Edwin Austin Abbey
Master of Shakespearean illustration and murals
Edwin Austin Abbey was an American muralist, illustrator, and painter. He flourished at the beginning of what is now referred to as the "golden age" of illustration, and is best known for his drawings and paintings of Shakespearean and Victorian subjects, as well as for his painting of Edward VII's coronation. His most famous set of murals, The Quest and Achievement of the Holy Grail, adorns the Boston Public Library. Abbey was born in Philadelphia in 1852. He studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Christian Schuessele. Abbey began as an illustrator, producing numerous illustrations and sketches for such magazines as Harper's Weekly (1871–1874) and Scribner's Magazine. His illustrations began appearing in Harper's Weekly at an early age: before Abbey was twenty years old. He moved to New York City in 1871. His illustrations were strongly influenced by French and German black and white art. He also illustrated several best-selling books, including Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens (1875), Selections from the Poetry of Robert Herrick (1882), and She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (1887). Abbey also illustrated a four-volume set of The Comedies of Shakespeare for Harper & Brothers in 1896.
Relationship Network
Master student
- Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn Student
Artworks by this artist (408 total)
- Austin Dobson
- Stone wall and gate, sketch
- Figure Study, for The Apotheosis of Pennsylvania, House of Representatives Chamber, Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg ca. 1902-1911
- Portrait of a man, left profile, writing at desk
- Study for ‘The Hours’ ceiling mural, House Chamber, Pennsylvania State Capitol at Harrisburg
- Figure study for ‘The Hours’; sketch for mural for the state capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1902-1911 II
- Sketch of two hands 1884
- Woman in landcape, combing her long, blond hair
- Study for head of Ophelia 1891
- Landscape
- Study for Wandering Minstrel (oil painting)
- Merchant of Venice, act II, scene 1 1888
- Sketch of one hand grasping a pole 2
- Bushy, costume sketch for King Richard II
- Study of a soldier
- Iago, from Othello 1902
- Galahad Departs, study for The Quest of the Holy Grail 1893
- Early study for figure of Genius of State, in ‘Apotheosis of Pennsylvania,’ mural at the state capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 1882
- Study for figure of The Genius of Pennsylvania in ‘The Apotheosis of Pennsylvania’ 1902-1911
- Two sisters 1882