King Edward VII (1841-1910) Reigned 1901-10

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Edward VII took the unusual step of sitting for his portrait at the studio of the society painter Luke Fildes in London in 1901. However, his Queen consort, Alexandra, sat to Fildes at Buckingham Palace in 1903.

This painting is a copy of the original portrait in the Royal Collection. Several examples of such copies were made during the reign of the monarch, for display in British embassies and legations across the world.

Sir Samuel Luke Fildes, commonly known as Luke Fildes, wasas an illustrator before turning to portrait painting. He was commissioned by the novelist Charles Dickens to illustrate his last novel ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’, published in 1870. In 1874 Fildes’ large painting of ‘Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward’, showing the destitute queuing in hope of a night of shelter, brought him overnight fame, when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy, accompanied by a quote from Dickens. Fildes continued to paint social realist subjects, but it was as a portrait painter that he found fame and fortune. His painting of the Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra) of 1894 led to a series of royal commissions.

People

Edward VII (1844 - 1910)

Places

Subjects

Materials & Techniques

Artist

Sir Samuel Luke (after) Fildes

Title

King Edward VII (1841-1910) Reigned 1901-10

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 242.00 cm, width: 156.00 cm

GAC number

0/663