#MerfolkMonday: Herbert James Draper (1)
Herbert James Draper (1863-1920) was an English Neoclassical painter and illustrator whose career spanned the Victorian era and the first two decades of the 20th century. He was born in Covent Garden, London, on November 26, 1863 and was the only male son and seventh child of fruit merchant John James Draper and his wife, […]
Herbert James Draper (1863-1920) was an English Neoclassical painter and illustrator whose career spanned the Victorian era and the first two decades of the 20th century.
He was born in Covent Garden, London, on November 26, 1863 and was the only male son and seventh child of fruit merchant John James Draper and his wife, Emma. He received his education at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham before studying art at the Royal Academy, where he was awarded the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Traveling Studentship in 1889. This allowed him to further his artistic education with trips to Rome and Paris between 1888 and 1892. In 1891, he married Ida Williams, and they had a daughter named Yvonne.
Draper’s most productive period began in 1894, and he is known for his sensuous portrayals of nudes with a focus on mythological themes from ancient Greece. His 1898 painting The Lament for Icarus won the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 and was purchased by the Chantrey Trustees for the Tate Gallery. I’m sure you’ve seen it.
Other notable works include The Gates of Dawn (1899), The Water Nixie (1908), Ulysses and the Sirens (1909), and The Kelpie (1913), which I’ll feature during the upcoming weeks. He also decorated the ceiling of the Drapers’ Hall in the City of London. Although he participated in the annual expositions of the Royal Academy from 1890 onwards, he was never elected to membership. Draper’s work fell out of favour with the public as tastes changed. He died at age 56 of arteriosclerosis in his home in Abbey Road.
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