
'Constantine Alexandre Ionides', oil painting by George Frederick Watts, England, 1880. Museum no. CAI.1141
Constantine Alexander Ionides (1833–1900) started work in his father’s fabric export business, but in 1864 he entered the London Stock Exchange and by 1866 had started working with a partner as stock and share brokers in the City. In 1882 Constantine retired from active business having realise a considerable fortune. In 1884 he bought a house in Hove, Brighton and by the early 1890s was living there permanently with his art collection.
Ionides' collection includes works of a wide variety of schools, periods and artists, such as Old Masters, 17th-century works, contemporary British works and French 19th-century works. Constantine formed friendships with artists of the day, in particular with Alphonse Legros (1837–1911). He proved a stable and generous buyer of Legros' work, and in turn Legros became his advisor in the matters of art. Under the influence of Legros, Constantine developed a keen interest in French 19th-century paintings, purchasing works by Delacroix, Degas, Millet and Rousseau.
Constantine decided to donate his collection to the Victoria & Albert Museum instead of privately distributing it or disposing of it at auction. His will states:
'All my pictures both in oil and water colors and crayon or colored chalks (but subject as to my family portraits to the interest herein before given to my said Wife) and all my etchings drawings and engravings to the South Kensington Museum for the benefit of the nation to be kept there as one separate collection to be called "The Constantine Alexander Ionides Collection" and not distributed over the Museum or lent for exhibition. And I desire that the said Etchings Drawings and Engravings shall be framed and glazed by and at the expense of the authorities of the Museum so that Students there can easily see them.'
The collection bequeathed to the Museum in 1901 comprises 1138 pictures, drawing, and prints, to which a further 20 items were added on the death of Constantine's widow Agathonike in 1920. The works are listed in the V&A Catalogue of the Constantine Alexander Ionides Collection. The collection provides a unique insight into progressive taste in Victorian Britain. Constantine assembled a fine art collection, which included over 80 paintings, including Renaissance portraits by Botticelli and Tintoretto, and Pre-Raphaelite works by Burne-Jones and Rossetti. The collection is on display in Room 81 at the V&A South Kensington. Here the works are densely hung, as in Ionides' home, together with sculpture and furniture which belonged to him or his family, and oriental ceramics similar to pieces he owned.
Read more about the Constantine Ionides Bequest
Portrait of Constantine Alexander Ionides
Portrait of Constantine Alexander Ionides
George Frederick Watts (1817-1904)
1880
Great Britain
Oil on canvas
57.8 x 50.5 cm
Museum no. CAI.1141
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander Ionides.Before settling in London in 1864, Constantine Alexander Ionides (1833-1900) represented his father's firm in Constantinople (now Istanbul) . He made a considerable fortune on the Stock Exchange and began to collect pictures on a large scale in 1878. He left his collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Landscape with figures, or the Resting Horseman (La Halte du Cavalier)
Landscape with figures, or the Resting Horseman (La Halte du Cavalier)
Probably by Louis Le Nain (1593-1648)
Probably 1640s
Paris
Oil on canvas
54.6 x 67.3 cm
Museum no. CAI.17
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesThe brothers Antoine, Louis and Mathieu Le Nain shared a studio in Paris from about 1630. They specialised in scenes of the poor, depicting them with a sombre dignity that was unusual for the period. These paintings were once criticised for ‘their low and often ridiculous actions’, but by the 1850s they were admired for their realism.
Portrait of a Lady known as Smeralda Bandinelli, Sandro Botticelli
Portrait of a Lady known as Smeralda Bandinelli
Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510)
1470s
Florence
Tempera on panel
65.7 x 41 cm
Museum no. CAI.100
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesAn old inscription states that this portrait shows the grandmother of the sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. Earlier Florentine portraits were in profile. The woman's three-quarter pose, with her hand on the window frame, was Botticelli's own invention
The Mill - Girls Dancing to Music by a River, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones
The Mill-Girls Dancing to Music by a River
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
1870
Great Britain
90.8 x 197.5 cm
Museum no. CAI.8
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesBoth the style of this painting and its subject, the Three Graces dancing to the music of Apollo, were inspired by Italian Renaissance art. The models were friends and relatives of Ionides. His cousin Mary Zambaco, who posed for the woman on the far left, was Burne-Jones's lover.
Self-Portrait as a Young Man, Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto
Self-Portrait as a Young Man
Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto (1518-1594)
1548
Venice
Oil on pine panel
87.7 x 67.3cm
Museum number. CAI.103
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesThis early and forceful self-portrait, by one of the greatest Venetian painters, was done with the aid of a mirror. Portraits of artists became popular with collectors during the Renaissance. Ionides bought this work in the belief that it was by Titian
The Wood Sawyers, Jean-François Millet
The Wood Sawyers
Jean-François Millet (1814-1875)
1850-1852
France
Oil on canvas
57 x 81 cm
Museum no. CAI.47
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesMillet seems to have painted this vigorous scene soon after he moved to Barbizon, a village near the forest of Fontainebleau. X-ray photography shows that it was painted over a figure symbolising the French Republic, which he had submitted unsuccessfully to a state competition in 1848.
L'Immensité, Gustave Courbet
L'Immensité
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)
1869
France
Oil on canvas
60 x 82.2 cm
Museum no. CAI.59
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesCourbet spent the late summer of 1869 at Etratat, a village on the Normandy coast popular with painters. This powerful seascape may have been influenced by the panoramic views of the early French photographer Gustave Le Gray. A critic praised its portrayal of 'the grand impassiveness of nature'.
The Day Dream, Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Day Dream
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
1880
England
Oil on canvas
158.7 x 92.7 cm
Museum no. CAI.3
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesThe sitter was Jane Morris, the wife of William Morris, who often posed for the artist. Rossetti was also a poet, and the subject relates to his poem of the same title which ends:
'She dreams; till now on her forgotten book
Drops the forgotten blossom from her hand.'Interior of a Room with Figures: a man playing a lute and a woman, Adriaen Brouwer
Interior of a Room with Figures: a man playing a lute and a woman
Adriaen Brouwer (1605/6-1638)
About 1635-1638
Belgium
Oil on oak panel
37 x 29.2 cm
Museum no. CAI.80
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesThe Flemish painter Brouwer studied in Holland and settled in Antwerp. He specialised in tavern scenes. This work has a distinguished history. It may have belonged to Brouwer’s fellow artist Rubens, as well as to the 10th Duke of Hamilton, an important 19th-century collector.
Twilight: Landscape with tall trees and a female figure, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Twilight: Landscape with tall trees and a female figure
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1795-1875)
about 1855-1860
France
Oil on panel
42 x 29 cm
Museum no. CAI.65
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesX-ray photography shows that the artist completely revised the composition. Underneath lies a scene with a bridge, a diagonal tree and a cottage. The severe cracking is the result of Corot painting over this scene before it had completely dried.
The Ballet Scene from Meyerbeer's Opera `Robert Le Diable', Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas
The Ballet Scene from Meyerbeer's Opera `Robert Le Diable'
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
1876
France
Oil on canvas
76.6 x 81.3 cm
Museum no. CAI.19
Bequeathed by Constantine Alexander IonidesMeyerbeer’s opera was first performed in Paris in 1831. This scene features the ghosts of nuns who had offended heaven with their impure thoughts. The foreground figures include Degas’ friends: the collector Albert Hecht, the bassoonist Désiré Diahu and the amateur painter Vicomte Lepic.
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