John St Helier Lander

John St Helier Lander

John St Helier Lander (born Jersey 19 October 1868, died Witley, Surrey 12 February 1944) was a noted portrait painter.

Born "John Helier Lander", he added the "St." to acknowledge his birth place of Saint Helier in the Channel Islands. He was given his first paint box by Lillie Langtry, the famous beauty, actress and mistress of the Prince of Wales, later to become Edward VII of the United Kingdom. He studied at Calderon's School.

On leaving school, he was sent to become a watchmaker at the age of fifteen, but spent so much time drawing that he was taken away and allowed to paint. On reaching the age of seventeen and having sold some of his pictures, he went to London to study in an art school. Although he remained there a year, he hated the school. He was invited to breakfast with Sir John Everett Millais, a fellow Jerseyman, who advised him to continue his artistic career and to go to Paris. In Paris he studied at the Académie Julian under William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Fleury. After a year in Paris he returned to London to enter the Royal Academy Schools where he stayed for three years, before returning to Jersey and setting up a studio, taking Millais and Walter Ouless, another distinguished fellow Jerseyman, as ideals in the art of portrait painting. He taught privately at the Jersey Ladies' College (now Jersey College for Girls) and the Guernsey Ladies' College. He undertook an ambitious group portrait of the Assise d'Héritage (known as "The Sitting") which took him four years to complete. In 1897, it was purchased for £400 by Julia Westaway, of the Westaway Trust, and presented to the Royal Court in Jersey where it now hangs.

He was greatly encouraged by the Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey at the time, General Abadie. When the General left Jersey, Lander followed him to London, where Abadie introduced him to society clients. Abadie was a regular visitor to Lander's studio. Between Abadie and Colonel Sir Malcolm Fox, Lander made the acquaintance of all the leading British generals before the First World War. The wartime demand for portraits provided Lander with steady work and brought his name before a wider public.

In 1923 he received a silver medal at the Paris Salon and painted his first important Royal portrait. He had been commissioned to symbolize the "Youth of England" through the Prince of Wales. Lander chose to portray the Prince dressed in polo kit, and the resulting picture was acclaimed, being awarded a medal at the Paris Salon. The King and Queen commanded that it be sent to Buckingham Palace for private viewing and consequently commissioned a copy for the Palace. The Queen then commissioned a portrait of the Duke of Kent in tennis kit.

T.B. Davis commissioned a portrait of King George V of the United Kingdom for Victoria College, Jersey with a copy for the Engineers' College, Durban. Further copies were endowed for Canada House, Australia House and New Zealand House. Lander took pride in the fact that five of these portraits of the King had been "unveiled by Royal Princes, an honour no portrait painter has ever had before".

He painted many notable portraits including members of the British Royal Family, Lord Harewood, and Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart, his brother-in-law.

He was a good friend of the Jersey artist Edmund Blampied with whom he collaborated in 1937 on a portrait of King George VI.

References

*"The Islander" magazine, Jersey, 1940
*"The Royal Court and States Building", Philip Le Brocq, 1998, Jersey


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Atkinson, Baron Atkinson — John Atkinson, Baron Atkinson, (13 December, 1844 ndash; March 13, 1932) was an Irish politician and British judge. He was born at Drogheda, County Louth, the eldest son of Edward Atkinson, a physician, of Glenwilliam Castle, County Limerick and… …   Wikipedia

  • Thomas Benjamin Frederick Davis — Infobox Person name = Thomas Davis image size = caption = birth name = Thomas Benjamin Frederick Davis birth date = birth date|1867|4|25 birth place = Havre des Pas, Saint Helier, Jersey death date = October 1942 (aged 75) death place = Durban,… …   Wikipedia

  • Jersey — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Jersey (homonymie). Bailliage de Jersey Bailiwick of Jersey …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Île de Jersey — Jersey Pour les articles homonymes, voir Jersey (homonymie). Bailliage de Jersey Bailiwick of Jersey …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Culture of Jersey — Bilingual pub sign in English and Jèrriais. The monstrous black dog is traditionally said to haunt Bouley Bay. The culture of Jersey is the culture of the Bailiwick of Jersey. This has been shaped by Jersey s indigenous Norman language and… …   Wikipedia

  • Edmund Blampied — {|align= right Infobox Person name = Edmund Blampied imagesize = 250px caption = The artist in 1938 birth date = March 30, 1886 birth place = Saint Martin, Jersey death date = August 26, 1966 death place = St Aubin, Jersey education = Trinity… …   Wikipedia

  • Académie Julian — The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. At the time, the government sanctioned art school of France …   Wikipedia

  • Académie Julian — El Estudio por la estudiante de la Académie Julian Marie Bashkirtseff. La Académie Julian fue una escuela de arte en París, Francia. Rodolphe Julian abrió la Académie Julian en 1868 en el Passage des Panoramas, como escuela estudio privada para… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Charles II. — König Karl II. (um 1680), Gemälde von Thomas Hawker Karl II. (englisch Charles II, auch The Merry Monarch genannt; * 29. Mai 1630 in London; † 6. Februar 1685 ebenda) war König von England, Schottland und Irland (durch die Monarchisten am 30.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Charles II. (England) — König Karl II. (um 1680), Gemälde von Thomas Hawker Karl II. (englisch Charles II, auch The Merry Monarch genannt; * 29. Mai 1630 in London; † 6. Februar 1685 ebenda) war König von England, Schottland und Irland (durch die Monarchisten am 30.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”