SIR JOHN GILBERT, R.A.

SIR JOHN GILBERT, R.A.

1884

Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, London publisher

D. Appleton & Co. ,New York publisher

Sir John Gilbert, RA, albumen print, approx. 6½ x 8½ in., by Frank Dudman (1855-1918) for Joseph Park Mayall (1839-1922), 1883

F. G. Stephens, Artists at Home, photographed by J. P. Mayall and reproduced in facsimile by photoengraving on copper plates; edited, with biographical notes and descriptions, by Frederick George Stephens (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington; New York: Appleton & Co., 1884), n.p.

Gilbert, John (1817-1897), English artist, illustrator, and engraver

July 1884

Photograph copyrighted September 14, 1883. Copyright owner of photograph, Joe Parkin Mayall, 548 Oxford Street, London. Copyright author of photograph, Frank Dudman, 27 Bloemfontein, Shepherds Bush, London (Public Records, The National Archives, Kew, COPY 1/365/273) .

Description: ""Photograph of Sir J Gilbert R A & interior of his studio at Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath. Seated, palette in hand, back to large picture."

The artist seated in an arm chair staring out the window.

Jeremy Mass, The Victorian Art World in Photographs (London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1984), p. 139.

Sally Woodcock, "Utility, Versatility and Obscurity: The Sources and Selection of Sir John Gilbert's Oil Painting Materials," in Sir John Gilbert: Art and Imagination, edited by Spike Bucklow and Sally Woodcock (Burlington, VT: Lund Humphries, 2011), p. 223, reproduced p. 224, fig. 149.

Vivien Knight and Mark Bills, "Sir John Gilbert: A Biographical Sketch," in Sir John Gilbert: Art and Imagination, edited by Spike Bucklow and Sally Woodcock (Burlington, VT: Lund Humphries, 2011), p. 52. Referred to as "the most famous photograph of the artist."

“Art in September.” The Magazine of Art 7 (September 1884): xlviii. "Mr. Mayall’s photographs—or rather, the photo-engravings on copper plates reproduced therefrom—are singularly lifeless and dull. Everybody looks as though he were sitting for his portrait; the very furniture is posing; and over all is that terrible and tremendous presence, the photographer’s light, “the light that never was on sea or land.” Mr. Calderon affronts the camera with much sternness; Sir John Gilbert has the sun in his eyes, and comes out very white and vague . . . ."

J. Gilbert, Fair St. George, 1881, oil on canvas.

The online edition of this work in the public domain, i.e., not protected by copyright, has been produced by the Emory University Digital Library Program.

Stuart A. Rose Manuscripts and Rare Books Library, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Omeka record contributed by Gabriella Meier

September 29, 2016

October 1, 2016
November 21, 2016, by LM
January 20, 2017, by LM

Photoengraving on copper

16.5 cm x 21.5 cm

27.5 cm x 38.5 cm

(Printed on the mount beneath the image) J P Mayall Photo | London published by Sampson Low Marston Searle & Rivington 188 Fleet St. | Park Lane Studio London | GABRIELLA: FINISH INSCRIPTION

Two other versions of this photograph were copyrighted on 24, September 1883, both Copyright owner of photograph: Joe Parkin Mayall, 548 Oxford Street, London. Copyright author of photograph: Frank Dudman, 27 Bloemfontein, Shepherds Bush, London. Descriptions: "Photograph of Sir John Gilbert R A, & interior of his studio at Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath. Seated in arm chair" (Public Records, National Archives, Kew, COPY 1/365/271); and "Photograph of Sir John Gilbert R A & interior of his studio at Vanbrugh Pk. Blackheath. Seated, palette in hand, facing large picture" (September 24, 1883; Public Records, National Archives, Kew, COPY 1/365/272).