Herbert James Draper (1863 – 22 September 1920) was an English Classicist painter whose
career began in the Victorian era and extended through the first two decades of the
Born in London, the son of a jeweller named Henry Draper and his wife Emma, he was educated
at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham and then went on to study art at the Royal Academy.
He undertook several educational trips to Rome and Paris between 1888
and 1892, having
won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Travelling
Studentship in 1889. In the 1890s he
worked also as an illustrator,
settling in London. In 1891 he married his wife Ida (née Williams),
with
whom he had a daughter, Yvonne. He died of arteriosclerosis at the age of 56, at his home
on Abbey Road.
1894 was the beginning of Draper's most productive period. He focused
mainly on
mythological themes from ancient Greece. His painting "The
Lament For Icarus" from 1898
won the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 and was later bought for the
Tate Gallery by the Chantrey Trustees. He was also responsible for the decoration of the ceiling
of the Drapers' Hall in the City of London.
Though Draper was neither a member nor an associate of the Royal Academy he took part in
the annual expositions from 1890 on. In later years as the public tastes changed and
mythological scenes became less popular he concentrated more on portraits.
During his lifetime Draper was quite famous and a well known portrait
painter. In his last years
his popularity faded, though there has
recently been a revival of interest in his work on the art
market.
The sale of his painting The Sea Maiden by the Royal Cornwall Museum in 2010, to help secure
its finances, generated debate about the policy of disposing of art works for this purpose
