Favourites on Friday - Herbert Draper, painter

… one of my favourite painters.  The first painting I saw of Draper’s was ‘Ulysses and the Sirens’, and fell in love with it instantly.

'Ulysses and the Sirens'

Herbert Draper was born in London in 1863, and studied art at the Royal Academy.  Having won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship in 1889, he made several trips to Rome and Paris.  He settled in London in 1891, got married and had a daughter. 

His subject of choice was mythological themes from ancient Greece; his painting ‘The Lament For Icarus’ (1898) won the gold medal at the ‘Exposition Universelle’ in Paris, and was later bought for the Tate Gallery.  

'The Lament for Icarus'

Even though he took part in the Royal Academy’s royal expositions, he was never a member or associate.  When mythological scenes became less popular, he turned his attention to portraits, becoming a well-known portrait painter.

Draper died in 1920 at his Abbey Road home.

'Pearls of Aphrodite'

'Day and the 'Dawnstar'

'Flying Fish'

'Tristram and Iseult'