ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 3 - Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Subjects

Lady Godiva (Circa 1898)

The range of Collier's portrait subjects can be seen from the fact that, in 1893 for example, his subjects included the Bishop of Shrewsbury (Sir Lovelace Stamer), A Glass of Wine with Caesar Borgia, Sir John Lubbock FRS, A N Hornby (Captain of the Lancashire Eleven), A Witch, A Tramp, and the Bishop of Hereford (Dr Atlee). Lady Godiva by John Collier, ca 1898 Godiva (or Godgifu) (c. ... The Bishop of Shrewsbury is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury in the Province of Birmingham. ... John Lubbock. ...

His commissioned portrait of King George V as Master of Trinity House in 1901 when Duke of Cornwall and York, although very far from being his best work, shows the extent of his fashionable reputation. George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 - 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, as a result of his creating it from the British branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Other subjects included two Lord Chancellors (the Earl of Selborne in 1882 and the Earl of Halsbury in 1898), the Lord Chief Justice Lord Alverstone (1912), and the Master of the Rolls (Sir George Jessel, 1881); Rudyard Kipling (1891); the painter (Sir) Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1884); the actors J L Toole (1887) and Mrs Kendal, Miss Ellen Terry and Mr Tree (in "The Merry Wives of Windsor", 1904); heads of houses such as the Master of Balliol (Professor Caird, 1904), the Warden of Wadham College, Oxford (G E Thorley, 1889) and the Provost of Eton (1898); the Speaker of the House of Commons (1898, one of relatively few political subjects); soldiers such as Field Marshal Lord Kitchener of Khartoum (1911) and Field Marshall Sir Frederick Haines (1891); two Indian Maharajahs, including the Maharajah of Nepal (1910); and scientists including Charles Darwin (1882), Dr Joule FRS (1882) and the artist’s father-in-law Professor Huxley (1891). This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne (1812-1895), Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, was called to the bar in 1837 and entered parliament as a Conservative in 1847. ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury (3 September 1825 - 1921) was a leading barrister, politician and government minister, serving as Solicitor General and Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, and the presiding judge of Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, and of the Queens Bench Division of the High Court. ... Lord Alverstone Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone (December 22, 1842 – December 15, 1915) was a British barrister, politician and Judge who served in many high political and judicial offices. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Master of the Rolls is the third most senior judge of England, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain traditionally being first and the Lord Chief Justice second. ... Sir George Jessel (February 13, 1824 - March 21, 1883), English judge, was born in London. ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936) was a British author and poet, born in India. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Ellen Alice Terry (February 27, 1847 – July 21, 1928) was an English stage actress. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Full name Balliol College Motto - Named after John de Balliol Previous names - Established 1263 Sister College St Johns College, Cambridge Master Andrew Graham (academic) Location Broad Street Undergraduates 403 Graduates 228 Homepage Boatclub Balliol College, founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford... College name Wadham College Named after Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham Established 1610 Sister College Christs College Warden Sir Neil Chalmers JCR President Ben Jasper Undergraduates 460 MCR President David Patrikarakos Graduates 180 Homepage Boatclub Wadham College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a prestigious and internationally known Public School for boys. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The term Speaker is usually the title given to the presiding officer of a countrys lower house of parliament or congress. ... The Earl Kitchener The Right Honourable Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 June 1850–5 June 1916) was a British Field Marshal, diplomat and statesman. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) He was an English naturalist who achieved lasting fame by producing considerable evidence that species originated through evolutionary change, at the same time proposing the scientific theory that natural selection is the mechanism by which such change occurs. ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... James Joule - English physicist James Prescott Joule, FRS (December 24, 1818 – October 11, 1889) was an English physicist, born in Salford, near Manchester. ... Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley F.R.S. (May 4, 1825 – June 29, 1895) was a British biologist, known as Darwins Bulldog for his defence of Charles Darwins theory of evolution. ...

A photocopy of John Collier's Sitters Book (made in 1962 from the original in the possession of the artist's son) can be consulted in the National Portrait Gallery Heinz Archive and Library. This is the artist's own handwritten record of all his portraits, including name of subject, date, fee charged, and details of any major exhibitions of the picture in question. The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in central London which was opened in 1856. ...

The artist's family

Collier was from a talented and successful family. His grandfather, John Collier, was a Quaker merchant who became a Member of Parliament. His father (who was a Member of Parliament, Attorney General and, for many years, a full-time judge of the Privy Council was created the first Lord Monkswell. He was also a member of the Royal Society of British Artists. John Collier's elder brother, the second Lord Monkswell, was Under-Secretary of State for War and Chairman of the London County Council. Robert Porrett Collier, 1st Baron Monkswell (June 21, 1817 - November 3, 1886), English judge, was born at Plymouth, and was the son of a prominent merchant of Quaker extraction. ... Her Majestys Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known as the Attorney General, is the chief legal adviser of the Crown in England and Wales. ... The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. ... Baron Monkswell is a peerage title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. ... Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for War, 1794-1966 1794: Sir Evan Nepean, Bt 1795: William Huskisson In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged. ... London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ...

