Lippincott Louise. Lawrence Alma Tadema: Spring

CA: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1990. — 101 p. — (Getty Museum studies on art). — ISBN 0-89236-186-7.Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema (frontispiece) was a successful artist and a fundamentally happy man. Born in provincial Holland and trained in Antwerp, by the age of thirty he had established his reputation as a painter of ancient and medieval his­ tory. In 1870 he moved to London, home of his influential dealer, Gambart, and most of his wealthy patrons. Happily married, satisfied with his work, successful in his ca­reer, loved by the public, esteemed by fellow artists regardless of aesthetic rivalries, and rich enough to afford luxuries—if there was more to want from life, Alma Tadema seems not to have missed it. His great passions were his painting, the decoration of his house, the productivity of his garden, and music. Friends described his sense of humor as ready, simple, even childish;
The was also obsessively neat. His politics were conser­vative and imperialist. The rise of socialism, the growing tensions between European states, the alienation of the artistic avant-garde, the plight of the industrial classes — such issues never clouded the aesthetic dreams Alma Tadema lived and painted.
Living in an artificial paradise of his own creation, Alma Tadema devoted most of his career to painting other ones. His paintings that ostensibly represent scenes from ancient Roman life are filled with the prosperity, ease, sociability, amenities, and tidiness characteristic of his own world. They reflect not only his character and life­ style but also his love of his work: the laying of paint onto canvas.
Alma Tadema's paintings have always been noted for their technical perfec­tion, wealth of detail, and careful finish. He had the misfortune to end his career as these very qualities were being challenged by new styles and movements: Impression­ ism and Symbolism (which he admired) and Post-Impressionism and modernism