Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema

Infobox Artist
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name = Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema


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caption = Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema,
by Lawrence Alma-Tadema
birthname = Laura Theresa Epps
birthdate = 1852
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deathdate = 15 August 1909
deathplace = Hindhead
nationality = English
field = Genre painting
training =
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influenced by = Dutch School
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Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema (née Epps [Also known as Lady Alma-Tadema after her husband's ennoblement in 1899] ; 1852 – 15 August 1909 in Hindhead) was from 1871 the second wife of the painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema and a painter in her own right.

Life

A daughter of Dr George Napoleon Epps (who was brother of Dr John Epps), her two sisters were also painters (Emily studied under John Brett, a Pre-Raphaelite, and Ellen under Ford Madox Brown), whilst Edmund Gosse and Rowland Hill were her brothers-in-law. It was at Madox Brown's home that Alma-Tadema first met her in December 1869, when she was aged 17 and he 33. (His first wife had died in May that year.) He fell in love at first sight, [Barrow R. J: Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Phaidon Press Inc , 2001, ISBN 0-7148-3918-3, page 60] and so it was partly her presence in London (and partly the fact that only in England had his work consistently sold) that influenced him into relocating in England rather than elsewhere when forced to leave the continent by the outbreak of the Franco Prussian War in July 1870. Arriving in London at the beginning of September 1870 with his small daughters and sister Artje, Alma-Tadema wasted no time in contacting Laura, and it was arranged that he would give her painting lessons. During one of these, he proposed marriage. As he was then thirty-four and Laura was now only eighteen, her father was initially opposed to the idea. Dr Epps finally agreed on the condition that they should wait until they knew each other better. They married in July 1871 and, though this second marriage proved childless, it also proved enduring and happy, with Laura acting as stepmother to her husband's children by his first marriage.

The Paris Salon in 1873 gave Laura her first success in painting, and five years later, at the Paris International Exhibition, she was one of only two English women artists exhibited. [ [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/paint/lauratad.htm Lady Laura Alma Tadema (nee Laura Theresa Epps) (1852-1909) ] ] Her other venues included the Royal Academy (from 1873), the Grosvenor Gallery and others in London. She also had occasional work as an illustrator, particularly for the English Illustrated Magazine, and was well known as a hostess in their London residences at Regents Park and Grove-end Road. A memorial exhibition of her work was held at the Fine Art Society in 1910.

Depictions

As well as frequently being painted by her husband after their marriage ("The Women of Amphissa" of 1887 being a notable example), she is also shown in a seated statuette by Amendola in 1879, a bust by Delou in 1876, and a portrait by Jules Bastien-Lepage.

tyle

She specialised in highly sentimental domestic and genre scenes of women and children, often in Dutch seventeenth-century settings and style, like "Love's Beginning", "Hush-a-bye", "The Carol", "At the Doorway" (c.1898, "shown right") and "Sunshine". [ [http://www.illusionsgallery.com/sunshine.html Sunshine, Lady Alma-Tadema ] ] She did paint some classical subjects and landscapes akin to those of her husband, but in general her main influence was 17th century Dutch art, which was a far less restrained influence in her work than his.

Works

*"Always Welcome", showing a child at her mother's sick-bed, is at the Russell Cotes Museum, Bournemouth
*"Ruin (and children)", an Italianate scene - Russell Cotes, Bournemouth
*"Hawking - Medieval" - Bury Art Gallery
*"Sweet Industry" (1904), showing women weaving - Manchester City Art Gallery.
*"George Eliot" (pencil portrait, 1877) - National Portrait Gallery.

ee also

Epps family

External links

* [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30396/48918?docPos=1 Dictionary of National Biography]
* [http://www.victorianartinbritain.co.uk/obituary/alma-tadema-laura.htm Obituary from "The Times" in full]
*cite news
author=
title=Lady Alma-Tadema.
date=
work=New York Times
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E12F73C5A12738DDDAE0994D0405B898CF1D3
accessdate=2008-08-07 in the New York Times
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp00089 Images of Laura Alma Tadema] at the National Portrait Gallery

Notes