William Blake Richmond

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His painting Venus and Anchises (1889 or 90)
Sir William Blake Richmond KC, !" (#9 $o%em&er 18'# ( 11 Fe&r)ary 19#1),
*1+
,as
a portrait painter and a designer of stained glass and mosaic, ,hose ,orks incl)de mosaic
decorations &elo, the dome and in the apse of -t .a)l/s cathedral in 0ondon1 He ,as the
-lade .rofessor of Fine "rt at the 2ni%ersity of 34ford from 1859 to 18861
Contents
1 0ife
# -ee also
6 !eferences
' 74ternal links
Life
William lake !ichmond ,as &orn in 18'# in 0ondon1 His father, 8eorge !ichmond,
!1"1 (1809(1899), himself the son of :homas !ichmond, painted the portraits of the
most eminent people of his day and played a part in society1 He ,as named after a close
friend of his father, the artist William lake1
William recei%ed some coaching from !)skin1 ;n 18<5, at the age of fo)rteen, he entered
the !oyal "cademy schools, ,here he st)died for a&o)t three years1 " %isit to ;taly in
18<9 ga%e him opport)nity for st)dying the ,orks of old masters and had an effect on his
de%elopment1 His first "cademy pict)re ,as a portrait gro)p (1891)= and to this
s)cceeded, d)ring the ne4t three years, se%eral other pict)res of the same class1
;n 189' !ichmond/s first ,ife died1 :he follo,ing year he ret)rned to ;taly, ,here he
remained for fo)r years, chiefly at !ome1 >)ring this time he met Frederic 0eighton and
the landscapist, 8io%anni Costa= &oth of ,hom he admired1 He painted the large can%as,
A Procession in Honor of Bacchus, ,hich he e4hi&ited at the !oyal "cademy in 1899
,hen he came &ack to ritain1
;n 1858 !ichmond &ecame -lade professor at 34ford 2ni%ersity, s)cceeding !)skin= &)t
he resigned three years later1
!ichmond/s pict)re, An Audience at Athens (irmingham ?)se)m and "rt 8allery), ,as
e4hi&ited at the 8ros%enor 8allery, 0ondon in 188<1 He ,as elected an "ssociate of the
!oyal "cademy in 1888, and !oyal "cademician in 189<1 He recei%ed the degree of
>1C101 in 1899, and a knighthood of the 3rder of the ath in 1895, and &ecame professor
of painting to the !oyal "cademy1
"ltho)gh he ,as a s)ccessf)l portrait@painter, !ichmond ,ished to paint large, allegoric
,orks, and this led him to take an interest in the design of stained glass and mosaic1 He
,as elected to the "rt Workers 8)ild in 188', and &ecame its ?aster in 18911 ;n
decorati%e art his most conspic)o)s achie%ement ,as the internal decoration and the
glass mosaics co%ering the spandrels and choir of -t1 .a)l/s Cathedral, 0ondon1 "
seA)ence of three large ,indo,s designed &y !ichmond, the earliest (190') redesigned
and remade ,hen the second and third ,ere added in 1910, can &e seen in the 0ady
Chapel of Holy :rinity -loane -treet, 0ondon1
!ichmond also took a keen interest in social A)estions, partic)larly in smoke@pre%ention
in 0ondon1
He ,as the father of "dmiral -ir Her&ert !ichmond (1851(19'9), a na%al historian, and
of 7rnest !ichmond (185'(19<<), an architect1

7thel ertha Harrison

Hera in the Ho)se of Hephaistos

7rnest ?oon