Clytie Frederic Leighton Oil on canvas, c.1895-96

Frederic, Lord Leighton’s work Clytie will stay in Leighton House Museum, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, thanks to grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, and Friends of Leighton House.

Clytie powerfully depicts a sense of loss and despair at a time of departure, giving the work a powerful autobiographical resonance, as it was this very painting that Leighton struggled with whilst facing his final illness. He left it unfinished at the time of his death in 1896, and when his coffin was moved to the studio the painting was placed at its head.

The unfinished areas of the picture reveal the processes and layers involved in Leighton’s picture making. Careful planning was paramount to his methods as seen in the areas clearly displaying his preparatory sketches. However, areas of heavy painterly brushwork can also be seen elsewhere on the canvas, making it an unusual example of Leighton’s work.

Throughout his career Leighton increasingly turned to classical sub­jects and used techniques based upon his knowledge of the skills of the Old Masters. Clytie is the nymph that featured in Metamorphoses by the Roman writer Ovid. She is rejected by Apollo, the god of light, music and poetry, and spends nine heartbroken days in a wild and isolated place watching as her former lover drives his chariot across the sky.

From: http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/LeightonHouseMuseum/general/clytie.asp

4 CommentsChronological Reverse Threaded

deletereply starfishred wrote on Apr 5, ’09 lovely thanks laurita

deletereply artprevails wrote on Apr 5, ’09 simply gorgeous…wow

deletereply darlene57 wrote on Apr 5, ’09 Wow~smilies~d~

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 7, ’09 Love this guys work, he is one of a kind, thanks Laurita.