Page 9 - A Family Of Artists: 360 Tour Guide to De Morgan Collection at Cannon Hall Museum

A Family of Artists THE DE MORGAN COLLECTION
John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope 1829-1908
RoddanTs desire to be an artist was not always supported by his family but his dedication enabled him to develop
his skills. Roddam pursued his ambition by seeking out
the painter GF Watts to act in the role of tutor. Watts was
a respected painter and a member of the Royal Academy. Roddam travelled with him to both Italy and the Middle East which influenced his work and enabled him to convince
his family of the respectability of his chosen career.
Roddam himself started exhibiting his paintings at the Royal Academy but due to his close association with Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood he became part of the avant-garde art movement of the 1870s. He exhibited regularly at the Grosvenor Gallery, London which was hailed as an alternative venue to the more traditional Royal Academy.
In 1859 Roddam married Elizabeth King and initially settled in Hill House, Cawthorne. They later moved to Sandroyd in Surrey. Due to chronic asthma Roddam and his family
started to spend their winters in Italy. In 1873 Roddam bought Villa Nuti in Florence and by 1880 he had moved there permanently. He was visited frequently by his niece Evelyn Pickering and later with her husband William De Morgan.
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