{"id":4261,"date":"2022-03-10T10:18:31","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T10:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/?p=4261"},"modified":"2022-03-10T10:19:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T10:19:01","slug":"benjamin-robert-haydon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/georgian\/benjamin-robert-haydon\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Robert Haydon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English painter and writer, a mediocre artist but a fascinating personality. Inspired by Reynolds’s Discourses, he aimed to bring a new seriousness to British art by producing historical and religious work in the Grand Manner and through them to educate and improve public taste. His life, which was punctuated by bankruptcy, imprisonment, and disputes with patrons, was a story of bombastic frustration and stubborn opposition to the establishment (particularly the Royal Academy<\/a>), as he fought continuously for personal recognition and argued for the social purpose of art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, his talents fell far short of his lofty ambitions, his multi-figure compositions degenerating into turgid melodrama. His great monument, rather, is the massive collection of autobiographical writings he left behind him (various editions have been published), which gives fascinating insights into the contemporary artistic scene and paints a vividly detailed picture of his disturbed mind and tragicomical life. He was closely linked with the Romantic movement in literature<\/a>, particularly with William Wordsworth<\/a>, who wrote a sonnet to him, and with John Keats<\/a>, painting portraits of both of them (NPG, London), and but for his lack of talent he would exemplify all the traits traditionally ascribed to the Romantic concept of genius. In true Romantic fashion his death came by suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

born Plymouth, 26 Jan. 1786<\/p>\n\n\n\n

died London, 22 June 1846<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin Robert Haydon Paintings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-mary-queen-of-scots-when-an-infant<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mary, Queen of Scots When an Infant 1842<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-the-duke-of-wellington-describing-the-field-of-waterloo-to-hm-george-iv<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Duke of Wellington Describing the Field of Waterloo to HM George IV 1840<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-the-agony-in-the-garden<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Agony in the Garden<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-miss-mary-russell-mitford-1787-1855<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Miss Mary Russell Mitford (1787\u20131855) 1824<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-thomas-alcock-1784-1833<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Alcock (1784\u20131833) c.1825<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-portrait-of-a-man<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Portrait of a Man<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-curtius-leaping-into-the-gulf<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Curtius Leaping into the Gulf 1842<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-napoleon-bonaparte<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Napoleon Bonapartec.1830Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786\u20131846)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-the-anti-slavery-society-convention-1840<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840-1841<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-christ-blessing-the-children<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Christ Blessing the Children<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-wordsworth-on-helvellyn<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wordsworth on Helvellyn c.1843<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-christ-blessing-the-little-children<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Christ Blessing the Little Children c.1837<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-punch-or-may-day<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Punch or May Day 1829<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-milton-and-his-daughters-at-the-organ<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Milton and His Daughters at the Organ c.1839<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-alexander-the-great-356-323-bc-taming-bucephalus<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alexander the Great (356\u2013323 BC), Taming Bucephalus 1826\/1827<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-the-mock-election<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Mock Election 1827<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-chairing-the-member<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chairing the Member 1828<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

haydon-benjamin-robert-1786-1846-henrietta-nelson-noble<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Henrietta Nelson Noble c.1830\u20131835<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English painter and writer, a mediocre artist but a fascinating personality. Inspired by Reynolds’s Discourses, he aimed to bring a new seriousness to British art by producing historical and religious work in the Grand Manner and through them to educate and improve public taste. His life, which was punctuated by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4280,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261\/revisions\/4280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/englishhistory.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}