SIR ALFRED EAST, PREA RA RE RI HRMS ROI NEAC (1849-1914)
The youngest of eleven children, Alfred East was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire on 15 December 1849. On leaving school, he began to work in his brother's shoe factory, despite an established interest in painting. A business trip to Glasgow gave him the opportunity to take his first studies in art, under Robert Greenlees at the Glasgow School of Art. In 1880, he went to Paris, studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian, under Tony Fleury and Bouguereau. He was influenced by J M Whistler and the Barbizon painters, and painted at Grez-sur-Loing, where he was 'particularly attracted by the ability of painters like Charles Jacque to convey a sense of their intimacy with the natural scene, regardless of the scale on which they were working' (Kenneth McConkey, 1995: 120).
Alfred East settled in London in 1884, but travelled widely, including Japan, where he stayed for six months during a tour of the world (188g).
However, he drew increasing inspiration from the English landscape and this resulted in work of great popularity. He lectured and wrote on art, and his work was disseminated through publication. He exhibited paintings and etchings at London societies and dealers - including the Royal Academy, the Fine Art Society (1888, 1890, 1895, 1898, 1918) and the Leicester Galleries - and widely in provincial centres. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1883 (becoming President in 1903), the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1885, the New English Art Club in 1887, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours in 1887 (resigning in 1898), the Royal Society of Painters in Oils in 1888, an associate of the Royal Academy in 1899, an honorary member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters in 1907 and a Royal Academician in 1913 (on his death bed, within three months of his death). He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and was an early member of the London Sketch Club. He was knighted in 1910. He died on 28 September 1913. He was the subject of a memorial show at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle in 1914, and his Brush and Pencil Notes in Landscape was published posthumously in the same year.
Further reading:
Kenneth McConkey, Alfred East, Kettering: Alfred East Gallery, 1988
