Sir Claude Phillips (29 January 1846 – 9 August 1924) was a British writer, art historian and critic for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' and other publications during the late 19th century. He was the first keeper of the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...

Hertford House Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea ...

, writing its first catalogue, and held that post from 1900 until his retirement in 1911 whereupon he was knighted for his service. Phillips was considered one of the most eminent critics in

Victorian Britain In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

, and his numerous scholarly and art history books were widely read.

Biography

The second son of Robert Abraham Phillips and Helen Levy, Claude Phillips was born at Gloster Villa, Regent's Park, London on 29 January 1846. He was educated in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

prior to studying law at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He originally embarked on a career as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

Young, Percy Marshall, ed. ''Letters of Edward Elgar and Other Writings''. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1956. (pg. 128)Atkinson, Damian, ed. ''The Selected Letters of W.E. Henley''. Aldershot, UK and Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing, 2000. (pg. 155) and was called to the bar in 1883.Mitchell, Claudine, ed. ''Rodin: The Zola of Sculpture''. Aldershot, UK and Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing, 2004. (pg. 39) As a young barrister-at-law, he was often called to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on business and while there developed an interest in the arts.Salmon, Eric. ''Granville Barker and His Correspondents: A Selection of Letters by Him and To Him''. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1986. (pg. 454) Phillips eventually left the legal profession and became a music critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' in the late 1880s. From 1885 to 1896, he was the English

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for the ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Among other

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

publications he wrote for included the ''Manchester Guardian'', the ''Magazine of Art'', the ''Academy'' and ''

The Art Journal ''The Art Journal'' was the most important British 19th-century magazine on art. It was founded in 1839 by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the title ''Art Union Monthly Journal'' (or ''The Art Union''), the first issue of 7 ...

''.Quinn, Richard Harold. ''Charles Ricketts and the Dial''. Vol. 2. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1977. Phillips became a widely known

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

in the field and later wrote several works on

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

Antoine Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised 10 October 1684died 18 July 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French Painting, painter and Drawing, draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour ...

and

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

. One of his best known books was ''The Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds'' (1894). After a particularly well-received article on

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

, he became a full-time art critic for ''The Daily Telegraph''Fehlbaum, Valerie. ''Ella Hepworth Dixon: The Story of a Modern Woman''. Aldershot, UK and Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing, 2005. (pg. 16) in 1897. That same year, Phillips was appointed the first keeper of the

and spent the next three years preparing its catalogue prior to its opening at

in 1900. He held that post until his retirement 14 years later. In 1914 he was included in a caricature by

Edmund Dulac Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac; 22 October 1882 – 25 May 1953) was a French-British naturalised magazine illustrator, book illustrator and stamp designer. Born in Toulouse, he studied law but later turned to the study of art at the Écol ...

which was part of the Wallace Collection. The humorous painting is called "Le Legende de Joseph". Phillips was succeeded by

Dugald Sutherland MacColl Dugald Sutherland MacColl (10 March 1859 – 21 December 1948) was a Scottish Watercolor painting, watercolour painter, art critic, lecturer and writer. He was keeper of the Tate Britain, Tate Gallery for five years. Life MacColl was born i ...

, and received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for his service shortly afterwards. Phillips died on 9 August 1924 at the age of 78. A collection of his essays, ''Emotion in Art'' (1925), was published posthumously the following year. The caricature of him was eventually given to the UK through the

Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

, a charity that Phillips helped to set up.La Legende de Joseph
Edmund Dulac, 1914, ArtFund.org, accessed April 2010

Bibliography

*''Randolph Caldecott'' (1886) *''A Century of French Art at the Paris Exhibition'' (1889) *''Punch Drawings and Cartoons'' (1891) *''Catalogue of a Collection of Drawings by the late Charles Keene'' (1891) *''John Opie'' (1892) *''Venetian Art at the New Gallery'' (1894) *''The Portfolio: Artistic Monographs'' (1894, with William Sharp,

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

, F. G. Stephens, C. J. Cornish and P. G. Hamerton) *''J. Bastien-Lepage'' (1894, with Julia Ady and Frederic Stephens) *''Pictures of the Year: The Royal Academy and the New Gallery'' (1895) *''The Portfolio Monographs on Artistic Subjects with Many Illustrations'' (1897, with

Lionel Cust Sir Lionel Henry Cust (25 January 1859 – 12 October 1929) was a British art historian, courtier and museum director. He was director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1895 to 1909 and co-edited ''The Burlington Magazine'' from 1909 to 1919 ...

Laurence Binyon Robert Laurence Binyon, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (10 August 1869 – 10 March 1943) was an English poet, dramatist and art scholar. Born in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, England, his parents were Frederick Binyon, ...

and J. Starkie Garner) *''The Collection of Pictures at Longford Castle'' (1897) *''Frederick Walker and His Works'' (1897) *''Millais's Works at Burlington House'' (1898) *''The Work of Titian'' (1898) *''Titian: A Study of His Life and Work'' (1898) *''The Later Work of Titian'' (1898) *''Verrocchio, or Leonardo da Vinci?'' (1899) *''The Van Dyck Exhibition at Antwerp'' (1899) *''The 'Perseus and Andromeda' of Titian'' (1900) *''The Picture Gallery of the Hermitage'' (1900) *''The Wallace Collection'' (1901) *''Masterpieces of French Art in the XVIII century'' (1901) *''Impressions of the Bruges Exhibition'' (1902) *''Great Portrait-Sculpture through the Ages'' (1903) *''A Portrait of Girolamo del Pacchia'' (1905) *''The Ariosto of Titian'' (1905) *''Dramatic Portraiture'' (1906) *''Two Paintings by Filippino Lippi'' (1906) *''The Earlier Work of Titian'' (1906) *''Antoine Watteau'' (1907) *''Notes on Palma Vecchio'' (1907) *''The Masterpieces of Greuze'' (1909) *''French Art of the Eighteenth Century'' (1914) *''III National Loan Exhibition'' (1914) *''Summer exhibition at the

Grafton Galleries The Grafton Galleries, often referred to as the Grafton Gallery, was an art gallery in Mayfair, London. The French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel showed the first major exhibition in Britain of Impressionist paintings there in 1905. Roger Fry's t ...

, 1916'' (1916) *''Barbizon House, 1919'' (1919, with T. W. Roberts, Arthur L. Savage and D. Croal Thomson) *''Emotion in Art'' (1925, posthumously)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Claude 1846 births 1924 deaths Alumni of the University of London English writers English curators English essayists English art historians English art critics English music critics English lawyers People of the Victorian era Writers from the London Borough of Camden Writers from the City of Westminster Knights Bachelor