Catching a glimpse of summer
WHEN the Illustrated London News reported on the Royal Academy (RA) Summer Exhibition of 1895, it singled out the figure paintings of RA president Sir Frederick Leighton—ennobled as Lord Leighton shortly before his death in January the following year—for particular praise. It marvelled at the ‘truth and beauty’ in Twixt Hope and Fear and the ‘charm’ of Lachrymae. Who has heard of these paintings today? Of Leighton’s third and principal image in this genre, however, the account is less flattering. The painting of a ‘sleeping girl curled up’ on a marble bench was ‘exquisite’, but, the critic archly observed, ‘the damsel’s figure from waist to heel would, if she rose up to her full height, be unexpectedly imposing’. The astonishing thing is that, despite this cool critical reception, many people today would not only immediately recognise the painting in question, but know its name: Flaming June.
There are lots of images of sleeping women in Victorian art, so why did this one come to enjoy such celebrity? One answer, of course, is the incandescent palette, which was surely intended to help the artwork catch the eye amid the crowded walls of the RA. Another is that the composition has a satisfying coherence and simplicity: a square canvas containing a spiral of limbs, fabric and colour that focuses the viewer’s attention on the woman’s face. Some see the image as sexually alluring, but Athena would suggest the opposite; that, young and beautiful as the figure undoubtedly is, these qualities seem formally and dispassionately rendered. Such treatment would agree with Leighton’s own austere private life as revealed by his London home (COUNTRY LIFE, February 21). It must also help that the painting’s name is both memorable and apt, with the figure slumbering in the sultry summer heat and personifying it as well.
Since its exhibition in 1895, the painting has enjoyed a chequered history (Arts & antiques, February 14). It was immediately purchased by the founder of the popular illustrated weekly The Graphic, W. L. Thomas. He displayed it in the window of the magazine’s office on the Strand and made a colour plate of it for publication in the Christmas issue in 1896, following Leighton’s death. The effects of such publicity, however, soon dissipated because, after a period of display at the Ashmolean in Oxford and back at Leighton House, Flaming June vanished in the 1930s, only to be discovered beneath panelling in a house on Clapham Common in the 1960s.
It subsequently passed through several hands before being collected by Luis A. Ferré for his Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico. After earthquake damage to the museum in 2020, the painting went on tour and can be seen in London as part of a free display in the Royal Academy Collection Gallery until January 2025. It’s easy to disdain popular paintings, but, in Athena’s view it merits—and amply rewards—a visit.
Why did this image of a sleeping Victorian woman come to enjoy such celebrity?