Editing Edwin Austin Abbey (section)

==Career==
[[File:Edwin Austin Abbey King Lear, Act I, Scene I The Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|thumb|''King Lear, Act I, Scene I'' (1897–98) now housed at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]]]
Abbey began as an illustrator, producing numerous illustrations and sketches magazines, including ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'' (1871–1874) and ''[[Scribner's Magazine]]''. His illustrations began appearing in [[Harper's Weekly]] before Abbey was twenty years old. He moved to New York City in 1871. His illustrations were strongly influenced by French and German black and white art:<ref name="Souter, Nick and Tessa 2012 16">{{cite book|last=Souter, Nick and Tessa|title=The Illustration Handbook: A guide to the world's greatest illustrators|year=2012|publisher=Oceana|isbn=978-1-84573-473-2|pages=16}}</ref> [[Adolf Menzel]] and [[Daniel Vierge]]; and by English artists.<ref name="ODNB"/> He illustrated several best-selling books, including ''Christmas Stories'' by [[Charles Dickens]] (1875), ''Selections from the Poetry of [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]]'' (1882), and ''She Stoops to Conquer'' by [[Oliver Goldsmith]] (1887). Abbey also illustrated a four-volume set of ''The Comedies of Shakespeare'' for Harper & Brothers in 1896.

In 1878, he moved to England at the request of his employers to gather material for illustrations of the poems of [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]],<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abbey, Edwin Austin|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A–Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/12 12]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/12}}</ref> published in 1882,<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y |wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin |volume=1 |page=11}}</ref> and he settled permanently there in 1883.<ref name="Colliers">{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Swenson|first1=Eleanor B.|editor-first=Bernard|editor-last=Johnston|encyclopedia=Collier's Encyclopedia |title=Edwin Austin Abbey|edition=First |year=1997|publisher=P.F. Collier|volume=I A to Ameland|location=New York, NY|pages=8}}</ref>

In 1883, he was elected to the [[Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours]].<ref name="EB"/> About this time, he was appraised critically by the American writer, [[Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin|S.G.W. Benjamin]]:

{{blockquote|It must be taken into consideration that he is still very young; that he now for the first time visits the studios and galleries of Europe; that his advantages for a regular art education have been very moderate, and that he is practically self-educated. And then compare with these disadvantages the amount and the quality of the illustrations he has turned out, and we see represented in him genius of a high order, combining almost inexhaustible creativeness, clearness and vividness of conception, a versatile fancy, a poetic perception of beauty, a quaint, delicate humor, a wonderful grasp of whatever is weird and mysterious, and admirable chiaro-oscuro, drawing, and composition. When we note such a rare combination of qualities, we cease to be surprised at the cordial recognition awarded his genius by the best judges, both in London and Paris, even before he had left this country.<ref>[[Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin|S.G.W. Benjamin]], ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40604/40604-h/40604-h.htm Art in America: A Critical and Historical Sketch]'', Harpers, 1880</ref>}}

He also created illustrations for [[Oliver Goldsmith|Goldsmith's]] ''[[She Stoops to Conquer]]'' (1887), for a volume of ''Old Songs'' (1889), and for the comedies (and a few of the tragedies) of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]. Among his water-colours are "The Evil Eye" (1877), "The Rose in October" (1879), "An Old Song" (1886), "The Visitors" (1890), and "The Jongleur" (1892). Possibly his best known pastels are "Beatrice", "Phyllis", and "Two Noble Kinsmen".<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1890, he made his first appearance with an oil painting, "A May Day Morn", at the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] in London. He exhibited "Richard duke of Gloucester and the Lady Anne" there in 1896, and in that year was elected [[Royal Academy of Arts#Membership|A.R.A.]], becoming a full member in 1898.<ref name="EB1911"/> He received a gold medal at the [[Pan-American Exposition]] and was commissioned to paint the coronation of [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VII.]] in 1901;<ref name="BDA1906" /> in the next year, he was chosen to paint the coronation. It was the official painting of the occasion and, hence, resides at [[Buckingham Palace]]. He did receive a knighthood,<ref name="Colliers"/> although some say he refused it in 1907. Friendly with other expatriate American artists, he summered at [[Broadway, Worcestershire|Broadway]], Worcestershire, England, where he painted and vacationed alongside [[John Singer Sargent]] at the home of [[Francis Davis Millet]].

He completed murals for the [[Boston Public Library]] in the 1890s.<ref name="BDA1906" /> The frieze for the Library was titled "The Quest and Achievement of the Holy Grail". It took Abbey eleven years to complete this series of murals in his England studio. In 1897 he received the honorary degree of [[Master of Arts|A.M.]] from Yale university.<ref name="BDA1906" /> In 2024, [[Yale University Art Gallery]] completed restoration of his "Study for the Apotheosis of Pennsylvania" using a technique known as "mist lining" which repaired structural defects in the canvas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=YaleToday |date=March 11, 2024 |title=P.S. |url=https://news.yale.edu |website=YaleNews}}</ref>

In 1904 he painted a mural for the [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]], London ''Reconciliation of the Skinners & Merchant Taylors' Companies by Lord Mayor Billesden, 1484''.

===Pennsylvania State Capitol===
[[File:Pennsylvania State Capitol lunettes.jpg|thumb|Lunette and medallion murals (1908–11) at the [[Pennsylvania State Capitol]] Rotunda. Left to right: ''The Spirit of Vulcan'', ''Science'', ''The Spirit of Religious Liberty'', ''Art'', ''The Spirit of Light''.]]
In 1908–09, Abbey began an ambitious program of murals and other artworks for the newly completed [[Pennsylvania State Capitol]] in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], Pennsylvania. These included [[allegorical]] medallion murals representing ''Science'', ''Art'', ''Justice'', and ''Religion'' for the dome of the [[Rotunda (architecture)|Rotunda]], four large lunette murals beneath the dome, and multiple works for the House and Senate Chambers. For the Senate chamber he finished only one painting, ''Von Steuben Training the American Soldiers at Valley Forge'',<ref name="EB1922">{{EB1922|inline=y|wstitle=Abbey, Edwin Austin|volume=30|page=1}}</ref> and he was working on the ''Reading of the Declaration of Independence'' mural in early 1911, when his health began to fail. He was diagnosed with cancer. Studio assistant William Simmonds continued work on the mural with little supervision from Abbey, and with small contributions by [[John Singer Sargent]].