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| Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples 1853 - 1943 La Scala Coloured pencil & watercolour 6.5" x 9.5" |
| Sir Robert Ponsonby Staples was born in 1853 in Ireland, the youngest of five and son of the impoverished eccentric, Baronet Staples. His childhood was rather unorthodox as he spent most of it travelling extensively throughout Europe with his father, not commencing a formal education until he attended the School of Art and Architecture, Louvain in 1865.
Staples arrived in London in 1875 where he was patronised by his cousin Sir Coutts Lindsay. This enabled his launch into the limelight of the British art world. His wife, Blanche Fitzroy, who was a Rothchild, had many useful links in the city that were undoubtedly of assistance so early on in his career. Staples work of the time serves as a wonderful record of all aspects of society at the turn of the century, "from high society and Members of Parliament to the 'man on the Clapham omnibus' and prostitutes in the Cafe Royal." In 1905, family circumstances forced a move back to Ireland, financial struggles persisting. War together with Ireland engulfed in conflict at this time, Staples became increasingly cut off both physically and intellectually from his contemporaries. His busy London years, 1876-1905, were undoubtedly the most productive of his life, during which time he painted every noteworthy figure in Britain, on the stage, in the church, in politics, commerce, art, literature, as well as any character he found of interest. |
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