View source for Edwin Austin Abbey

{{Short description|American painter (1852–1911)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Edwin Austin Abbey
| image         = Edwin Austin Abbey cropped.jpg
| imagesize     =
| caption       = Abbey, {{Circa|1900}}
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{birth date |1852|4|1}}
| birth_place   = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age |1911|8|1|1852|4|1}}
| death_place   = [[London]], England
| field         = Painting
| training      = [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]]
| movement      =
| works         =
| patrons       =
| influenced by =
| awards        =
| spouse        = Gertrude Mead
| signature     = 
| footnotes     = 
}}
'''Edwin Austin Abbey''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|RA}} (April 1, 1852{{snd}}August 1, 1911) was an American muralist, illustrator, and painter. He flourished at the beginning of what is now referred to as the "golden age" of [[illustration]], and is best known for his drawings and paintings of [[Shakespeare]]an and [[Victorian era|Victorian]] subjects, as well as for his painting of [[Edward VII]]'s [[Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra|coronation]].<ref name="EB"/><ref>[[Chambers Biographical Dictionary]], {{ISBN|0-550-18022-2}}, page 2</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Saint-Guadens |first=Homer |date=May 1908 |title=Edwin Austin Abbey: The Career Of A Great American Artist |journal=[[World's Work|The World's Work: A History of Our Time]] |volume=XVI |pages=10191–10124 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=naaZD2r_coMC&pg=PA10191|access-date=2009-07-10 }}</ref> His most famous set of murals, ''The Quest and Achievement of the [[Holy Grail]]'', adorns the [[Boston Central Library]].

==Early life and education==
[[File:Edward Austin Abbey by John Singer Sargent.jpeg|thumb|''Edwin Austin Abbey'', an 1888 illustration by [[John Singer Sargent]] now housed at the [[Yale University Art Gallery]]]]
Abbey was born in [[Philadelphia]], on April 1, 1852, to [[commerce|commercial]] [[broker]] William Maxwell Abbey and Margery Ann Kiple.<ref name="BDA1906" /><ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB|id=30314 |title=Abbey, Edwin Austin |last=Schlatter |first=N. Elizabeth}}</ref> He studied art at the [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]] in Philadelphia<ref name="LeonardMarquis1908"/> under [[Christian Schussele]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Edwin Austin Abbey - Artists - Spellman Gallery |url=https://www.spellmangallery.com/artists/edwin-austin-abbey |website=www.spellmangallery.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Edwin Austin Abbey King Lear, Act I, Scene I The Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|''King Lear, Act I, Scene I'' (1897–98) now housed at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]]]
Abbey began as an illustrator, producing numerous illustrations and sketches magazines, including ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'' (1871–1874) and ''[[Scribner's Magazine]]''. His illustrations began appearing in [[Harper's Weekly]] before Abbey was twenty years old. He moved to New York City in 1871. His illustrations were strongly influenced by French and German black and white art:<ref name="Souter, Nick and Tessa 2012 16">{{cite book|last=Souter, Nick and Tessa|title=The Illustration Handbook: A guide to the world's greatest illustrators|year=2012|publisher=Oceana|isbn=978-1-84573-473-2|pages=16}}</ref> [[Adolf Menzel]] and [[Daniel Vierge]]; and by English artists.<ref name="ODNB"/> He illustrated several best-selling books, including ''Christmas Stories'' by [[Charles Dickens]] (1875), ''Selections from the Poetry of [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]]'' (1882), and ''She Stoops to Conquer'' by [[Oliver Goldsmith]] (1887). Abbey also illustrated a four-volume set of ''The Comedies of Shakespeare'' for Harper & Brothers in 1896.

In 1878, he moved to England at the request of his employers to gather material for illustrations of the poems of [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]],<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abbey, Edwin Austin|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A–Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/12 12]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/12}}</ref> published in 1882,<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y |wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin |volume=1 |page=11}}</ref> and he settled permanently there in 1883.<ref name="Colliers">{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Swenson|first1=Eleanor B.|editor-first=Bernard|editor-last=Johnston|encyclopedia=Collier's Encyclopedia |title=Edwin Austin Abbey|edition=First |year=1997|publisher=P.F. Collier|volume=I A to Ameland|location=New York, NY|pages=8}}</ref>

In 1883, he was elected to the [[Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours]].<ref name="EB"/> About this time, he was appraised critically by the American writer, [[Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin|S.G.W. Benjamin]]:

