Old Masters Series: An Introduction to Abbey

Sought after in his time, Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911, an American muralist, illustrator, and painter born in Pennsylvania) was praised for his mastery of composition and storytelling, and is now criminally undervalued. There are next to no art books of his work, and most of the information I can find on him is pretty repetitive and sparse:

• Was close friends with John Singer Sargent. They traveled and painted together, and it was Sargent that finished his murals at the Pennsylvania State Capitol after his death in 1911.
  
  
  When Abbey was painting "Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and the Lady Anne", Sargent even sent Abbey a model that he thought would be perfect for Anne.
  
  
• He was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and English literature (Mainly Shakespeare)
  
  
• Frequently mentioned as self-educated, he received little to no formal training like many of his contemporaries.  
  
  
• Abbey began as an illustrator for magazines in his teens, doing black and white sketches in ink. It was only later that he began to paint more seriously around the age of 35.
  
  
• He earned commissions by designing sets, costumes and even props for various theaters.
  
  
• Was made a member of the Royal Academy (an art institution in London founded by King George III) in 1898.
  
  
  
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James Gurney has several posts about Abbey (one of my favorites being about Sargent and Abbey painting the same subject in very different styles. Sargent painted what he saw, and Abbey brought a plain red cloak in the snow to life.)


Artist of the month on Muddy Colors

My pinterest board for Abbey


High-res versions of his work, along with several WIPs that are pretty damn fascinating to look at:

Boston Library flickr

Wikimedia gallery

Yale University gallery


I am not kidding, I was so happy when I found that Yale University link. I spent hours trying to find his work large enough to do master studies of. It was looking pretty grim for a while when all I saw was this...

And while there is nothing wrong with the version on the left, it is far from ideal for doing a master copy. The contrast, gamma and colors are all off. If I can't study the painting in person, I have to find the closest approximation to it at least. Which means...

So I have a few reasons for choosing these three paintings of Abbey's to do. 

1. They are my favorites. 😂 

2. I really love the use of black in all of them, especially in 'Richard, Duke of Gloucester...'. Abbey seemed very fond of black and red, as both often became the focal points in his paintings. Usually they were placed in contrast to lighter hues of pastel or off-white. 

3. I have never done anything on this grand of a scale before, master studies or otherwise. It forces me to practice something that is very unfamiliar and to be quite honest, incredibly challenging and intimidating. The horizontal compositions, multiple subjects, and more fabric than I have ever painted in my entire life. How do I paint something sheer like Lady Anne is wearing??? I guess I will have to find out.

Once I finish these, I might do a few partial studies of some of his other pieces like 'The Penance of Eleanor', and 'The Castle of Maidens', but we'll see. I may be all Abbey'd out by then.