![]() During the earlier part of this short biography I described Landseer as an aristocratic groupie, but this is rather unfair. The lover of wild places, and even more so the nobility of the wild creatures that lived in them, also gloried in their brutal destruction. There seems to have been a duality in his outlook he found difficult to resolve. Landseer was probably more disturbed than anybody else by the images he created-he alone had to live with them all the time. He produced some disturbing, violent images, which were a reflection of his mental condition. In truth he was a creative artist with a creative artist's sensitivity. It is worthy of mention at this point that Landseer's psychological problems never totally prevented him working. His intake of alcohol also dramatically increased. I suspect that these drugs would be regarded as narcotics today. At this time he became dependant on drugs, to manage his mental state. Landseer was looked after domestically by Barbara Potts, his Aunt, and his devoted sister, companion, and mother-substitute, Jessica. His inability to manage the day to day tasks of life seemed to bring out the paternal side of Bell, who also managed his business affairs. It is worth mentioning at this point, that he was looked after during his sojourn in Europe by his devoted friend Jacob Bell, a noted research chemist and artist. He eventually returned to his home in London. During this holiday Landseer made many excellent drawings of local people and animals, as his state of mental health improved. He had to rest for some time, and then took a fairly prolonged trip to Europe. Later in the year he had a severe mental breakdown, from which he never entirely recovered. In the early part of 1840 Landseer's mother died. In 1840, the first cracks appeared in this previously immaculate façade. An ordinary, but loyal family supplying the emotional power base, his hard work and ability rewarded by lavish aristocratic patrons, who accepted him socially, and his place as a friend of Queen Victoria. The career of Landseer seemed like a fairy story to this point. From then on his position at court was secure he was the favourite living artist of the Queen and the Prince Consort. In 1837, the year of her accession, he met Queen Victoria for the first time, producing a drawing of her favourite King Charles Spaniel Dash. The 1830s were a very successful decade for him. For the rest of his life he was a 'groupie,' of the great Whig aristocratic families, including that of the Duke of Bedford, whose second wife Georgiana was probably his mistress. Landseer's interest in painting pictures of animals gave him an entre to aristocratic society, and in 1824 he stayed with the Duke of Atholl. Landseer exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1817, and was elected ARA in 1826, at the age of twenty three. Like Stubbs before him he was a serious student of animal anatomy. He also had lessons in anatomy, and being given the carcass of a dead lion from a menagerie, he thoroughly studied the dead animal, and dissected it. His father, John Landseer was an engraver, and he thoroughly encouraged the artistic efforts of his precocious son, whose first drawings were of animals. The family as well as being large was united, and young Edwin was thoroughly indulged by his older siblings. I still find it difficult to reach any firm conclusions about him.Įdwin Landseer was the youngest son of a family of seven children. In the first part of the reign of Queen Victoria, Landseer, like Mendelssohn in music, achieved a pre-eminence it is difficult for us to understand today.
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