Henry WeekesRA (14 January 1807 – 28 May 1877) was an Englishsculptor, best known for hisportraiture. He was among the most successful British sculptors of the mid-Victorian period.
He was also the professor of sculpture of theRoyal Academy (1868–76). His lectures, published posthumously, were described by art historianBenedict Read as "the most consistent and intelligent exposition of sculptural thinking" of his era.[2]
His younger brother was the artist,William Weekes (1856–1909).[3] Of his own five children,Henry Weekes (fl. 1850–1884) andHerbert William Weekes (fl. 1864–1904) were both genre painters known for their animal studies,[4][5][6] andFrederick Weekes (1833–1920) was an artist and expert on medieval costume and design.[7] A further son was John Ernest Weekes.[1]
Retiring in May 1877, Weekes died of heart disease soon afterwards.[1][8] His date and place of death are variously given as 28 May 1877 inPimlico, London[1] and 28 June 1877 inRamsgate, Kent.[2] His grave, inKensal Green Cemetery gives the May date.[9]
Weekes was apprenticed toWilliam Behnes in London (1822–7), entering theRoyal Academy Schools in 1823, where he won a silver medal for sculpture in 1826. He became an assistant to the well-known portrait sculptor,Sir Francis Chantrey, in 1827, remaining with him until Chantrey's death in 1841.[2][1]
On Chantrey's death, Weekes took over his studio and, at Chantrey's request, completed his unfinished works, most notably an equestrian bronze of theDuke of Wellington for theRoyal Exchange.[2][1][11] His subsequent career flourished; one of the most successful British sculptors of the mid-Victorian period, he left nearly £30,000 at his death.[2][1] Despite the considerable success he enjoyed during his lifetime, his reputation was not long-lasting, and the rise of theNew Sculpture shortly after his death led to his works being neglected.[2]
An associate of the Royal Academy from 1851, he was elected a Royal Academician in 1863.[1][8] In 1851, he won a gold medal from theRoyal Society of Arts for an essay on theGreat Exhibition.[1] He was the academy's professor of sculpture from 1868 until 1876.[8]
Weekes exhibited 124 works at theRoyal Academy between 1828 and his death, with over a hundred being portraits. He wrote in 1852 that the objective of portraiture was "to give the eye permanently that which no history or biography will be able hereafter thoroughly to convey to the imagination."[1][12] His best works achieve this aim, combining emotional impact with accurate portraiture and exemplary technique.[2][1] A contemporary reviewer praised his work for its "truth of character and delicacy of expression."[13]
Originally strongly influenced byChantrey, Weekes developed a more individual style towards the end of the 1840s, introducing naturalistic detailing into hisneo-classical works.[1]Mark Stocker, an expert on Victorian sculpture, considers that "His sculpture and writings, more than any other contemporary sculptor's, embodied current beliefs in fusing classicism and realism."[2] Weekes was, however, against what he considered excessive realism, as exemplified by his contemporaryCarlo Marochetti; he always opposed the colouring of sculpture, instead applying, for example, deep undercutting.[2]
Twofunerary monuments exemplify Weekes' style from this period, and are considered his finest works. That of 1849 toSamuel Whitbread and Lady Elizabeth Whitbread, inCardington, Bedfordshire, is executed inhigh relief. It depicts the couple kneeling in a pose that echoes Chantrey's monument of 1835 toReginald Heber inSt Paul's Cathedral, except that Lady Elizabeth leans against her husband's shoulder with evident affection.[2][1]
His marble monument toPercy Bysshe Shelley andMary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1853/4) was commissioned by their son, Sir Percy Shelley, and his wife after the death of Mary Shelley. Unlike the laterShelley memorial byOnslow Ford, Weekes has chosen to include the figure of Mary Shelley. The pose echoesMichelangelo'sPietà, with the poet cradled by an idealised figure of his mourning wife. Weekes, however, depicts not a heroic nude in the neo-classical tradition but a bloodless corpse, and realistic details, including seaweed wrapped around his arm, recall the particulars of Shelley's death by drowning inItaly.[2][1][15] The monument was the subject of contemporary critical acclaim,[1] butSt Peter's Church, Bournemouth, where Mary Shelley was buried, refused to take the work, and it was installed instead inChristchurch Priory.[16]
Manufactures group, one of four surrounding the central canopy of theAlbert Memorial, London
Unlike Chantrey, Weekes executed a few ideal figures from 1850 onwards.The Suppliant (1850), his earliest work in this genre, secured his election as an associate of the Royal Academy.Resting after a Run, also known asGirl with the Hoop (1850/1), depicts the daughter of Frederick J. Reed in an idealised picture of childhood.[1] Like the Shelley monument, his popular workThe Young Naturalist (1854), showing a young girl examining nature at the seaside, juxtaposes realism with idealism, with a child in an 1850s bathing suit clutching a starfish in a pose reminiscent of thecrouching Venus andVenus Pudica.[2][17] Other works in this genre includeSardanapalus (1861), fromLord Byron's verse tragedy on theAssyrian king,[18] andLuna (1866), depicting a girl with the moon as a shield.[19]
His most ambitious later work is theallegorical workManufactures (1864–70), one of four marble groups depicting the industrial arts, for the LondonAlbert Memorial by George Gilbert Scott. Although Weekes was not on Queen Victoria's original list of sculptors, being selected to work on the project only afterJohn Gibson declined to participate, his group occupies the preferable south side of the finished monument. A central female figure holds anhourglass, symbolising the critical nature of time to industry, while an ironworker stands at his anvil and a potter and weaver offer their wares.[1][23]
In his role as professor of sculpture to the Academy, Weekes delivered a series of eighteen lectures which were published posthumously asLectures on Art, with a biographical introduction by his son, John Ernest Weekes.[2][1] Art historianBenedict Read described theLectures as "the most consistent and intelligent exposition of sculptural thinking in the Victorian era".[2] In addition to conventional topics such as composition, beauty, style, taste, idealismversus realism, portraiture and Greek sculpture, Weekes devoted three lectures of the series toSir Joshua Reynolds, and one toJohn Gibson and his mentors,William Behnes andSir Francis Chantrey.[1][10][24] He advised students to become "thinking men", but also advocated a practical approach to learning, "with the modelling tool in hand, and the clay to operate upon".[2][10]
His gold-medal-winning essay was also published in 1852.[1] Described in a contemporary review as "thoroughly practical",[12] it includes an exposition of the technical aspects of casting in bronze and carving in marble.[1]
^abWeekes H, Weekes JE.Lectures on Art, Delivered at the Royal Academy, London with Portrait, a Short Sketch of the Author's Life, and Eight Selected Photographs of his Works (1880). Contents at:[2] (18 March 2008).
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