Carey Gibbons, assistant professor, art history, College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas, Denton
The British artist Frederic Leighton became a member of fashionable society largely through his close friendship with the well-connected Adelaide Sartoris, a former opera singer. In Portrait of May Sartoris (c. 1860), Leighton depicts Adelaide’s daughter Mary Theodosia (May) in a style that draws upon the tradition of British child portraiture, associated with artists like Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence. Leighton’s portrait can be further contextualized through an exploration of the interchange between history and modernity that characterizes the artist’s career. While trained in a continental academic tradition and elected president of the established Royal Academy in 1878, Leighton was also connected to Victorian avant-garde movements, including Pre-Raphaelitism and the Aesthetic Movement.
These lectures, part of a continuing series, introduce the permanent collection and selected exhibitions on view at the Kimbell.
To request an accessibility accommodation for a Kimbell program, please email us as far in advance as possible.
