- Valentine Cameron Prinsep
Valentine Cameron Prinsep, often known as Val Princep, (
14 February 1838 in Calcutta, India -4 November 1904 in London) was a painter of thePre-Raphaelite school.Early life
His parents were
Henry Thoby Prinsep , who was for sixteen years a member of the Council of India, andSarah Monckton Pattle ; sister of pioneering photographerJulia Margaret Cameron (nee Pattle) and Maria Jackson (nee Pattle), grandmother ofVirginia Woolf andVanessa Bell . Henry and Sarah had settled atLittle Holland House and made it a centre of artistic society.Career
Henry Prinsep was an intimate friend of G. F. Watts, under whom his son first studied. Val Prinsep also worked in
Paris in theatelier Gleyre ; and Taffy in his friendGeorge du Maurier 's novel "Trilby", is said to have been sketched from him. He was an intimate friend ofMillais and ofBurne-Jones , with whom he travelled in Italy. He had a share withRossetti and others in the decoration of the hall of theOxford Union .Prinsep first exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1862 with his "Bianca Capella", his first picture, which attracted marked notice, being a portrait (1866) ofGeneral Gordon in Chinese costume. Princep lent the costume to Millais who used it in his own painting Esther.The best of his later exhibits were "A Versailles", "The Emperor Theophilus chooses his Wife", "The Broken Idol" and "The Goose Girl". He was elected A.R.A. in 1879 and R.A. in 1894. In 1877 he went to India and painted a huge picture of the
Delhi durbar , exhibited in 1880, and afterwards hung atBuckingham Palace .Later life
Prinsep died in 1904 and is buried in
Brompton Cemetery , London. [http://www.brompton.org/Residents.htm]Personal life
He married in 1884 Florence, daughter of the well-known collector,
Frederick Richards Leyland .Writings
Prinsep wrote two plays, "Cousin Dick" and "Monsieur le Duc", produced at the Court and the St Jamess theatres respectively; two novels; and "Imperial India: an Artists Journal" (1879).
He was an enthusiastic volunteer, and one of the founders of the Artists Corps.
External links
* [http://www.victorianartinbritain.co.uk/obituary/prinsep.htm "The Times" obituary, with additional comments]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/prinsep_valentine_cameron.html Artcyclopedia links to paintings]References
*1911
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