Brian Shapiro wrote:
What is the Leighton House in London, was that [Lord Leighton's] home? There is also the Villa Lenbach in Germany which was the home of Franz von Lenbach, and still houses his paintings. I think some other German artists have homes like this.
Yes, it was Leighton's house and it is well worth a visit if you are ever in London. It was designed with a number of interesting features. There's a small musical performance space that would allow Leighton to hole small concerts there, and a wonderful arab-inspired room with blue-green tiles and a little fountain. There is of course a lot of art on display there too, though mostly that of Leighton's friends and contemporaries rather than Leighton himself.
Holland Park (the particular suburb where Leighton lived) was concentrated with the homes of great Victorian artists. G. F. Watts and Valentine Prinsep lived next door and a number of others lived on the same block or two.
There's a little foundation called Friends of Leighton House that maintain the house, keeps the gardens, produces and sells materials there, and runs guided tours, but the house is showing its age and could probably use some repairs. I encourage anyone who can to contribute to Leighton House to do so. You can read more about them here.
For those who are interested, they made a documentary video about Leighton and the house which as far as I know they are still selling. When I got mine they only had PAL format so I had to go through a bunch of trouble to get it converted into a form I could view here in the US. [...]