{{blockquote|It must be taken into consideration that he is still very young; that he now for the first time visits the studios and galleries of Europe; that his advantages for a regular art education have been very moderate, and that he is practically self-educated. And then compare with these disadvantages the amount and the quality of the illustrations he has turned out, and we see represented in him genius of a high order, combining almost inexhaustible creativeness, clearness and vividness of conception, a versatile fancy, a poetic perception of beauty, a quaint, delicate humor, a wonderful grasp of whatever is weird and mysterious, and admirable chiaro-oscuro, drawing, and composition. When we note such a rare combination of qualities, we cease to be surprised at the cordial recognition awarded his genius by the best judges, both in London and Paris, even before he had left this country.<ref>[[Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin|S.G.W. Benjamin]], ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40604/40604-h/40604-h.htm Art in America: A Critical and Historical Sketch]'', Harpers, 1880</ref>}}

He also created illustrations for [[Oliver Goldsmith|Goldsmith's]] ''[[She Stoops to Conquer]]'' (1887), for a volume of ''Old Songs'' (1889), and for the comedies (and a few of the tragedies) of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]. Among his water-colours are "The Evil Eye" (1877), "The Rose in October" (1879), "An Old Song" (1886), "The Visitors" (1890), and "The Jongleur" (1892). Possibly his best known pastels are "Beatrice", "Phyllis", and "Two Noble Kinsmen".<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1890, he made his first appearance with an oil painting, "A May Day Morn", at the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] in London. He exhibited "Richard duke of Gloucester and the Lady Anne" there in 1896, and in that year was elected [[Royal Academy of Arts#Membership|A.R.A.]], becoming a full member in 1898.<ref name="EB1911"/> He received a gold medal at the [[Pan-American Exposition]] and was commissioned to paint the [[Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra|coronation]] of King [[Edward VII]] in 1901;<ref name="BDA1906" /> in the next year, he was chosen to paint the coronation. It was the official painting of the occasion and, hence, resides at [[Buckingham Palace]]. He did receive a knighthood,<ref name="Colliers"/> although some say he refused it in 1907. Friendly with other expatriate American artists, he summered at [[Broadway, Worcestershire|Broadway]], Worcestershire, England, where he painted and vacationed alongside [[John Singer Sargent]] at the home of [[Francis Davis Millet]].

He completed murals for the [[Boston Central Library]] in the 1890s.<ref name="BDA1906" /> The frieze for the Library was titled "The Quest and Achievement of the Holy Grail". It took Abbey eleven years to complete this series of murals in his England studio. In 1897 he received the honorary degree of [[Master of Arts|A.M.]] from Yale university.<ref name="BDA1906" /> In 2024, the [[Yale University Art Gallery]] completed restoration of his "[[Study for the Apotheosis of Pennsylvania]]" using a technique known as "mist lining" which repaired structural defects in the canvas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=YaleToday |date=March 11, 2024 |title=P.S. |url=https://news.yale.edu |website=YaleNews}}</ref>

In 1904 he painted a mural for the [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]], London ''Reconciliation of the Skinners & Merchant Taylors' Companies by Lord Mayor Billesden, 1484''.

===Pennsylvania State Capitol===
[[File:Pennsylvania State Capitol lunettes.jpg|thumb|Lunette and medallion murals (1908–11) at the [[Pennsylvania State Capitol]] Rotunda. Left to right: ''The Spirit of Vulcan'', ''Science'', ''The Spirit of Religious Liberty'', ''Art'', ''The Spirit of Light''.]]
In 1908–09, Abbey began an ambitious program of murals and other artworks for the newly completed [[Pennsylvania State Capitol]] in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], Pennsylvania. These included [[allegorical]] medallion murals representing ''Science'', ''Art'', ''Justice'', and ''Religion'' for the dome of the [[Rotunda (architecture)|Rotunda]], four large lunette murals beneath the dome, and multiple works for the House and Senate Chambers. For the Senate chamber he finished only one painting, ''Von Steuben Training the American Soldiers at Valley Forge'',<ref name="EB1922">{{EB1922|inline=y|wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin|volume=30|page=1}}</ref> and he was working on the ''Reading of the Declaration of Independence'' mural in early 1911, when his health began to fail. He was diagnosed with cancer. Studio assistant William Simmonds continued work on the mural with little supervision from Abbey, and with small contributions by [[John Singer Sargent]].

==Death==
On August 11, 1911, Abbey died in London. William Simmonds travelled from England to install the completed murals with Abbey's widow Gertrude. The remaining two rooms, which Abbey had been unable to finish, were given to [[Violet Oakley]], who completed the commission using her own designs.

