Thomas Carlyle, 1795 - 1881. Historian and essayist
About this artwork
A giant of nineteenth-century thought, Thomas Carlyle was the son of a stone-mason and was born in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire. After graduating from Edinburgh University, he began to produce the articles, translations, essays and histories which were to make him world-famous. Carlyle and his gifted wife Jane lived in London, and their home in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, became a place of pilgrimage for intellectuals from all over Europe. Greaves was a neighbour and made the studies for this portrait while Carlyle was sitting for James McNeil Whistler.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Walter Greaves (1846 - 1930) English
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title:Thomas Carlyle, 1795 - 1881. Historian and essayist
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date created:About 1879
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materials:Oil on panel
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measurements:62.90 x 40.60 cm; Framed: 86.50 x 64.20 x 2.70 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Presented by Arthur Kay 1925
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accession number:PG 982
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Walter Greaves
Walter Greaves
Walter Greaves was the son of a London boat-builder and trained as a shipwright. In 1863 Greaves met Whistler, who taught Walter and his brother, Henry, to paint. Greaves and Whistler remained close friends for over twenty years until Whistler, whose popularity was rising, surrounded himself...
