About
English painter known for working first in the Academic style, and later for embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. He produced 118 paintings, and often depicted women from ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend. Many of his paintings were also inspired by authors such as Homer, Ovid, Shakespeare, Tennyson and Keats.
Before Fame
He moved from Rome to London to attend the Royal Academy of Art, where he studied sculpture before switching to painting. He began exhibiting large, classically-themed paintings at the school's annual summer exhibitions, and in 1874, his painting "Sleep and his Half-brother Death" became one of his early successes.
Trivia
Some of his famous paintings include The Magic Circle, The Lady of Shalott, Cleopatra, Ophelia, and Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May.... In 1895, he was elected to the status of full Academician, and among other things, he taught at the St. John's Wood Art School.
Family Life
He was born in Rome, Italy to parents who were also English painters. In 1883, he married Esther Kenworthy, who was a painter of flowers.
Associated With
His early paintings were of classical themes in the spirit of Frederic Leighton.