==Legacy==
Abbey was elected to the [[National Academy of Design]], in 1902,<ref name="EB"/> and [[The American Academy of Arts and Letters]]. He was honorary member of the Royal Bavarian Society and the [[Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts]], and was made a chevalier of the French [[Legion of Honour]].<ref name="EB1911"/> He was a prolific illustrator, and attention to detail, including historical accuracy, influenced successive generations of illustrators.<ref name="Souter, Nick and Tessa 2012 16"/>

Edwin had been a keen supporter of the newly founded [[British School at Rome]] (BSR), so, in his memory, his widow donated £6000 to assist in building the artists' studio block and, in 1926, founded the Incorporated Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Scholarships.<ref name="Edwin">{{cite web |url=http://www.abbey.org.uk/about_the_awards.php |title=Abbey Awards website |access-date=March 24, 2014 |archive-date=January 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114083631/http://www.abbey.org.uk/about_the_awards.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> The scholarships were established to enable British and American painters to pursue their practice. Recipients of Abbey funding – Scholars and, more recently, Fellows – devote their scholarship to working in the studios at the BSR, where there has, ever since, been at least one Abbey-funded artist in residence. Previous award holders include [[Stephen Farthing]], [[Chantal Joffe]] and [[Spartacus Chetwynd]]. [[British School at Rome#Awards and Fellowships|The Abbey Fellowships]] (formerly 'Awards') were established in their present form in 1990, and the Abbey studios also host the BSR's other Fine Art residencies, such as the [[Derek Hill (painter)#Rome and the Derek Hill Foundation|Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship]] and the [[British School at Rome#Awards and Fellowships|Sainsbury Scholarship in Painting and Drawing]]. A bust of Edwin Abbey, by [[Sir Thomas Brock]], stands in the courtyard of the BSR.<ref name="Bust">{{cite web | url=http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/brock/38.html | title=Edwin Abbey by Thomas Brock on The Victorian Web website}}</ref>

Edwin also left works to the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York, to the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]] and to the [[National Gallery]] in London.<ref name="EB1922"/>

Abbey is buried in the churchyard of [[Old St Andrew's Church, Kingsbury|Old St Andrew's Church]] in [[Kingsbury, London|Kingsbury]], London. His grave is [[Grade II listed]].<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1267873|desc= Tombstone to Edwin Austin Abbey in St Andrews Old Churchyard, Wembley|access-date= 18 February 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Family==
In 1890, Edwin married (Mary) Gertrude Mead, the daughter of Frederick Mead, a New York merchant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=William |title=The Collected Letters of William Morris, Volume III: 1889-1892 |date=14 July 2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6423-2 |page=189 note 1|volume=III |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T0wABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 |language=en}}</ref> She encouraged her husband to secure more ambitious commissions. The marriage remained childless.<ref name="ODNB"/>

After her husband's death, Gertrude was active in preserving her husband's legacy, writing about his work and giving her substantial collection and archive to [[Yale University|Yale]]. In 1932, through the Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Fund for Mural Painting, she endowed the Abbey Mural Prize to support the creation and restoration of public murals in the United States. It is awarded each year by a jury of National Academicians through the [[National Academy of Design]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Academy of Design |url=https://nationalacademy.org/the-academy/grants-and-fellowships |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=nationalacademy.org}}</ref> She was a sponsor of the [[Survey of London]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Members of the Survey Committee Pages 4-7 Survey of London Monograph 12 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/bk12/pp4-7 |website=British History Online |publisher=Guild & School of Handicraft, London, 1926 |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref>

==Works by Abbey==
<gallery>
File:Edwin Austin Abbey Vanity Fair 29 December 1898.jpg|''Edwin Austin Abbey'' (1898), by [[Leslie Ward]], ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', December 29, 1898
File:Edwin Austin Abbey - Bob Acres and His Servant.jpg|''Bob Acres and His Servant'' (c. 1895), [[Yale University Art Gallery]]
File:Edwin Austin Abbey richard duke of gloucester and the lady anne 1896.jpg|''[[Richard III of England|Richard, Duke of Gloucester]], and the [[Anne Neville|Lady Anne]]'' (1896), [[Yale University Art Gallery]]
File:Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911)-y.jpg|''Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail'' (1896–1901), [[Boston Central Library]]
File:The Play Scene in Hamlet.jpg|''The Play Scene in [[Hamlet]]'' (1897), Yale University Art Gallery
File:Abbey - The Queen in Hamlet.jpg|''The Queen in Hamlet'' (c. 1897), private collection
File:Abbey, Edwin Austin - Potpourri - 1899.jpg|''Potpourri'' (1899), private collection
File:Pennsylvania State Capitol House Chamber.jpg|''[[The Apotheosis of Pennsylvania|Apotheosis of Pennsylvania]]'' (1908–11), House Chamber, [[Pennsylvania State Capitol]] in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]]
File:Abbey, Edwin Austin - Fairies.jpg|Fairies
File:Edwin Austin Abbey - Within the Tent of Brutus, Enter the Ghost of Caesar, Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III - 1937.1148 - Yale University Art Gallery.jpg|''Within the Tent of [[Brutus]]: Enter the Ghost of [[Caesar]], [[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]], Act IV, Scene III''
</gallery>

