Frederic Villiers
Encyclopedia
Frederic Villiers British war artist and correspondent.
Along with William Simpson
and Melton Prior
, Villiers was one of the most notable 'special' artists of the later 19th century. He may have been the model for the Kipling
war-artist character, Dick Heldar in The Light that Failed
.
situated in the Pas-de-Calais. Between 1869 and 1870, he was an art student at the British Museum
and in South Kensington, and in the following year at the Royal Academy
Schools. In 1876 while walking down Holborn, he noticed a crowd reading a poster of an evening paper stating that Serbia had declared war on Turkey. He immediately decided to contact the paper, The Graphic
, offering his services as a war artist. The paper took him up on his offer and it was the beginning of a long career covering wars and conflicts around the globe.
Having reported on the Russo-Turkish War in 1877 and witnessed the events at Plevna, he traveled to Afghanistan to cover the war that had broken out in 1878. Here he befriended Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari
who gave the artist the pens that were used to sign the Treaty of Gandamak
. A world cruise followed in which he visited India where he dined with the Viceroy, Lord Lytton at Simla
, Sydney, Tasmania, Auckland, Honolulu and San Francisco, and in 1882 was in Egypt to cover the war; he was present at Tel-el-Kebir. The following year saw him in Russia to cover the coronation but he was soon back in North Africa, this time to provide sketches of the fighting in Sudan during the Gordon relief expedition. He covered conflicts in Bulgaria in 1886, the Burma war of 1887, the First Sino-Japanese War
of 1894-95 including the massacres of Chinese at Port Arthur
, and a decade later, the Greek-Turkish War.
In 1898, he was one of the artists sent to cover the campaign in Sudan which culminated at Omdurman
. Villiers brought along an early cine-camera and was filming when an explosion caused the boat to rock in the Nile, tipping over the apparatus. His other campaigns included the Boer War
where he accompanied the Kimberley Relief Column, the Russo-Japanese War
and the First World War. He was particularly frustrated during the opening months of the latter for not being allowed to go near the front.
Villiers worked primarily for The Graphic
but also supplied illustrations to 'Black and White' as well as serving as a special correspondent of The Standard
; he also contributed illustrations to the English Illustrated Magazine
and The Idler. He counted among his friends, Archibald Forbes
, and John Cameron who was killed in the Gordon Relief Expedition; he was also a friend of the Prince of Wales and was invited on at least one occasion to go hunting with the Prince in Scotland. Villiers exhibited two paintings at the Royal Academy
, the first in 1882 entitled 'The road home; the return of an Imperial brigade from Afghanistan', and in the following year 'Fighting Arabi with his own weapons; an incident of the Battle of Tel el-Kebir'. Medals were presented to him including awards from Russia, Serbia, Roumania, the Khedive's Star, and the Order of Takova.
Villiers gave frequent illustrated lectures and published several autobiographical works describing his experiences at the front. He died on 3 April 1922.
Along with William Simpson
William Simpson (artist)
William Simpson was a Scottish artist, war artist and correspondent.-Early years:Born into poverty in Glasgow on 28 October 1823, Simpson went on to become one of the leading 'special artists' of his day, and sketched many scenes of war for the Illustrated London News...
and Melton Prior
Melton Prior
Melton Prior , was an English artist and war correspondent for the Illustrated London News from the early 1870′s until 1904. Prior was one of the leading illustrators of late Victorian Britain, noted for his ability to quickly sketch scenes...
, Villiers was one of the most notable 'special' artists of the later 19th century. He may have been the model for the Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
war-artist character, Dick Heldar in The Light that Failed
The Light that Failed
The Light That Failed is a novel by Rudyard Kipling that was first published in 1890 in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events throughout the story occur in Sudan or India. The Light that Failed follows the life of Dick Heldar, a painter who...
.
Biography
Born in London on 23 April 1851, he was educated in France at GuînesGuînes
Guînes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-Geography:Guînes is located on the border of the two territories of the Boulonnais and Calaisis, at the edge of the now-drained marshes, which extend from here to the coast. The Guînes canal connects with...
situated in the Pas-de-Calais. Between 1869 and 1870, he was an art student at 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...
and in South Kensington, and in the following year at 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...
Schools. In 1876 while walking down Holborn, he noticed a crowd reading a poster of an evening paper stating that Serbia had declared war on Turkey. He immediately decided to contact the paper, The Graphic
The Graphic
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....
