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Frederic Leighton’s Arab Hall
Join Dr Melanie Gibson for a discussion on one of London’s most extraordinary interiors ‒ Frederic Leighton's Arab Hall
Frederic Leighton (1830-96) was celebrated as one of the most successful artists of his day. The house he built in Holland Park was his home, his studio, and his passion. He lavished money and attention on it throughout his life, but the centrepiece was the Arab Hall. In the 10 years before he was appointed president of the Royal Academy, Leighton made trips to several countries in the southern Mediterranean, exploring the architectural and design traditions of Granada, Istanbul, Cairo, Damascus and Palermo, and buying a variety of architectural elements with which to create this spectacular space with its golden dome, tiled walls and marble fountain.
Many books have been written on Frederic Leighton, but art historian and lecturer Melanie Gibson is the first to research his activities as a traveller and collector of Islamic art, and how he and his collaborators George Aitchison, William De Morgan, Walter Crane and others, went about making what has been called ‘the most beautiful room in London’.
To mark the publication of The Arab Hall. Frederic Leighton, Traveller and Collector, the talk will be followed by a book signing with Melanie Gibson.
Header image: The west wall of the Arab Hall with two matching tile panels bought for Frederic Leighton in Damascus in 1877 by Caspar Purdon Clarke who later became the director of the V&A. Photograph: Siobhan Doran © Leighton House Museum