Lecture – “My love to the Academy”: Leighton’s Last Works (2016)

Leighton House Museum, 16 November 2016

As part of Leighton House Museum’s programme of public events for the exhibition Flaming June: The Making of an Icon (4 November 2016 - 2 April 2017), Professor Elizabeth Prettejohn (University of York) gave a public lecture on Wednesday 16 November 2016 on ‘“My love to the Academy”: Leighton’s Last Works’.

In her talk, Professor Prettejohn explored Leighton's masterpiece Flaming June (1895) and the other paintings in his last submission to the Royal Academy, which also featured in the exhibition. It placed Leighton’s paintings in the wider context of the Royal Academy exhibitions of the 1890s, and posed the question of whether Leighton’s last works should be considered his greatest achievements.

Professor Prettejohn was a co-author of the exhibition catalogue.

Frederic Leighton's Studio photographed by Bedford Lemere, 1 April 1895

Frederic Leighton's Studio photographed by Bedford Lemere, 1 April 1895. ©Historic England Archive; courtesy of Leighton House Museum

Main image: 'Flaming June: The Making of an Icon' - exhibition installation shot at Leighton House Museum. From left to right: Candida, 1895, oil on canvas; Lachrymae, 1894-96, oil on canvas; The Maid with the Golden Hair, 1895, oil on canvas; Twixt Hope and Fear, 1895, oil on canvas; Flaming June, 1895, oil on canvas. Detail of photo ©Kevin Moran Photography; courtesy of Leighton House Museum

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