  Alma Tadema was not, of course, a Pre-Raphaelite; but, technically, there are
some remarkable affinities. He painted in a high key (eventually using a
ceiling-mounted aluminium reflector to make the most of the white ground already
popularized by the Pre-Raphaelites) and paid vast attention to detail; painted
frequently on smooth board, Alma Tadema's pictures are usually much smaller
than you imagine from illustrations. His daughters Anna and Laura took this miniaturization even further
with amazing little watercolour interiors.
Whereas the Pre-Raphaelites were praised for the brightness and minuteness of
their paintings, Alma Tadema has often been pilloried for it. "It's ... not art
in any sense whatever...," Sargent wrote
behind his friend's back in 1885 and after
Alma Tadema's death things got quickly worse, until by 1950 his work was being
compared to Stalinist painting in the USSR....
Liking Alma-Tadema is still not something to be admitted to lightly. But step
back and take in his asymmetric compositions; step forward with a magnifying
glass (if the gallery permits -- you can tell them that Alma Tadema kept one in
his studio for the use of visitors) and check out the brushwork. Then make up
your own mind.
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Works by
Alma Tadema
at
Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum
The Ashmolean Museum
Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
The Dick Institute
The Fitzwilliam Museum
The Guildhall Art Gallery
The Lady Lever Art Gallery
The Laing Art Gallery
Leighton House
Sudley House
The Tate Gallery
Towneley Hall Art Gallery and Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Walker Art Gallery
Complete list of pictures
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