Alexander Constantine Ionides
Encyclopedia
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
– 10 November 1890, Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
) was a British art patron and art collector and patron of Greek ancestry.
Life
His parents were Mariora Sendoukaki (1784–1857) and her husband Constantine Ipliktzis (1775–1852), who had set up a London branch for his trading firm in c.1815. In 1827 Alexander came to London, finishing his education at BrixtonBrixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
and marrying Euterpe Sgouta (1816–1892) in Constantinople before finally settling in Cheetham Hill, Manchester (they had five children). He then founded his own textile and wheat trading-firm, Ionides and Company (he changed his surname from Ipliktzis to Ionides at this time), operating between London and the Near East and the Balkans. He began to patronise the arts around 1829, both in England (his proteges included Edward Calvert and George Frederic Watts
George Frederic Watts
George Frederic Watts, OM was a popular English Victorian painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical works, such as Hope and Love and Life...
, both of whom became friends of Ionides) and in Greece (he followed his father as a patron of the University of Athens).
He and his family moved to London in 1834, living at 9 Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Circus
Finsbury Circus is an elliptical square with its long axis lying east-west in the City of London, England; with an area of 2.2 hectares it is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It has an immaculately maintained Lawn Bowls club in the centre, which has existed in the gardens...
(1834-39), Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill
Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London, England. It lies to the south of Brixton, east of Brixton Hill, north of West Norwood and west of West Dulwich.-History:...
(1838-64) and finally 1 Holland Park
Holland Park
Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London, England.Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants...
(1864 onwards), during which time he was made a naturalised British subject in 1837 and began to gather an artistic salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
at his home. Acting as Greek consul-general in 1854–66, he held directorships of the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
(1855) and of many banks. His son Alexander introduced him in 1860 to artists he had met in Paris, such as James Whistler, Edward Poynter
Edward Poynter
Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter, designer, and draughtsman who served as President of the Royal Academy.-Life:...
, Thomas Armstrong
Thomas Armstrong
Sir Thomas Armstrong was an English organist, conductor, educationalist and adjudicator. He had a substantial influence on British music for well over half a century. From 1955 to 1968 he was principal of the Royal Academy of Music...
, and George Du Maurier
George du Maurier
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was a French-born British cartoonist and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and also for his novel Trilby. He was the father of actor Gerald du Maurier and grandfather of the writers Angela du Maurier and Dame Daphne du Maurier...
, whilst Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
and Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
also later joined Ionides' circle. He commissioned the designers Philip Webb
Philip Webb
Another Philip Webb — Philip Edward Webb was the architect son of leading architect Sir Aston Webb. Along with his brother, Maurice, he assisted his father towards the end of his career....
and Thomas Jeckyll to redecorate 1 Holland Park. He finally moved to a house called "Windycroft" in Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
in 1875 (leaving Alexander to complete the Aesthetic
Aestheticism
Aestheticism was a 19th century European art movement that emphasized aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, the decorative arts, and interior design...
redecoration at 1 Holland Park by commissioning William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
and Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
).
Children
- Alexander (Aleco; 1840–1898), who joined with his father in collecting Tanagra figurines and Greek vases
- Constantine Alexander IonidesConstantine Alexander IonidesConstantine Alexander Ionides was a major 19th century British art patron and collector of Greek ancestry, the son of the collector Alexander Constantine Ionides. He is best known for his bequest of 82 oil paintings to the Victoria and Albert Museum. He is buried in Hove.-External links:...
(1833–1900), patron and collector - Aglaia CoronioAglaia CoronioAglaia Coronio, née Aglaia Ionides was a British embroiderer, bookbinder, art patron and art collector of Greek ancestry. She was a daughter of Alexander Constantine Ionides and brother of Constantine Alexander Ionides. She was also a confidante of William Morris and a friend of Dante Gabriel...
(1834–1906), patron, collector, confidante of Morris and a friend of Rossetti - Luke Ionides (1837–1924), friend of Whistler, patron and collector, whose fourth son BasilBasil IonidesBasil Ionides was a British architect who published two best-selling books, Colour and Interior Decoration and Colour in Everyday Rooms...
became an architect - Another daughter
In popular culture
- Ionides and Arthur LewisArthur LewisArthur Lewis may refer to:* Arthur Lewis , American Paralympic athlete* Arthur Lewis former member of the Australian Parliament...
are the inspiration for Sir Lewis Cornelys in the Du Maurier novel TrilbyTrilby (novel)Trilby is a novel by George du Maurier and one of the most popular novels of its time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siècle after Bram Stoker's Dracula. Published serially in Harper's Monthly in 1894, it was published in book form in 1895 and sold 200,000 copies in the United...
.