Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock

Eastlake, Sir Charles Lock (b Plymouth, 17 Nov. 1793; d Pisa, 24 Dec. 1865). English painter, art historian, and administrator. He studied under Haydon and achieved early fame with his Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon (1815, Nat. Maritime Mus., London), made from sketches when he witnessed Napoleon on board ship (in Eastlake's native Plymouth) en route to exile on St Helena. Using the proceeds from the sale of this work he lived in Rome 1816–30, and there painted picturesque scenes of the Roman Campagna, often peopled by banditti, that became very popular in England. After his return to Britain, however, he turned increasingly to administration and achieved a remarkable record as a public servant. Most notably he was president of the Royal Academy from 1850 and director of the National Gallery (the first holder of this post) from 1855 until his death. His informed purchases of early Italian paintings for the National Gallery were largely responsible for its outstanding representation in this area. Among his writings are Materials for a History of Oil Painting (1847), a pioneering work, and a translation of Goethe's Theory of Colours (1840). His wife Elizabeth, née Rigby (1809–93), was in her own right a figure in the literary-artistic world of the day. She wrote several books on art and also translated Gustav Waagen's Treasures of Art in Great Britain (1854). Eastlake's nephew Charles Locke Eastlake (1836–1906) was keeper of the National Gallery, 1878–98, and published several works on art and decoration, the best known of which was Hints on Household Taste (1868), in which he advocated quality of materials and workmanship. It was highly influential in England and even more so in America, although so-called ‘Eastlake furniture’ often has little to do with his ideas.