Herbert James Draper

Herbert James Draper ( – ) was an English Neoclassicist painter whose career began in the Victorian era and extended through the first two decades of the 20th century.

Life Born in Covent Garden, London, the seventh child and only son of a fruit merchant named John James Draper and his wife Emma, Draper was educated at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham and then went on to study art at the Royal Academy. His draftsmanship was excellent in sensuous portrayals of both male and female nudes; and The Kelpie (1913).

In later years as the public tastes changed and mythological scenes became less popular, he concentrated more on portraits. Lucius O'Brien, 15th Baron Inchiquin, his wife and his eldest son Donough as a young boy, the physician Philip Pye-Smith (commissioned by Guy's Hospital), the actress June Tripp (twice), in addition to his wife, who may also have served as the model for his Autumn. Draper was well-known as a portrait painter. At a charity auction for the Red Cross in 1918, his offer to paint a child's portrait brought in a bid of £250.

Draper took part in the annual expositions of the Royal Academy from 1890 on. In his last years, his popularity faded, though there has recently been a revival of interest in his work on the art market. The Royal Cornwall Museum's 2010 auction of his The Sea Maiden and Ernest Normand's Bondage to help secure its finances generated debate about the policy of disposing of art works for this purpose.

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