1829-1891
Edwin Long was a highly successful Victorian artist. He started
out following his teacher, John Phillip, by painting Spanish genre
subjects. The painting illustrated opposite, La
Valenciana, is an example of this early style. The
title means the woman of Valencia.
Later in his career, he specialised in large scale biblical and
historical paintings, often with an Egyptian theme. This type of
painting was very popular with the Victorian public. One of his
paintings broke a saleroom record in 1882 by selling at 6,300
guineas, the highest price ever for a living artist.
The second of his paintings shown, The Raising of Jairus’
Daughter, is an example of this later style, and shows Long’s
archaeologically accurate attention to detail. It depicts a scene
from the Bible when Jesus raised a girl from the dead.
Edwin Long, La Valenciana,
1862
Edwin Long, The Raising of Jairus' Daughter,
1889