, offering his services as a war artist. The paper took him up on his offer and it was the beginning of a long career covering wars and conflicts around the globe.
Having reported on the Russo-Turkish War in 1877 and witnessed the events at Plevna, he traveled to Afghanistan to cover the war that had broken out in 1878. Here he befriended Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari
Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari
Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari KCB CSI , British military administrator, was the son of Count Louis Adolphus Cavagnari, of an old Italian family from Parma in the service of the Bonaparte family, by his marriage in 1837 with an Irish lady, Caroline Lyons-Montgomery...
who gave the artist the pens that were used to sign the Treaty of Gandamak
Treaty of Gandamak
The Treaty of Gandamak officially ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Afghanistan ceded various frontier areas to Britain to prevent invasion of further areas of the country....
. A world cruise followed in which he visited India where he dined with the Viceroy, Lord Lytton at Simla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
, Sydney, Tasmania, Auckland, Honolulu and San Francisco, and in 1882 was in Egypt to cover the war; he was present at Tel-el-Kebir. The following year saw him in Russia to cover the coronation but he was soon back in North Africa, this time to provide sketches of the fighting in Sudan during the Gordon relief expedition. He covered conflicts in Bulgaria in 1886, the Burma war of 1887, the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
of 1894-95 including the massacres of Chinese at Port Arthur
Lüshunkou
Lüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
, and a decade later, the Greek-Turkish War.
In 1898, he was one of the artists sent to cover the campaign in Sudan which culminated at Omdurman
Battle of Omdurman
At the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...
. Villiers brought along an early cine-camera and was filming when an explosion caused the boat to rock in the Nile, tipping over the apparatus. His other campaigns included the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
where he accompanied the Kimberley Relief Column, the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
and the First World War. He was particularly frustrated during the opening months of the latter for not being allowed to go near the front.
Villiers worked primarily for The Graphic
The Graphic
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited....
but also supplied illustrations to 'Black and White' as well as serving as a special correspondent of The Standard
The Standard
The Standard is an English free newspaper of Hong Kong with a daily circulation of 231,018. It was called the Hong Kong Standard and changed to HKiMail during the Internet boom, but it changed back to The Standard in 2001....
; he also contributed illustrations to the English Illustrated Magazine
English Illustrated Magazine
The English Illustrated Magazine was a monthly publication that ran for 359 issues between October 1883 and August 1913. Features included travel, topography, and a large amount of fiction and were contributed by writers such as Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Stanley J. Weyman and Max Pemberton...
and The Idler. He counted among his friends, Archibald Forbes
Archibald Forbes
Archibald Forbes was a British war correspondent, the son of a Presbyterian minister in Morayshire, Scotland; educated at the University of Aberdeen. Entering the Royal Dragoons as a private, he gained, while in the service, considerable practical experience of military life and affairs...
, and John Cameron who was killed in the Gordon Relief Expedition; he was also a friend of the Prince of Wales and was invited on at least one occasion to go hunting with the Prince in Scotland. Villiers exhibited two paintings at 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...
, the first in 1882 entitled 'The road home; the return of an Imperial brigade from Afghanistan', and in the following year 'Fighting Arabi with his own weapons; an incident of the Battle of Tel el-Kebir'. Medals were presented to him including awards from Russia, Serbia, Roumania, the Khedive's Star, and the Order of Takova.
Villiers gave frequent illustrated lectures and published several autobiographical works describing his experiences at the front. He died on 3 April 1922.
Books/Articles By Villiers
- "The Truth about Port Arthur," North American Review, Vol. 160, March 1895, pp. 325–330.
- "My recent journey from the Nile to Suakim," Journal of the Society of Arts, February 4, 1898, pp. 233–240.
- Pictures of Many Wars (1902)
- Port Arthur, three months with the besiegers; a diurnal of occurrents. London; New York: Longmans, Green, 1905.
- Peaceful Personalities and Warriors Bold (1907)
- Days of glory; the sketch book of a veteran correspondent at the front; with an introduction by Philip Gibbs. New York: George H. Doran, c1920.
- Villiers: His Five Decades of Adventure. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1922.
Further reading
- Bottomore, Steve, "Frederic Villiers - war correspondent," Sight and Sound, Vol. XLIX, No. 4, Autumn 1980, pp. 250–255.
- Compton, Roy, "Mr. Frederic Villiers," The Idler, Vol. XII, No. 11, September 1897, pp. 239–255.
- Hodgson, Pat. (1977). The War Illustrators. New York: Macmillan.