Edwin Longsden Long RA (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 genre, history, biblical and portrait painter.

Life and works

Long was born in Bath, Somerset, the son of E. Long, an artist (from Kelston

Kelston

Kelston is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, north west of Bath, and east of Bristol, on the A431 road. It is situated just north of the River Avon, close to the Kelston and Saltford locks...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

), and was educated at Dr. Viner's School in Bath. Adopting the profession of a painter, Long came to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and studied in the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. He was subsequently a pupil in the school of James Mathews Leigh

James Mathews Leigh

James Mathews Leigh was an English art educator, painter, writer, dramatist and critic. He is best known as the founder of a popular private art school in London known as "Leigh's Academy", which eventually became the present day Heatherley School of Fine Art.-Life and work:Leigh was born in...

 in Newman Street London, and practiced first as a portrait artist painting Charles Greville, Lord Ebury and others.

Long made the acquaintance of John Phillip

John Phillip

John Phillip was a Victorian era painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life. He was nicknamed "Spanish Phillip"....

 RA, and accompanied him to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, where they spent much time. Long was greatly influenced by the paintings of Velasquez and other Spanish masters, and his earlier pictures, such as 'La Posada' (1864) and 'Lazarilla and the blind beggar' (1870), were painted under Spanish influence. His first important pictures were 'The Suppliants' (1872) and 'The Babylonian marriage market' (both subsequently purchased by Thomas Holloway). In 1874, he visited Egypt and Syria, and subsequently his work took a new direction. He became thoroughly imbued with middle-eastern archaeology and painted oriental scenes like 'The Egyptian Feast' (1877), 'The Gods and their makers' (1878) etc.

Long was elected an associate of the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 in 1870 and an academician (RA) in 1881. His pictures always attracted attention and his 'Diana and Christ' (1881) greatly enhanced his reputation at the time. His pictures suited the taste and appealed to the religious sentiment of a large portion of the public, and their popularity was increased by a wide circulation of engravings. He consequently determined to exhibit his next pictures in a separate gallery of his own in Bond Street

Bond Street

Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops...

, London and there in 1883, and the following years, his 'Anno Domini' and 'Zeuxis at Crotona' met with great commercial success.
Long died from pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 resulting from influenza

Influenza

Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...

, at his home, "Kelston" in Netherhall Gardens, Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

, on 15 May 1891, in his sixty-second year. He was buried in West Hampstead Cemetery

Hampstead Cemetery

Hampstead Cemetery is a historic cemetery in West Hampstead, London, located at the upper extremity of the NW6 district. Despite the name, the cemetery is three-quarters of a mile from Hampstead Village, and bears a different postcode...

. The will signed by him on the day of his death was the subject of a lawsuit, to which his relatives were parties, but the matter in dispute was amicably settled.

Long married a daughter of Dr. William Aiton, by whom he left a family, of whom a son, Maurice Long, was killed in a railway accident at Burgos

Burgos

Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...

 in Spain on 23 Sep. 1892.

Besides the "Edwin Long" Gallery in Old Bond Street, a number of his pictures was collected together after his death, and formed the nucleus of a gallery of Christian Art which replaced the works of Gustave Doré

Gustave Doré

Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...

 in the well-known gallery in New Bond Street. Long had considerable practice as a portrait painter but his success in that line was not conspicuous, although he obtained high patronage and very large prices. He painted for the Baroness Burdett Coutts

Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts

Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts , born Angela Georgina Burdett, was a nineteenth-century philanthropist, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet and the former Sophia Coutts, daughter of banker Thomas Coutts...

 (his chief patron) portraits of herself, her friend Mrs. Brown, and Henry Irving

Henry Irving

Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...

. Among other portraits of his latter years were a memorial portrait of the Earl of Iddesleigh

Earl of Iddesleigh

Earl of Iddesleigh, in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the Conservative politician Sir Stafford Northcote, 8th Baronet...

, of which he painted a replica for the National Portrait Gallery, portraits of Cardinal Manning (perhaps his best effort in this line), Samuel Cousins

Samuel Cousins

Samuel Cousins was an English mezzotint engraver, born at Exeter.He was preeminently the interpreter of Sir Thomas Lawrence, his contemporary. During his apprenticeship to S. W. Reynolds he engraved many of the best amongst the three hundred and sixty little mezzotints illustrating the works of...

, Sir Edmund Henderson

Edmund Henderson

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...

 and others. According to Art Historian Lionel Cust

Lionel Cust

Sir Lionel Henry Cust, KCVO FSA was an English art historian and museum director. He was director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1895 to 1909 and co-edited The Burlington Magazine from 1909 to 1919....

, "In his earlier works Long showed great power and thoroughly deserved his success and popularity", but added that his later works "suffered from a continual repetition of types which resulted in monotony".

Paintings

• The Suppliants (1864)
• A Spanish Flower Seller (1867)
• The Gamekeeper (1869)
• A Street Scene in Spain (1871)
• The Approval (1873)
• The Moorish proselytes of Archbishop Ximines (1873)
• The Babylonian Marriage Market
  The Babylonian Marriage Market
  The Babylonian Marriage Market is a 1875 painting by the British painter Edwin Long of young women being auctioned into marriage. It received attention for its provocative depiction of women being sold and its attention to historical detail...
  
  (1875)
• An Egyptian Feast (1877)
• The Gods and their Makers (1878)
• Queen Esther
  Queen Esther (painting)
  "Esther" is the name of a painting by Edwin Long.The painter drew upon travelogue illustrations in the British Museum in order to produce this vision of Queen Esther in Ahasuerus' palace at Susa.The painting was first displayed in 1878 at the Royal Academy....
  
  (1878)
• Vashti
  Vashti
  Queen Vashti is the first wife of King Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included in the Hebrew Bible and read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She is banished for her refusal to appear at the king's banquet, and Esther is chosen to succeed her as queen. In the Midrash, Vashti is described...
  
   Refuses the King's Summons (1879)
• The Eastern Favourite (1880)
• To Her Listening Ear Responsive Chords of Music Came Familiar (1881)
• Anno Domini (1883)
• Glauke: Pensive (1883)
• The Chosen Five (1885)
• Eastern Lily (1885)
• Jepthah's Vow: the Martyr (1885)
• Love's Labour Lost (1885)
• The Finding of Moses (1886)
• Alethe Attendant of the Sacred Ibis in the Temple of Isis (1888)
• Sacred to Pasht (1888)
• Preparing For The Festival Of Anubis (1889)
• Thisbe (1884)

External links

• Edwin Long online (ArtCyclopedia)
• Edwin Long biography
• Biography + paintings (ArtMagick)
• Biography and works (Art Renewal Center)
• Long's portrait works (National Portrait Gallery, London)
• Love's Labour Lost (1885 oil on canvas - Dahesh Museum of Art)