THE DICKSEE FAMILY

Whilst visiting the Harris Museum, Preston, Lancashire, I came across the Victorian portrait and genre painter, Frank Bernard Dicksee, whose ‘Hesperia’ captured my admiration and love. When researching Dicksee, I found more of his portrait work that is shown below along with ‘Hesperia’ and I found that the way he used romantic situations and a slight influence on medieval themes and mythology absolutely charming. Dicksee was able to capture the relationship between women and men in the Victorian era and an impression of the homely and cosy situation of a happy and content marriage within Victorian society. The way that Dicksee uses light and shadow is incredibly tactful, as he can change an ordinary room into a perfect image of Victorian pastimes with a warm glow surrounding the ladies that leaves the men in the shadow, emphasising the innocence and loveliness of the ladies, and even in his purely portrait work, he captures the perfect glowing complexions of the women beautifully dress and elegantly posed.

A Reverie, Frank Dicksee

Harmony, Frank Dicksee

Hesperia, Frank Dicksee

La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Frank Dicksee

My Lady Fair, Frank Dicksee

Oriental Pastime, Frank Dicksee

Romeo and Juliet, Frank Dicksee

Self Portrait, Frank Dicksee

Startled, Frank Dicksee

The Magic Crystal, Frank Dicksee

The Two Crowns, Frank Dicksee

Along with Frank, his father Thomas Dicksee was also a painter of a similar style who was able to capture the femininity and inexperience of a lady. Contrasting with his son, Thomas Dicksee used literature and history as inspiration for his work, turning to Shakespeare and Ancient Egypt for his figures and models. By doing so, he was able to produce literary and historical figures how he imagined them and wanted to present them, either as a strong, firm beauty or timid, pretty little thing. Dicksee’s work shows true planning and imagination and a good manipulation of paint in order to create beautiful shades of colour as well as the highlights and shadows within his compositions.

Cleopatra, 1876, Thomas Dicksee

Ideal Portrait of Lady MacBeth, 1870, Thomas Dicksee

Juliet on the Balcony, 1875, Thomas Dicksee

Ophelia, 1873, Thomas Dicksee

Thomas Dicksee’s brother John was also a painter, and the first in the family to start painting, even though his nephew Frank is the best known Dicksee member of the family. Like his brother and nephew, John started a style that the other men would also paint in taking a more realistic style that had not been seen in the majority of the Georgian period. John Dicksee produced beautiful women both of nobility and the lower class of the servants. As one can see, John Dicksee obviously took inspiration from real life, and history or literature did not have an influence on his work. John Dicksee’s work portrays the lives of women and the domestic activities in which they involved themselves in or even had to if in employment.

The Waitress, John Robert Dicksee

The Special Correspondent, John Robert Dicksee

For You Miss, John Robert Dicksee

Lady with a Glove, John Robert Dicksee

The last member of the Dicksee family, is Frank’s sister Margaret Isabel Dicksee who took inspiration from history, in particular with her ‘The Children of Charles I’ and depicts a beautiful family scene by the bright natural light of the window. Margaret has a slight different style to that of the men in the family in that she seems to paint with less focus therefore losing a focal point, but still captures a scene in an interior with a clear story.