Hercules Brabazon Brabazon
{{short description|English painter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{One source|date=May 2014}}
File:Hercules Brabazon Brabazon.jpg, 1893]]
Hercules Brabazon Brabazon (born Hercules Brabazon Sharpe; 27 November 1821 – 14 May 1906) was an English artist, accomplished in Turner-manner watercolours.
Life and work
File:Hercules Brabazon Brabazon coast scene.jpg]]
Brabazon was the younger son of Hercules Sharpe and his wife, Anne Mary, the daughter of Sir Anthony Brabazon, 1st Bt. Initially raised in Paris, he moved with his family to Oaklands, an estate near Sedlescombe, East Sussex, in 1832. He attended Harrow School, the École Privat, Geneva, and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with a B.A. in mathematics in 1844.{{acad|id=SHRP839HB|name=Sharpe
His father then wanted him to study law, but instead he left England and went to Rome to study music and art, enrolling at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Accademia di San Luca. His father attempted to make him return by reducing his allowance, but in 1847, upon the death of his elder brother, he gained financial independence when he inherited family estates in Connaught, the will requiring that he change his surname to Brabazon. From then on he led a life of travel, art study and painting, inspired by the works of artists such as Diego Velázquez and J. M. W. Turner.
In 1858 he inherited Oaklands, whose management he left to his brother-in-law while he continued to travel – mostly in Europe, but with trips to Africa and India – always returning with his watercolours. Describing himself as living "for Art and Sunshine", he viewed himself as a gentleman amateur, and did not show or try to sell his work until his mid-seventies.
With the encouragement of artist friends, particularly John Singer Sargent, he began to exhibit, first at the New English Art Club, followed by successful one-man exhibitions at the Goupil Gallery in Bond Street. Brabazon was homosexual,Lucinda Hawksley, The Mystery of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria's Rebellious Daughter, Random House, New York 2013, p151. and never married. He died at Sedlescombe in 1906, and is buried there. {{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
Reputation
Due to financial problems with the family estate, in 1926 Brabazon's relatives sold the works that they had inherited. The quantity, 3199 over 27 months, seriously devalued their price and Brabazon's reputation. Since the 1980s, however, the art dealership Chris Beetles Ltd has led a revival, and many major museums have examples of his work. {{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
Brabazon's work is held in the permanent collections of many institutions, including the Indianapolis Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Tivoli, after Turner|url=http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/49384/|access-date=2021-07-02|website=Indianapolis Museum of Art Online Collection|language=en}} the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa,{{Cite web|title=Collections Online - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa|url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/40404|access-date=2021-07-02|website=collections.tepapa.govt.nz}} the Victoria and Albert Museum,{{Cite web|last=Museum|first=Victoria and Albert|title=Tangiers {{!}} Brabazon, Hercules Brabazon {{!}} V&A Explore The Collections|url=http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1041106/tangiers-watercolour-brabazon-hercules-brabazon/|access-date=2021-07-02|website=Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections|language=en}} the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,{{Cite web|date=2018-11-27|title=Figures Beside a Lake - Hercules Brabazon Brabazon|url=https://art.famsf.org/hercules-brabazon-brabazon/figures-beside-lake-1981239|access-date=2021-07-02|website=FAMSF Search the Collections|language=en}} the University of Michigan Museum of Art,{{Cite web|title=Exchange: Tétouan (Morocco)|url=https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/36250/view|access-date=2021-07-02|website=exchange.umma.umich.edu}} the Brooklyn Museum,{{Cite web|title=Brooklyn Museum|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/23824|access-date=2021-07-02|website=www.brooklynmuseum.org}} the Metropolitan Museum of Art,{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/340871?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Hercules+Brabazon+Brabazon&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=1|access-date=2021-07-02|website=www.metmuseum.org |title=Hercules Brabazon Brabazon | San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice }} the British Museum,{{Cite web|title=drawing {{!}} British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1945-0714-22|access-date=2021-07-02|website=The British Museum|language=en}} the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,{{Cite web|title=Beaulieu-sur-Mer {{!}} Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum|url=https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/10726|access-date=2021-07-02|website=www.gardnermuseum.org|language=en}} the Huntington,{{Cite web|title=Venice, Campanile and Salute in Background – Works – Hercules Brabazon – People – THE HUNTINGTON LIBRARY, ART MUSEUM, AND BOTANICAL GARDENS|url=https://emuseum.huntington.org/objects/5054/venice-campanile-and-salute-in-background;jsessionid=AC9C621693CC8C067E4CC609E8C16CC6|access-date=2021-07-02|website=emuseum.huntington.org|language=en}} and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.{{Cite web|title=Landscape with Bridge and Castle – Works – Hercules Brabazon Brabazon – People – Collection Online - Memphis, TN {{!}} Brooks Museum|url=http://emuseum.brooksmuseum.org:8080/objects/10470/landscape-with-bridge-and-castle;jsessionid=091ADCC90FEE6A3D94DD9DB48D5DE6AF|access-date=2021-07-02|website=emuseum.brooksmuseum.org|language=en}}
References
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Emil von Sauer: Meine Welt - Bilder aus dem Geheimfache meiner Kunst und meines Lebens
Sources
- {{cite ODNB|last=Kilburn|first=Jessica|title=Brabazon, Hercules Brabazon (1821–1906)|id=32017}}
External links
- [http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=50&page=1 Hercules Brabazon Brabazon profile], Tate.org.uk; accessed 19 May 2014.
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Category:People educated at Harrow School
Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Category:19th-century English painters
Category:English male painters
Category:20th-century English painters
Category:Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni
Category:People from Sedlescombe