Collier was also closely connected with the family of the arch-scientist of late Victorian England, the Rt Hon Professor Thomas Henry Huxley, President of the Royal Society. Collier married two of Professor Huxley's daughters and was "on terms of intimate friendship" with his son, the writer Leonard Huxley (Dictionary of National Biography s.v. L. Huxley). Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley F.R.S. (May 4, 1825 – June 29, 1895) was a British biologist, known as Darwins Bulldog for his defence of Charles Darwins theory of evolution. ... The premises of the Royal Society in London (first four properties only). ... Leonard Huxley (December 11, 1860 - 1933) was a British writer and editor. ...

Collier's first wife, in 1879, was Marian Huxley. She was a painter, who studied, like her husband, at the Slade, and exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere. After the birth of their only child, a daughter, she suffered severe post-natal depression and was taken to Paris for treatment where, however, she contracted pneumonia and died in 1887. 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article refers to an art institution in London. ... After giving birth, about 70-80% of women experience an episode of baby blues, feelings of depression, anger, anxiety and guilt lasting for several days. ... Part of the Paris skyline with from left to right: Montparnasse Tower, Eiffel Tower, and in the background, towers of neighboring La Défense. ... Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ... Death is the cessation of physical life in a living organism or the state of the organism after that event. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ...

Shortly afterwards, Collier married in 1889 her younger sister Ethel Huxley. Until the Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907 such a marriage was not possible in England and the ceremony took place in Norway. Collier's daughter by his first marriage, Joyce, was a portrait miniaturist, and a member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters. By his second wife he had a daughter and a son, Sir Laurence Collier KCMG, who was the British Ambassador to Norway 1941-51. 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Deceased Wifes Sisters Marriage Act 1907 was a statute passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq...

Posthumous reputation

Collier died in 1934. His entry in the Dictionary of National Biography (volume for 1931-40, published 1949) compares his work to that of Frank Holl because of its solemnity. This is only true, however, of his many portraits of distinguished old men — his portraits of younger men, women and children, and his so-called "problem pictures", covering scenes of ordinary life, are often very bright and fresh. Frank Holl (July 4, 1845 - July 31, 1888), English painter, was born in London, and was educated chiefly at University College School. ...

His entry in the Dictionary of Art (1996) vol 7 p 569, written by Geoffrey Ashton, refers to the invisibility of his brush strokes as a "rather unexciting and flat use of paint" but contrasts that with "Collier's strong and surprising sense of colour" which "created a disconcerting verisimilitude in both mood and appearance".

The Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920 (1997) describes his portraits as "painterly works with a fresh use of light and colour".

Public collections

Sixteen of John Collier's paintings are now in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London, two in the Tate Gallery and one, a self portrait of 1907, in the Uffizi in Florence which presumably commissioned it as part of its celebrated collection of artists’ self portraits. The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in central London which was opened in 1856. ... The Tate Gallery in the United Kingdom is a network of four galleries: Tate Britain (opened 1897), Tate Liverpool (1988), Tate St Ives (1993), Tate Modern (2000), with a complementary website Tate Online (1998). ... The Uffizi Gallery (Italian: Galleria degli Uffizi) is a palace or palazzo in Florence, holding one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. ...

Four of the National Portrait Gallery paintings are currently (December 1997) on display: John Burns, Sir William Huggins, Thomas Huxley (the artist's father in law) and Charles Darwin (copies of the last two are also prominently displayed at the top of the staircase at the Athenaeum club in London).

Other pictures may be seen in houses and institutions open to the public: his portrait of the Earl of Onslow (1903), for example, at Clandon Park, Surrey (National Trust). Reproductions of many others, from various collections, may be consulted in the John Collier box in the National Portrait Gallery Heinz Archive and Library, and a very good selection is published in The Art of the Honourable John Collier by W H Pollock (1914). The Hon. John Collier's work was also included in the Great Victorian Pictures exhibition mounted by the Arts Council in 1978 (catalogue, p 27). Clandon Park is an 18th-century Palladian mansion just outside Guildford, Surrey, in the United Kingdom. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties. ... The standard of the National Trust The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as The National Trust, is a British preservation organization. ...

Publications

• A Primer of Art, 1882
• A Manual of Oil Painting, 1886
• The Art of Portrait Painting, 1905.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

John Collier

• Find-A-Grave profile for John Collier