弗雷德里克·莱顿小传

译/爱艺

Trained in the Continental academic tradition, befriended by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and elected President of the Royal Academy, Frederic Leighton was one of the most eminent British painters of the late nineteenth century.His sumptuous, classically inflected canvases like The Light of the Harem and Captive Andromache exemplify the Victorian pursuit of beauty for beauty’s sake.

2Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, was born in Scarborough, England in 1830.He was educated at University College School, London.He then received his artistic training on the European continent.At age 17, he met the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in Frankfurt and drew his portrait, in graphite and gouache on paper—the only known full-length study of Schopenhauer done from life.When he was 24,he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, and painted Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna.From 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he met Ingres,Delacroix, Corot and Millet.

弗雷德里克·莱顿是19 世纪末最杰出的英国画家之一，他接受了欧洲大陆学院派传统教育，结交了拉斐尔前派的艺术家们，还被推举担任英国皇家美术学院院长。他的油画（如《闺房的光》和《被俘的安德洛玛刻》）华丽精致，带有明显的古典风格，体现了维多利亚时代为美而美的追求。

2莱顿一世男爵弗雷德里克·莱顿于1830 年出生在英格兰斯卡伯勒。他先就读于伦敦的大学学院学校，后前往欧洲大陆接受正规的艺术教育。17 岁时，他在德国法兰克福遇见了哲学家亚瑟·叔本华，并用石墨和水粉为后者画了一幅肖像——这是迄今所知叔本华在生前留下的唯一一幅全身肖像。24 岁时，莱顿在意大利佛罗伦萨美术学院学习，创作了《圣列的行进》。1855 到1859 年，他一直居住在巴黎，结识了安格尔、德拉克洛瓦、柯罗和米勒等画家。

3In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites.In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy.His 1877 sculpture entitled An Athlete Wrestling with a Python was considered at its time to inaugurate a renaissance in contemporary British sculpture, referred to as the New Sculpture; his paintings of the same year,like the plushly exoticized Music Lesson,demonstrate that he was no less assiduous and imaginative in two-dimensional media.The following year, he became President of the Royal Academy (1878-96).

4Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878, and was created a baronet eight years later.He was the first painter to be given a peerage.The patent creating him Baron Leighton, of Stretton in the County of Shropshire, was issued on 24 January 1896; Leighton died the next day of angina pectoris, making him the bearer of the shortest-lived title in British history.His house in Holland Park,London has been turned into a museum,the Leighton House Museum.

5The Lord Leighton’s work is represented in numerous estimable institutions throughout Great Britain and the Commonwealth, including the Tate Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and New Zealand’s Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.■

31860 年，他移居伦敦，与拉斐尔前派的艺术家们过从甚密。1864 年，他成为英国皇家美术学院的准会员。1877年，他的雕塑作品《与巨蟒搏斗的运动员》在当时被认为开启了英国当代雕塑的复兴，即所谓新雕塑运动；同年，他的画作，比如雅致怡人、异域风情的《音乐课》，表明他在平面创作上同样勤勉且富于想象力。第二年，他开始担任英国皇家美术学院院长（1878—1896）。

41878 年，莱顿在温莎受封爵士，八年后获封准男爵。他是被授予贵族爵位的首位画家。1896 年1 月24 日，他正式受封什罗普郡斯特雷顿莱顿男爵；获封第二天，莱顿便因心绞痛与世长辞，成了英国历史上最短命头衔拥有者。他在伦敦荷兰公园的居所如今已变身博物馆——莱顿故居博物馆。

5英国及英联邦各地许多著名的展览机构都在展出莱顿爵士的作品，这些机构包括英国伦敦的泰特美术馆、加拿大渥太华的加拿大国家美术馆和新西兰的克赖斯特彻奇美术馆。□