Alexander Bassano (10 May 1829 – 21 October 1913) was an English photographer who was a leading royal and high society portrait photographer in

Victorian London During the 19th century, London grew enormously to become a global city of immense importance. It was the largest city in the world from about 1825, the world's largest port, and the heart of international finance and trade. Railways connecting ...

. He is known for his photo of the Earl Kitchener in the ''

Lord Kitchener Wants You Lord Kitchener Wants You is a 1914 advertisement by Alfred Leete which was developed into a recruitment poster. It depicted Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, above the words "WANTS YOU". Kitchener, wearing the cap of a B ...

'' army recruitment poster during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and his photographs of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

Biography

Alessandro Bassano was the second youngest child of Italian Clemente Bassano, originally a fishmonger of Cranbourne Street, later an oilman and warehouseman of Jermyn Street, London, and his English wife, Elizabeth Browne. He later anglicised his first name to Alexander. Bassano received early artistic training with artists

Augustus Egg Augustus Leopold Egg RA (2 May 1816, in London – 26 March 1863, in Algiers) was a British Victorian artist, and member of The Clique best known for his modern triptych '' Past and Present'' (1858), which depicts the breakup of a middle-class ...

and William Beverley. He opened his first studio in 1850 in Regent Street. The studio then moved to Piccadilly 1859–1863, to Pall Mall and then to 25 Old Bond Street in 1877. There was also a Bassano branch studio at 132 King's Road, Brighton from 1893 to 1899. The Old Bond Street studio was decorated with carbon photographic prints and plaster busts, and was large enough to accommodate an 80-foot panoramic background scene mounted on rollers, which provided a variety of outdoor scenes or court backgrounds. He had taken portraits of

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

and even monarchs such as

and Cetshwayo kaMpande. Bassano's head of Lord Kitchener formed the basis of the

First World war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

recruiting poster ''Your Country Needs You''. Bassano retired from work at the studio around 1903, when the premises were extensively refurbished and relaunched as "Bassano Ltd, Royal Photographers". The studio moved once again in 1921: a move written about by the '' Lady's Pictorial'' at the time. The article described about a million negatives, all systematically numbered, which had to be moved from the cellars of the premises to the new location at 38 Dover Street. The company became "Bassano and Vandyk" in 1964. The following year it incorporated

Elliott & Fry Elliott & Fry was a Victorian photography studio founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott (14 October 1835 – 30 March 1903) and Clarence Edmund Fry (1840 – 12 April 1897). For a century, the firm's core business was taking and publishing photo ...

, a photographic partnership that had been running in Baker Street since 1863. In 1977, the company became "Industrial Photographic", based at 35 Moreton Street, SW1. Over 40,000 negatives from the Bassano Studios, including some by Alexander Bassano, are held in the National Portrait Gallery, London. The Museum of London holds a large number of the fashion-related plates. The National Portrait Gallery held an exhibit of his work
''Alexander Bassano: Victorian Photographer''
in 2013, the centenary of his death.

Personal life

He married Adelaide Rose Ainslie Lancaster (1825-1906) in 1850. They had a son, Clement George Alexander (1853-1899), and two daughters, Adelaide Fanny Louise (1850-1921) and Camilla Teresa ('Lily') (1859-1928). Portraits of his wife and children are held in the National Portrait Gallery, London. His sister Louisa Bassano was a noted singer and teacher.

References

Sources

*Michael Pritchard, ''A directory of London photographers 1841–1908'' (Watford: PhotoResearch, 1994)

External links

*
Photographs by the Bassano Studio
in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London * Portraits of his wif
Adelaide Rose Ainslie Bassano (née Lancaster)
so
Clement George Alexander
and daughter
Adelaide Fanny Louise Barber (née Bassano)Camilla Teresa ('Lily') Serjeant (née Bassano)
in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London
Brighton photographers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bassano Alexander 1829 births 1913 deaths English people of Italian descent British portrait photographers 19th-century English photographers Photographers from London