John Flaxman Portrait of William Blake before 1826 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Portrait of unknown man 1801 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman for Josiah Wedgwood Hercules and the Erymanthian Boar modelled in 1775 produced in jasperware ca. 1790 stoneware plaque Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman for Josiah Wedgwood Farnese Hercules modelled in 1776 produced in jasperware ca. 1777-80 stoneware plaque Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
"John Flaxman Jr (1755-1826) – An English artist, sculptor and designer born in York, Flaxman was the son of a modeller and maker of plaster casts, also called John. The family moved to Covent Garden, London in 1756. Ten years later, when only 11, Flaxman Jr – a sickly boy with congenital curvature of the spine – won a premium from the Society of Arts, later the Royal Society of Arts. Three years later he enrolled as one of the first students of the newly founded Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited at the Academy for the first time in 1770, and within a year had come to the attention of Josiah Wedgwood. John Flaxman Sr supplied Wedgwood with models for so-called wine and water ewers, occasionally described as Sacred to Bacchus and Sacred to Neptune, in 1775. The same year his son began to provide models and designs to the Wedgwood factory, ideally suited to the white reliefs Josiah used on his fine jasper pieces. Most were modelled in wax onto slate or glass grounds before being cast for production."
"In 1787 Flaxman went to Rome, partly sponsored by Wedgwood, to do modelling and supervise the Wedgwood school in Rome. He stayed seven years, but after producing only a couple of designs for Wedgwood he worked on his own projects, the most successful of which were the illustrations he produced for the works of Homer and Dante. These used a flat linear style, for which Flaxman became known and imitated; his experience of creating the bas reliefs for Wedgwood gave him a deep understanding of the effectiveness of such a style."
– curator's notes from Wedgwood Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
John Flaxman Family Affection, or, Charity (woman in classical dress with children) 1819 plaster relief-cast Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Family Affection, or, Charity (woman in classical dress with children) 1819 plaster relief-cast Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Apollo (Attic Greek statuette owned and 'restored' by Flaxman) 1st century AD marble Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Apollo (Attic Greek statuette owned and 'restored' by Flaxman) 1st century AD marble Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Ascension of a Soul before 1826 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman A Soul appearing before the Judges of Hades before 1826 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Medieval Scene before 1826 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Portrait of Mrs Charles Tulk and her sons Augustus and Edward 1816 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Portrait of Mrs Charles Tulk and her sons Augustus and Edward 1816 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
John Flaxman Portrait of Mrs Charles Tulk and her sons Augustus and Edward 1816 drawing Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
Richard Woodman after a painting by John Jackson Portrait of John Flaxman 1831 engraved book illustration Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |