Prints

The artistic style of Frederic Leighton is ideally suited to art print reproductions and many followers of his work add print copies of his most famous paintings to their own homes. We examine his most popular choices, and discuss the qualities of his work that made his career just so special.

Sir Frederic Leighton, as he was to become, fused together a number of art movements with his own experiences from travelling around Europe over a number of years. His style is generally classified within the groups of Academic art, Aestheticism, Neoclassicism and Classicism which places him alongside a number of highly respected artists. He spent time in Germany, Italy and France and also took in domestic influences within the UK. He also received technical training from a number of highly knowledgeable individuals as well as studying paintings in person at a number of art galleries and museums across the continent. The paintings that developed from all of this were extraordinary and helped to establish him as one of the finest British artists of all time.

The painting that we have included here was titled The Bath of Psyche and summarises many of the qualities of Leighton's work. The beautifully crafted portraits alongside classical architecture and fashion leave a charming finish which remains popular in the present day, though Victorian art more generally has fluctuated in popularity over the past centuries. Several of Leighton's original works were acquired at nominal prices by buyers who purchased at the right time, where as now many would be worth several million pounds. Changing tastes have meant that academic styles have at times been rejected as unimaginative, before later being accepted again as just another of many art movements to be respected in their own right.

For those looking to buy Frederic Leighton prints, you will be pleased to learn about just how many options are available to you. His entire career's work is covered by many online retailers as copyright was lost many years ago. There are also customising options to suit all tastes, from type of frame to inlay matte as well as the actual size of the print. Some like to actually get a reproduction print at the same size of the original painting, but for many this would be too large for the room in which they intend to hang it. Smaller options can still work well with this artist's work, particularly where he only used a few figures in the composition. Larger scale pieces, where large numbers of figures were used, would not really suit a small print.

Flaming June remains the most popular painting from Leighton's career and is the most frequently reproduced as an art print. The colours are bright and vibrant and the content is enchanting. It is also very typical of his overall career. The key figure takes up most of the composition and this means that it is very suitable as a smaller art print, for those with less space but a desire to bring a little Victorian style to their home. In contrast, the likes of Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna, The Daphnephoria and Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis simply contain far too much visual detail to be considered at anything other than a large print, otherwise all of the detail would be impossible to decipher.

Leighton remains amongst the most reproduced of all British artists and his style seems suited to modern homes, adding a touch of class and glamour to perhaps an otherwise fairly neutral, minimalistic room. Some of his colour schemes were also bright and able to lift a room's decor. Alongside this great man, the most reproduced British art of all would probably have to be JMW Turner. Turner prints can be found in homes right across the world, with his romantic landscape scenes striking a chord with so many art fans. His use of colour and emotion within his work makes him perhaps the most famous British artist of all. He also took in several famous naval battles into his work, making his career output historically significant too.