Alexander Bassano

Alexander Bassano (10 May 1829 – 21 October 1913) was an English photographer who was a leading royal and high society portrait photographer in Victorian London. He is known for his photo of the Earl Kitchener in the Lord Kitchener Wants You army recruitment poster during the First World War and his photographs of Queen Victoria.

Biography

Alessandro Bassano was the second-youngest child of Italian Clemente Bassano (originally a fishmonger of Cranbourne Street, later an oilman and warehouseman of Jermyn Street, London) and his English wife, Elizabeth Browne. He later anglicised his first name to Alexander.

Bassano received early artistic training with artists Augustus Egg and William Beverley. He opened his first studio in 1850 in Regent Street. The studio then moved to Piccadilly 1859–1863, to Pall Mall and then to 25 Old Bond Street in 1877. There was also a Bassano branch studio at 132 King's Road, Brighton from 1893 to 1899.

Over 40,000 negatives from the Bassano Studios, including some by Alexander Bassano, are held in the National Portrait Gallery in London. The Museum of London holds a large number of fashion-related plates.

The National Portrait Gallery held an exhibit of Bassano’s work: Alexander Bassano: Victorian Photographer in 2013, the centenary of his death.

Personal life Bassano married Adelaide Rose Ainslie Lancaster (1825–1906) in 1850. They had a son, Clement George Alexander (1853–1899), and two daughters, Adelaide Fanny Louise (1850–1921) and Camilla Teresa ("Lily") (1859–1928). Portraits of his wife and children are held in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

His sister Louisa Bassano was a noted singer and teacher.