SIR LAWRENCE ALMA‐TADEMA, O. M., R. A. ( 1836‐1912 ) After the Audience signed and numbered’ L. Alma‐ Tadema. / ops. CXCVI‐ ‘ ( lower right ) oil on panel 36 x 26 in. (91.4 x 66 cm. )
LONDON –The National Gallery has secured a masterpiece by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, After the Audience, from the known Pre-Raphaelite collection, Isabel Goldsmith, in negotiations brokered by Christie’s Personal Income.
This incredible work by Alma-Tadema dazzles in its professional genius and inspires in its portrayal of the pomp and queen of ancient Rome. After receiving plaintiffs from all over the Empire, Agrippa, the brother in law of the Emperor Augustus, ascends the stairs to his palace. Their products to him are laid out in the middle. The stunning description of marble is stunning, as is the artful development of light and shade.
The wealthy manufacturer who built Cragside in Northumberland ( now a National Trust property ) had a pendant in the 1876 Royal Academy exhibition ( An Audience at Agrippa’s, now at The Dick Institute, Kilmarnock ) that depicted the senator ascending his staircase. William Armstrong requested Alma-Tadema’s work, which was chosen by the commission to show the scene’s conclusion. Armstrong ended up purchasing the photo. It was sold by Christie’s in 1947 for 90 Guineas. Since therefore, it has appeared in the Van Gogh Museum’s and Leighton House Museum’s most current events of the author’s art.