Albert Joseph Moore | Academic painter

Albert Joseph Moore (1841-1893), known for his depictions of langorous female figures set against the luxury and decadence of the classical world, was the youngest of the fourteen children of the artist William Moore of York who in the first half of the 19th century enjoyed a considerable reputation in the North of England as a painter of portraits and landscape.

In his childhood Albert Moore showed an extraordinary love of art, and as he was encouraged in his tastes by his father and brothers, two of whom afterwards became famous as artists, John Collingham Moore and Henry Moore, and he was able to begin the active exercise of his profession at an unusually early age.

His first exhibited works were two drawings which he sent to the Royal Academy in 1857.

A year later he became a student in the Royal Academy schools; but after working in them for a few months only he decided that he would be more profitably occupied in independent practice.

During the period that extended from 1858 to 1870, though he produced and exhibited many pictures and drawings, he gave up much of his time to decorative work of various kinds, and painted, in 1863, a series of wall decorations at Coombe Abbey, the seat of the Earl of Craven; in 1865-1866 some elaborate compositions: The Last Supper and The Feeding of the Five Thousand on the chancel walls of the church of St. Alban's, Rochdale; and in 1868 A Greek Play, an important panel in tempera for the proscenium of the Queen's Theatre in Long Acre.

His first large canvas, Elijah's Sacrifice, was completed during a stay of some five months in Rome at the beginning of 1863, and appeared at the Academy in 1865.

A still larger picture, The Shunamite relating the Glories of King Solomon to her Maidens, was exhibited in 1866, and with it two smaller works, Apricots and Pomegranates.

In these Albert Moore asserted plainly the particular technical conviction that for the rest of his life governed the whole of his practice, and with them he first took his place definitely among the most original of British painters.

Several of his pictures are now in public collections throughout the United Kingdom and, in addition to those above, include Blossoms in the Tate, and a watercolor, The Open Book, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The British Museum in London has a group of his early drawings.

Albert Joseph Moore (1841-1893) è stato un pittore inglese, noto per le sue raffigurazioni di figure femminili languide contrapposte al lusso ed alla decadenza del mondo classico.

Il fascino principale delle immagini di Moore risiedeva nei delicati toni bassi dei capi diafani, simili a tessuti, in cui le figure erano drappeggiate.

I nomi attribuiti alle immagini erano generalmente suggeriti dall'opera completata e raramente rappresentavano qualsiasi idea preconcetta nella mente dell'artista.

Tra questi c'erano titoli come A Painter's Tribute to Music, Shells, The Reader, Dreamers, Battledore, Shuttlecock, Azaleas.

In una sfera d'arte così limitata, Moore trovò i suoi ammiratori tra i pochi veri intenditori d'arte piuttosto che tra il grande pubblico.

I suoi dipinti venivano spesso venduti dal cavalletto prima del completamento, ma non fu che negli ultimi anni della sua vita che ottenne quello che forse si chiamava patrocinio diretto.

Ha eseguito altre importanti opere decorative, come The Last Supper (Ultima Cena) ed alcuni dipinti per una chiesa a Rochdale, la sala di Claremont, il proscenio del Queen's Theatre (Long Acre, Città di Westminster, Londra), e un fregio di pavoni per Mr. Lehmann.

Moore era di indole indipendente e faceva affidamento esclusivamente sul proprio giudizio in materia sociale e artistica.

Le sue opinioni, considerate un po' esplicite, si rivelarono un ostacolo alla sua ammissione nei ranghi della Royal Academy, per la quale fu candidato per molti anni, e dove le sue opere furono per lungo tempo una tra le principali fonte di interesse.