John Flaxman RA (1755 - 1826)

John Flaxman RA (1755 - 1826)

RA Collection: People and Organisations

John Flaxman was a leading sculptor, designer and draughtsman working in the neoclassical style. Born in York, he grew up in London where he studied sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools from 1769. There, he became close friends with William Blake and Thomas Stothard. Flaxman was fascinated with ancient myth and literature from an early age and his work exemplifies the age of neoclassicism in Britain. In 1775 he began designing decorative figures for the Wedgwood pottery factory, showing an early willingness to adapt his art to the requirements of commerce and decoration.

In 1787 Flaxman embarked on a journey to Rome (with financial help from Wedgwood). He stayed for seven years, during which time he emerged as a major international figure. In Italy, Flaxman found patrons willing to commission large and unconventional sculptures such as The Fury of Athamas (1790-94, National Trust), a subject from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

It was also in Italy that Flaxman was commissioned to illustrate the works of Dante, Homer and Aeschylus. Many of his original drawings for these scenes are now in the RA collection. Flaxman’s illustrations were etched by Tommaso Piroli and sold in printed form and it was to these, more than his sculpture, that he owed his success overseas. No British sculptor before Henry Moore enjoyed a greater international reputation than Flaxman.

On his return from Italy, Flaxman began his career as a monumental sculptor in earnest, taking a particular interest in funerary monuments. He was elected an Associate of the RA (1797) and a full member in 1800, by which time his work was on display in all the major cathedrals, municipal buildings and galleries in England. His stone friezes Ancient Drama and Modern Drama, plaster models for which are in the RA collection, were made for the Covent Garden Theatre (now the Royal Opera House) in 1809. They were saved when the building burnt down in 1856 and were inserted into the new building, where they can still be seen.

In 1810 he was appointed as the first Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy. He began his lectures on sculpture in 1811 which covered Egyptian and medieval sculpture as well as that of Ancient Greece and Rome. The texts were published posthumously in 1829 and were highly influential.

In 1874, a statue of Flaxman leaning on a bust of Homer was erected on the façade of Burlington House alongside Leonardo, Michelangelo and other of great artists, while thirty years later he was represented on the façade of the Victoria and Albert Museum, demonstrating his reputation in the nineteenth century.