Edward Poynter
Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet, Knight Bachelor ( born March 20, 1836 in Paris, France, † July 26, 1919 in London ) was an English painter, designer and illustrator, director of the National Gallery of 1894-1905 and President of the Royal Academy of Arts ( PRA) of 1896 to 1918.
Career
Edward John Poynter, son of Ambrose Poynter, an architect, was born on March 20, 1836 in Paris, France. He attended Ipswich School and Brighton College before then in London, Rome ( where he was a great admirer of Michelangelo) and finally with Charles Gleyre in Paris ( where he met James McNeill Whistler ) studied. He achieved fame for his large historical paintings such as Israel in Egypt (1867, his first great success), Visit of the Queen of Sheba ( 1871-75 ) and King Solomon ( 1890).
Poynter held a number of public offices: he was the first professor at the Slade School of Fine Art 1871-1875, Principal of the National Art Training School 1875-1881, director of the National Gallery 1894-1904 ( oversaw the opening the Tate Gallery ) and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1876. After the death of Sir John Millais in 1896, Poynter was elected President of the Royal Academy of Arts, and received a knighthood. It was in 1902 raised to the baronet.
Poynter created the first comprehensive catalog of the National Gallery. In consultation with the Board Poynter carried out considerable acquisitions for the National Gallery: The Vision of St Eustace by Antonio Pisanello, Agony in the Garden Andrea Mantegna, Portrait of a Man by Titian and Rembrandt Portraits of Jacob Trip and his wife, as well as works by Lorenzo Monaco, Francisco de Zurbarán and Francisco Goya.
Among his students at the Slade School of Fine Art included John Collier (1850-1934), Lexden Lewis Pocock (1850-1919) and Henry Scott Tuke ( 1858-1929 ).
With the turn of the century the number of his new painting was lower, as his main focus was in the leadership of the Royal Academy. He saw the extinction of classicism and thus his own artistic standards and those of his contemporaries were pushed into the background. He ignored the new development, which did not please him. His last duty as PRA in 1917 to attend the funeral of John William Waterhouse.
He died on 26 July 1919 and was at St Paul 's Cathedral, London, was buried.
Family
Poynter married in 1866 one of the known Macdonald sisters, Agnes Macdonald, daughter of Rev. GB Macdonald from Wolverhampton. They had three children together. Agnes Macdonald had three other sisters: Georgiana married Edward Burne -Jones, a famous artist; Alice was the mother of the writer Rudyard Kipling, and Louisa was the mother of British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who held the office three terms.
Honors
His old school, Brighton College, held November-December 1995 issue of Poynters paintings and drawings entitled 'Life at Arms Length ' in its Burstow Gallery.
Writings
- Edward J. Poynter: Ten Lectures on Art, Chapman & Hall, London, 1879.
- Harry John Wilmot - Buxton and Sir Edward John Poynter: German, Flemish and Dutch painting. By ( bart. ) Publisher: Sampson Low, Marston Searle & Rivington, London 1881
- Edward J. Poynter, Percy R. Head: Classic and Italian painting, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivinton, London 1890
- Edward J. Poynter: The National Gallery, Vol I, Publisher: Cassell and Company, London 1899
- Edward J. Poynter: The National Gallery: Foreign schools, Vol II Publisher: Cassell and Company, London 1899
- Edward J. Poynter: The National Gallery. Reproduction of Sixty Masterpieces, Cassell and Company, London 1909