Elizabeth Eastlake
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake (17 November 1809 – 2 October 1893), born Elizabeth Rigby, was a British author, art critic and art historian who was the first woman to write regularly for the Quarterly Review
. She is known not only for her writing, but also for her significant role in the London
art world while her husband, Sir Charles Eastlake
, was director of the National Gallery
there.
into the large family of Edward and Anne Rigby, and grew up with parents who included her in their social life and conversation with prominent citizens and intellectuals. Edward Rigby was a physician who was also a classical scholar.
Elizabeth Rigby was fond of drawing from a young age and continued studying art into her twenties. She was privately educated, and learnt French
and Italian
, but after an illness in 1827 she was sent to convalesce in Germany
and Switzerland
. She stayed two years, and started a lifetime of publication with a translation of Passavant
's essay on English art; a second trip to Germany in 1835 led to an article on Goethe. After travelling to Russia
and Estonia
to visit a married sister, her published letters, and her travel book A Residence on the Shores of the Baltic (1841) led to an invitation to write for the Quarterly Review by the editor, J. G. Lockhart
.
In 1842 the widowed Anne Rigby moved with her daughters to Edinburgh
where Elizabeth's literary career brought entry to an intellectual social circle including prominent figures like Lord Jeffrey, John Murray
and David Octavius Hill
who photographed her in a series of about 20 early calotype
s, assisted by Robert Adamson
. In 1857 she would publish an essay on the relationship between art and photography, showing she was knowledgeable about the "new and mysterious art" and discussing its strengths and weaknesses.
Despite a diary entry in 1846 saying there were many "compensations" for unmarried women, three years later when she was 40, Elizabeth married Sir Charles Eastlake and joined him in an active working and social life, entertaining artists like Landseer
and mixing with a wide range of well-known people, from Macaulay
to Lady Lovelace
. Lady Eastlake's habit of continental travel continued through the 1850s and 1860s as she and her husband toured several European countries in search of new acquisitions for the gallery.
She continued to write prolifically, helping to popularise German art history
in England, both as critic, and as translator (Waagen and Kugler). Sometimes she collaborated with her husband, and wrote a memoir of him after his death in 1865. Italian art also absorbed her attention. Leonardo da Vinci
, Michelangelo
, Titian
, Raphael
and Dürer were the subjects of her Five Great Painters (1883), published ten years before she died.
Although she attracted much attention with her disapproval of Jane Eyre
, and also with her criticism of Ruskin
, assumed to be linked to her role as confidante to his wife Effie
, her work as art historian and writer was more significant, according to the historian Dr. Rosemary Mitchell, who finds Eastlake a scholarly and perceptive critic, and a pioneer of female journalism. (ODNB
)
Quarterly Review
The Quarterly Review was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by the well known London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967.-Early years:...
. She is known not only for her writing, but also for her significant role in the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
art world while her husband, Sir Charles Eastlake
Charles Lock Eastlake
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake RA was an English painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the early 19th century.-Early life:...
, was director of the National Gallery
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
there.
Life
She was born in NorwichNorwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
into the large family of Edward and Anne Rigby, and grew up with parents who included her in their social life and conversation with prominent citizens and intellectuals. Edward Rigby was a physician who was also a classical scholar.
Elizabeth Rigby was fond of drawing from a young age and continued studying art into her twenties. She was privately educated, and learnt French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, but after an illness in 1827 she was sent to convalesce in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. She stayed two years, and started a lifetime of publication with a translation of Passavant
Johann David Passavant
Johann David Passavant was a German painter, curator and artist.Passavant was born in 1787 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His interest in the arts was evidence by an early correspondence with the artist Franz Pforr . He moved to Paris in 1809 to further his business interests...
's essay on English art; a second trip to Germany in 1835 led to an article on Goethe. After travelling to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
to visit a married sister, her published letters, and her travel book A Residence on the Shores of the Baltic (1841) led to an invitation to write for the Quarterly Review by the editor, J. G. Lockhart
John Gibson Lockhart
John Gibson Lockhart , was a Scottish writer and editor. He is best known as the author of the definitive "Life" of Sir Walter Scott...
.
In 1842 the widowed Anne Rigby moved with her daughters to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
where Elizabeth's literary career brought entry to an intellectual social circle including prominent figures like Lord Jeffrey, John Murray
John Murray (1778-1843)
John Murray was a Scottish publisher and member of the famous John Murray publishing house.The publishing house was founded by Murray's father, who died when Murray was only fifteen years old. During his youth, a partner, Samuel Highley, ran the business, but in 1803 the partnership was dissolved...
and David Octavius Hill
David Octavius Hill
The Scottish painter and arts activist David Octavius Hill collaborated with the engineer and photographer Robert Adamson between 1843 and 1847 to pioneer many aspects of photography in Scotland.-Early life:...
who photographed her in a series of about 20 early calotype
Calotype
Calotype or talbotype is an early photographic process introduced in 1841 by William Henry Fox Talbot, using paper coated with silver iodide. The term calotype comes from the Greek for 'beautiful', and for 'impression'....
s, assisted by Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson (photographer)
Robert Adamson, was a Scottish pioneer photographer.Adamson was born in St. Andrews, he was hired in 1843 by David Octavius Hill , a painter of romantic Scottish landscapes. He was commissioned to make a group portrait of the 470 clergymen who founded the Free Church of Scotland. Hill required...
. In 1857 she would publish an essay on the relationship between art and photography, showing she was knowledgeable about the "new and mysterious art" and discussing its strengths and weaknesses.
Despite a diary entry in 1846 saying there were many "compensations" for unmarried women, three years later when she was 40, Elizabeth married Sir Charles Eastlake and joined him in an active working and social life, entertaining artists like Landseer
Edwin Henry Landseer
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, RA was an English painter, well known for his paintings of animals—particularly horses, dogs and stags...
and mixing with a wide range of well-known people, from Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay PC was a British poet, historian and Whig politician. He wrote extensively as an essayist and reviewer, and on British history...
to Lady Lovelace
Ada Lovelace
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace , born Augusta Ada Byron, was an English writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine...
. Lady Eastlake's habit of continental travel continued through the 1850s and 1860s as she and her husband toured several European countries in search of new acquisitions for the gallery.
She continued to write prolifically, helping to popularise German art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
in England, both as critic, and as translator (Waagen and Kugler). Sometimes she collaborated with her husband, and wrote a memoir of him after his death in 1865. Italian art also absorbed her attention. Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
, Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
and Dürer were the subjects of her Five Great Painters (1883), published ten years before she died.
Although she attracted much attention with her disapproval of Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England, in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York...
, and also with her criticism of Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
, assumed to be linked to her role as confidante to his wife Effie
Effie Gray
Euphemia Chalmers Millais, Lady Millais née Gray, known as Effie Gray, Effie Ruskin or Effie Millais was the wife of the critic John Ruskin, but left her husband without the marriage being consummated, and after the annulment of the marriage, married his protégé, the Pre-Raphaelite painter John...
, her work as art historian and writer was more significant, according to the historian Dr. Rosemary Mitchell, who finds Eastlake a scholarly and perceptive critic, and a pioneer of female journalism. (ODNB
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
)
Work online
- A Residence on the Shores of the Baltic (1841)
- Vanity Fair--and Jane Eyre from the Quarterly Review (1848)
- Music and The Art of Dress, two essays reprinted from the Quarterly Review (1852)
- Photography (1857)
- 60 drawings by Elizabeth Rigby from the Tate GalleryTate GalleryThe Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...