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Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys (born Antonio Frederic Augustus Sands), 1 May 1829 – 25 June 1904, usually known as Frederick Sandys, was a British painter, illustrator, and draughtsman, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was also associated with the Norwich School of painters.
Sandys influenced his younger sister, Emma Sandys (1841–1877), whose works were mainly portraits of children and of young women, often in period or medieval clothing. He died in Kensington in west London in 1904.
Rossetti and Sandys became close friends, and from May 1866 to July 1867, Sandys lived with Rossetti at 16, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. Sandys's works were profoundly influenced by those of Rossetti. He focused mainly on mythological subjects and portraits.
Sandys's The Death of King Warwulf is an example of his ability to create drawings that translated well for the engravings. Swirling shapes of flames, the curve of the boat, its sail and the king's clothes that surround him create a feeling of movement. The focal point is the king's bowed head.
His last woodcut was on the subject of Danaë in the Brazen Chamber. It was engraved by Swain for Once A Week but suppressed by the publication's editor, despite Sandys having the support of the magazine's publishers, on the grounds that it was too sensuous.
He drew only in the magazines. No books illustrated by him can be traced. So his exquisite draughtsmanship has to be sought for in the old bound-up periodical volumes which are now hunted by collectors, or in publications such as Dalziels' Bible Gallery and the Cornhill Gallery and books of drawings, with verses attached to them, made to lie upon the drawing-room tables of those who had for the most part no idea of their merits.
Chalk drawings of lettered men
Studies for paintings
Study for Autumn, made in 1860, is one of the many studies Sandys made before painting Autumn and provides evidence of Sandys's skill as a draughtsman. He captures minute details, such as the soldier's uniform and the plants and flowers. The study is much like the finished painting, except that the ginger jar is in the foreground.
Sandys never became a popular painter. He painted little, and the dominant influence upon his art was the influence exercised by lofty conceptions of tragic power. There was in it a sombre intensity and an almost stern beauty which lifted it far above the ideals of the crowd. The Scandinavian Sagas and Le Morte d'Arthur gave him subjects after his own heart, and The Valkyrie and Morgan le Fay represent some of his best work.
He made a number of chalk drawings of famous men of letters, including Tennyson, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, and James Russell Lowell.
Study for Vivien depicts Sandys's lover, Keomi Gray, as Vivien of Tennyson's poem Idylls of the King. In the poem Vivien is the femme fatale in the story of King Arthur who used her looks to seduce Merlin to learn his secrets. Sandys had previously used tales from King Arthur as inspiration for his work, such as King Pelles' Daughter. He was drawn to stories of women who "seduce, entrap and destroy men, such as Helen of Troy, Morgan Le Fay and Medea." Sandys portrays Vivien as a beautiful, self-assured woman. The apple placed in front of her may refer to the story of Adam and Eve.
Paintings
Early in the 1860s he began to exhibit the paintings which set the seal upon his fame. The best known of these are Vivien (1863), Morgan le Fay (1864), Cassandra and Medea (1868).
See also
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1829 Births, 1904 Deaths, 19th-century English Painters, English Male Painters, 20th-century British Painters, English Illustrators, Pre-raphaelite Painters, People Educated At Norwich School, Alumni Of Norwich University Of The Arts, Artists From Norwich, Burials At Brompton Cemetery, Pre-raphaelite Illustrators, 19th-century English Male Artists, 20th-century British Male Artists
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