Herbert James Draper

Herbert James Draper

Herbert James Draper was an English Neoclassical artist who lived from 1863 to 1920.

Draper was born in Covent Garden, London to a large middle-class family. His father was a fruit merchant.

Draper studied art at the Royal Academy where his learning was steeped in the Neoclassical Academic curriculum. His studies focused on classical and historical subjects, where he learned to present both with idealized form and beauty. Draper was heavily inspired by Classical Masters of Ancient Greece and Rome, and referenced the poses of classical statues in his art.

In 1887, Draper exhibited his first painting at the prestigious Royal Academy in London. He would continue to exhibit here for years to come. The Academy praised Draper’s idealized figures, attention to detail, and his mastery of light and shadow, which won him critical acclaim.

In 1889, Draper won the Academy’s Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship. He spent the next several years travelling between Rome, Paris, and London, to study the masters. Draper got married to Ida Williams and the couple moved to London in 1891.

Draper entered his golden period in 1894 with his painting, “The Sea Maiden”, when his work shifted to mythology themed paintings. In 1900, Draper’s masterpiece, “The Lament for Icarus”, won the gold prize at the Paris Exposition Universelle. This was a huge honor, and Draper became internationally recognized for his work. Draper was greatly influenced by Ancient Greece and Rome and drew a lot of his artistic material from those historic arts. The public adored his depictions of the gods, goddesses, and magical creatures.

In the latter years of his career, as the public’s attention drifted away from mythological subjects, Draper deftly pivoted to portraiture, for which he found many patrons.

Herbert James Draper died in 1920 at 56 years old from arteriosclerosis.

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