The Finding of Moses, 1904
We are fortunate that Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema is one of those rare Victorian artists of whom there is much information available, though that was almost not the case. Soon after his death in 1912, Tadema's popularity greatly diminished, and he faced being relegated to obscurity by the Modernist politicos. Luckily, nearly sixty years after his passing, Tadema's reputation and art were saved by the most unlikeliest of heroes.
A Greek Woman
In My Studio
When Allen Funt, creator of TV's Candid Camera, wanted to decorate the living room of his new Manhattan apartment in a Victorian motif, he approached a London dealer looking for appropriate artwork for his whimsical theme. The dealer asked Funt if he wanted to see a "picture by the worst painter who ever lived," and the curious Funt, who held a B.A. in Fine Arts from Cornell University, was introduced to his first Lawrence Alma-Tadema, which he purchased on the spot. The year was 1965, and by 1973, Funt had amassed a group of 35 Tadema paintings, nearly ten percent of the artist's entire output, and the largest collection of the artist's work ever held by a single person: this includes Tadema himself, whose paintings were in such demand during his career that he never could keep so many in his studio at a time.
Spring (detail), 1895
Spring (detail), 1895
Spring (detail), 1895
Sadly, Funt was forced to liquidate his entire collection in 1973, when he found himself without any savings, the victim of his accountant's embezzlement of $1,285,826 from the TV personality. The paintings fetched $570,000 at Sotheby's Belgravia (London), and Funt was left with only photographs of his beloved paintings, and several of the original frames, custom-designed by Tadema, which, unfortunately, Funt had separated from their proper artworks. Today, a single painting by Alma-Tadema, such as The Finding of Moses, which Funt sold in 1973 for $72,000, is valued in the millions (The Finding of Moses sold at Christie's Auction House for $2,500,000 in 1995).
(detail)
Cherries (detail)
The auction of Funt's collection of Tadema paintings in 1973, as well as the exhibit of those same works, begrudgingly displayed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier that same year, brought renewed interest in the artist. Since then, several museums have acquired Alma-Tadema paintings for large sums, when in the 1960's they wouldn't even accept them as gifts (The Newman Gallery tried to give away The Finding of Moses to museums in 1960 but could find no takers!). There are now a number of monographs available on the artist, and his art has appeared in various exhibitions since the 1990s, as well as on merchandising around the globe, and at the Art Renewal Center, Tadema is the second-most popularly sought after artist of the over-five-thousand artists represented in their online museum.
Portrait of a Woman (detail) Unfinished
It is without doubt that Allen Funt's collecting of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's paintings led to the artist's current popularity. Had not Funt followed his own tastes and ignored the conventions of the critics of the 1960's and '70's, we would not have the resources on Tadema that are available to us presently. Though this resurgence came at quite a price to Funt, who died in 1999, I am sure that he, as a philanthropist and a man who liked to make people smile, would be happy to know that his art collection is directly responsible for bringing joy to so many art lovers today.
A Reading from Homer, 1885
Though Alma-Tadema's paintings show an increased brightness after 1885, it is most likely due to his move to a new studio with vaulted, aluminum ceilings, rather than any change in the colors he employed. His palette, which owes its origins to London's Slade School, were as follows:
- Brown Ochre
- Yellow Ochre
- Naples Yellow
- Flake White
- Orange Vermilion
- Light Red
- Chinese Vermilion
- Rose Madder
- Cobalt Blue
- Burnt Sienna
- Ivory Black
- Raw Umber
- Cadmium Yellow Deep
Exhausted Maenides After the Dance (detail)
Unfinished
