SIR ALFRED EAST
Painter & Sculptor
1844 - 1913
A self Portrait painted in 1912
Signature from the Benezit Dictionary of Artists
Paul Johnson and Kenneth McConkey have produced a book on the life and works of Sir Alfred EAST entitled ALFRED EAST: LYRICAL PAINTER OF THE LANDSCAPE.
The book was launched in Kettering at the Alfred East Art Gallery in October 2009.
The book was launched in Kettering at the Alfred East Art Gallery in October 2009.
Sir Alfred East was born on 15th December 1844 in Lower Street, Kettering, Northamptonshire, being able 'to draw before he could talk, he attended the local grammar school and then studied at the Glasgow School of Art. He was in his late thirties when he left the family shoe making business in Kettering for the precarious calling of professional artist, although his parents were against him pursuing an artistic career. For the next thirty years he immortalised the rich landscape of Britain as it changed with the weather the hour and the season. He also sketched regularly in France, Italy, Spain and North Africa and notably, following a visit in 1889, brought back the landscape of Japan to an appreciative home audience. In later years he was a frequent traveller in the USA, where his work proved equally popular and many of his pictures were bought by big American museums.
With national and international recognition for his landscapes in the 1880s and 1890s, Alfred became a champion of decorative art and of his own evolutionary view of art in the face of modernism of the new century.
His romantic landscapes show the influence of the Barbizon school. His The Art of Landscape Painting in Oil Colour was published in 1906. In April 1888 he had shared an exhibition at the galleries of the Fine Art Society with T.C. Gotch and W. Ayerst Ingram, and was commissioned the following year by Marcus Huish, Managing Director of the Society, to spend six months in Japan to paint the landscape and the people of the country. When the exhibition of 104 paintings from this tour was held at the Fine Art Society in 1890 it was a spectacular success.
He Achieved Honours Worldwide was awarded a Knighthood in 1910 by King Edward VII.
With national and international recognition for his landscapes in the 1880s and 1890s, Alfred became a champion of decorative art and of his own evolutionary view of art in the face of modernism of the new century.
His romantic landscapes show the influence of the Barbizon school. His The Art of Landscape Painting in Oil Colour was published in 1906. In April 1888 he had shared an exhibition at the galleries of the Fine Art Society with T.C. Gotch and W. Ayerst Ingram, and was commissioned the following year by Marcus Huish, Managing Director of the Society, to spend six months in Japan to paint the landscape and the people of the country. When the exhibition of 104 paintings from this tour was held at the Fine Art Society in 1890 it was a spectacular success.
He Achieved Honours Worldwide was awarded a Knighthood in 1910 by King Edward VII.
J.H. Bacon‘s portrait of Alfred East painted in 1901
His portrait was painted by Philip de Laszlo in 1907.
On Sunday, 28 September 1913, Alfred East died at his London residence in Belsize Park. His body was taken back to Kettering and lay in state in the Art Gallery, where it was surrounded by the pictures he had presented to the town, and attracted crowds of several thousands.
Fuji – Yama Japan
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A Midnight Moon
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A Glade in the Cotswolds
Follow the link below to see a full colour slideshow of 74 of Albert's paintings and details of where the originals are:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/alfred-east/paintings/slideshow