Herbert James Draper ( – ) was an English Neoclassicist painter whose career began in the Victorian era and extended through the first two decades of the 20th century.
Life
Born in Covent Garden, London, the seventh child and only son of a fruit merchant named John James Draper and his wife Emma, Draper was educated at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham and then went on to study art at the Royal Academy. His draftsmanship was excellent in sensuous portrayals of both male and female nudes; and The Kelpie (1913).
In later years as the public tastes changed and mythological scenes became less popular, he concentrated more on portraits. Lucius O'Brien, 15th Baron Inchiquin, his wife and his eldest son Donough as a young boy, the physician Philip Pye-Smith (commissioned by Guy's Hospital), the actress June Tripp (twice), in addition to his wife, who may also have served as the model for his Autumn. Draper was well-known as a portrait painter. At a charity auction for the Red Cross in 1918, his offer to paint a child's portrait brought in a bid of £250, .
Draper took part in the annual expositions of the Royal Academy from 1890 on. In his last years, his popularity faded, though there has recently been a revival of interest in his work on the art market. The Royal Cornwall Museum's 2010 auction of his The Sea Maiden and Ernest Normand's Bondage to help secure its finances generated debate about the policy of disposing of art works for this purpose.
Gallery
<gallery widths="160" heights="160" perrow="5">
File:Herbert James Draper, The Sea Maiden.jpg|The Sea Maiden, 1894
File:Herbert James Draper, Bather.jpg|Bather, 1896
File:Herbert James Draper, The Vintage Morn.jpg|The Vintage Morn, 1896
File:Herbert James Draper, The Foam Sprite.jpg|The Foam Sprite, 1896
File:Herbert James Draper, Calypso's Isle.jpg|Calypso's Isle, 1897
File:Herbert Draper - The Lament for Icarus - Google Art Project.jpg|The Lament for Icarus, 1898
File:Herbert James Draper For Saint Dorothea's Day 1899.jpg|For Saint Dorothea's Day, 1899
File:AWaterBaby.jpg|A Water Baby, c. 1900
File:Herbert James Draper, The Gates of Dawn, 1900.jpg|Gates of Dawn, 1900
File:DrapersTristanIsolde.jpg|Tristan and Isolde, 1901
File:Herbert James Draper, Prospero Summoning Nymphs and Deities.jpg|Prospero Summoning Nymphs and Deities, c. 1902
File:Thekelpie large.jpg|The Kelpie, 1903
File:Herbert James Draper, Sea Melodies.jpg|Sea Melodies, 1904
File:Herbert James Draper, The Golden Fleece.jpg|The Golden Fleece, 1904
File:Herbert James Draper, Ariadne.jpg|Ariadne, c. 1905
File:Herbert James Draper, Art and the Jade.jpg|Art and the Jade, 1906
File:Draper Herbert The Pearls of Aphrodite.jpg|The Pearls of Aphrodite, 1907
File:Draper-The Water Nymph.jpg|The Water Nymph, 1908
File:Ulysses and the Sirens by H.J. Draper.jpg|Ulysses and the Sirens, 1909
File:Draper-Lamia.jpg|The Lamia, 1909
File:Herbert James Draper, By Summer Seas.jpg|By Summer Seas, 1912
File:Herbert James Draper, Oil study for Clyties of the Mist.jpg|Clyties of the Mist, 1912
File:Herbert James Draper - Halcyone (1915).jpg|Halcyone, 1915
File:Herbert James Draper, A Young Girl by a Pool.jpg|A Young Girl by a Pool
File:Herbert James Draper, In the Studio.jpg|In the Studio
File:Herbert James draper, The Golden Rays.jpg|The Golden Rays
File:Go Lovely Rose! Tell her that Wastes her Time and Mine).jpg|Go Lovely Rose! Tell her that Wastes her Time and Mine
File:Herbert James Draper, A Nymph in a Sunlit Glade.jpg|A Nymph in a Sunlit Glade
File:Miss Barbara de Selincourt, by Herbert James Draper.jpg|Portrait of Miss Barbara De Selincourt
File:Herbert James Draper, Portrait of Ida Draper.jpg|Portrait of Ida Draper
File:Livery Hall ceiling by Herbert James Draper, Drapers' Hall.jpg|Ceiling of Livery Hall in Drapers' Hall, London
</gallery>
Notes
External links
- H J Draper (Victorian Web)
- H J Draper online (ArtCyclopedia)
- Works by H J Draper (Tate Gallery)
- H J Draper (Art Renewal Center)