== Bibliography ==

* Dickens, C. - ''Christmas Stories'', Harper & Brothers, 1875
* Longfellow, H. W. - T''he Poetical Works'', Houghton, 1880–1883
* Herrick, R. - ''Selections from the Poetry of Robert Herrick'', Harper & Brothers, 1882
* Black, W. - J''udith Shakespeare'', Harper & Brothers, 1884
* Boughton, G. H. - ''Sketching Rambles in Holland'', Macmillan 1885
* Sheridan, R. B. - ''Comedies'', Chatto & Windus, London, 1885
* Goldsmith, O. - ''She Stoops to Conquer'', Harper & Brothers, 1887
* Abbey, E. A. - ''Old Songs'', Harper & Brothers, 1888
* ----- ''The Quiet Life'', Harper & Brothers, 1890
* Shakespeare, W. - ''The Comedies'', Harper & Brothers, 1896
* Goldsmith, O. - ''The Deserted Village'', Harper & Brothers, 1902
* Stevens, L. O. - ''King Arthur Stories'', Houghton 1908

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="LeonardMarquis1908">{{Citation
 | editor1-first = John William
 | editor1-last = Leonard
 | editor2-first = Albert Nelson
 | editor2-last = Marquis
 | title     = Who's who in America
 | publisher = Marquis Who's Who, Incorporated
 | volume    = 5
 | page      = 2
 | year      = 1908
 | location = Chicago
 | url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=eX0QOpl7iBQC&pg=PA2
 | postscript= .
}}</ref>
<ref name="BDA1906">{{BDA1906 |wstitle= Abbey, Edwin Austin |volume= 1 |page= 22 |short=1}}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
* http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol19/vol19_iss24/record1924.33
* Nancy Mendes. "Edwin Austin Abbey: A Capital Artist." ''Pennsylvania Heritage'' magazine 32, no. 3 (Summer 2006): 6–15.
* Elisa Tamarkin. "The Chestnuts of Edwin Austin Abbey: History Painting and the Transference of Culture in Turn-of-the-Century America." ''Prospects'' 24 (1999): 417–448.
* [[Corcoran Gallery of Art]], Washington, D.C.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource}}
* [http://americanartgallery.org/artist/home/id/95 Edwin Austin Abbey at American Art Gallery]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19980423222607/http://www.bpib.com/abbey.htm Jim Vadeboncoeur's biography of Edwin Austin Abbey]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070703072302/http://cpc.state.pa.us/main/cpcweb/history/artists/abbey.html Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee's E.A. Abbey Bio]
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15324coll10/id/2315/rec/1 ''Drawings by Edwin A. Abbey: illustrating the comedies of Shakespeare'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032857/http://collection.corcoran.org/collection/work/%E2%80%9Cwho-sylvia-what-she-all-swains-commend-her%E2%80%9D?apcat=1 ''Who Is Sylvia? What Is She, That All the Swains Commend Her?''] (1896–99; reworked 1900), [[Corcoran Gallery of Art]], Washington, D.C.
*{{Wikisource-inline|list=
**{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin |short=x |noicon=x}}
**{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin |short=x |noicon=x}}
**{{Cite DNB12|wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin |short=x |noicon=x}}
**{{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin |short=x |noicon=x}}
}}
*[http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/edwin-austin-abbey-letters-5949 Edwin Austin Abbey letters, 1874–(ca. 1887)] from the [[Archives of American Art]]
*[http://1200artists.com/artist-edwin_austin_abbey.php Edwin Austin Abbey paintings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124227/http://1200artists.com/artist-edwin_austin_abbey.php |date=March 4, 2016 }}
*{{Art UK bio}}

{{Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbey, Edwin Austin}}
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American illustrators]]
[[Category:American muralists]]
[[Category:19th-century American painters]]
[[Category:American male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century American painters]]
[[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Royal Academicians]]
[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni]]
[[Category:National Academy of Design members]]
[[Category:Artists of the Boston Public Library]]
[[Category:19th-century American male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century American illustrators]]