Restoring Lord Leighton's Home and Studio

Frederic, Lord Leighton - Self-Portrait

Leighton House

A little over a year ago, the Leighton House Museum reopened after two years of extensive restoration.  The £1.6 million refurbishment took longer than originally expected, but considering that the house was continually worked upon for the last thirty years of Leighton's life, and was filled with intricate architectural decoration, the repairs could have easily taken longer.  The work was laborious and required the assistance of craftspeople from throughout England, all of which was documented by film-maker Frederique Cifuentes Morgan.  Her DVD, Closer to Home - The Restoration of Leighton House Museum, is now available for purchase through the museum's website (£10 + shipping).

Of additional interest, the museum offers a virtual tour of the refurbished Leighton House which presents much of the artist's home and studio in all of its grand opulence.

An actor portraying Leighton offers a tour of the artist's studio

During the last 15 years of his residence at the Holland Park home, Leighton worked often with one particular model, his muse, stage actress Dorothy Dene (née Ada Alice Pullen).  Lord Leighton, a highly educated man, was said to have paid for Dene to have elocution lessons, and the relationship between the artist and model is rumored to have inspired George Bernard Shaw in his creation of the characters Professor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle in the play Pygmalion.

Painting of Dorothy Dene