Alma-Tadema, Laura Theresa

PAINTER (ENGLAND)
BORN 17 Apr 1852, London - DIED 15 Aug 1909, Hindhead, Surrey
BIRTH NAME Epps, Laura
GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (016/PS (24382))

Laura Epps was a daughter of the successful homeopatic doctor George Napoleon Epps. She studied at the British Museum under William Cave Thomas and William Bell Scott. In 1870 she became a pupil of Laurens Alma-Tadema, whom she married in 1871. The marriage remained childless, but it was a happy one and she became a stepmother for Anna and Laurens, the children from her husband's first marriage.

Her style of painting resembled that of her husband, but she chose different subjects and she was a master in the treatment of light. She exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London and also at the Paris Salon in 1873 and at the Paris International Exhibition in 1878 where she received a silver medal. She painted domestic scenes in Dutch seventeenth century settings, landscapes and classical subjects. Although she painted for 35 years she completed hardly 100 signed works.

Her two sisters Emily and Ellen were also painters. Because of her beauty Laura frequently appeared in the paintings of her husband. She was a very popular hostess and her parties were famous because of the fine musicians that were entertaining the guests as well as her own personal charm.

Work: "Italianate Scene with Ruin"; "Sweet Industry" (1904); "Still-life with a Self-portrait" (Rijksmuseum Mesdag, Den Haag); "Airs and Graces" (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).

Family
• Father: Epps, George Napoleon
• Husband: Alma-Tadema, Lawrence (1871-1909)

Related persons
• influenced Klimt, Gustav
• was a friend of Rossetti, Dante Gabriel

Images

The grave of George Napoleon Epps and his daughter Laura, Lady Alma Tadema at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
 

Sources
Paths of Glory, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 1997


Alma-Tadema, Lawrence

Published: 01 Jan 2006
Last update: 25 Apr 2022