After his death, his work was mostly ignored. In 1912, Alma-Tadema traveled to Germany to undergo treatment for stomach ulcer, and died in Germany at the age of 76. In his later years, although his artistic output decreased somewhat, he enjoyed continued success, eventually becoming one of the wealthiest painters of the 19th century. A perfectionist and obsessive worker, he also innovated a new numbering technique, which made it difficult for forgers to pass off unoriginal works. As a man, his bursts of bad temper were eased by his extroverted, warm personality and sense of mischief. Alma-Tadema was 34 years old, and the bride 18.Īlma-Tadema spent the next part of his life traveling through Europe, and enjoying the continued success of his paintings. It was during one of these lessons that Alma-Tadema proposed, and they were married shortly thereafter. Alma-Tadema took advantage of the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war to relocate to England, where he wasted no time contacting Laura and contracting her in private art lessons. It was here that he laid eyes on Laura Theresa Epps, who was 17 at the time, and fell madly in love with her.

Under the advice of his physician, he traveled to England for a medical diagnosis, where he was invited to the house of a fellow painter, Ford Madox Brown. Disconsolate and depressed, he ceased painting and his health was failing. In 1869, Alma-Tadema lost his wife of six years to smallpox. By 1862, he set own in his own studio to pursue his individual career in art. His first major work was exhibited in 1858, and it won much critical praise, and creating a sensation in the art world. He regained his health and studied at the Royal Academy of Antwerp in 1852, where he won several respected awards. Once left to his own devices, he decided to study art, as his mother had paid for art lessons in his earlier childhood and it was one of his interests. He was diagnosed as consumptive, given a short time to live, and thus free to pursue a life of leisure and pleasure. Later, as he tried to make his niche in the art world, he changed the spelling of his first name to the more English “Lawrence,” and included his middle name “Alma” as part of his surname, so he would be listed among the “A’s” in exhibition catalogues.Īs a child, it was decided that Alma-Tadema would pursue the career of a lawyer, but he suffered a mental and physical breakdown when he was fifteen years old. He was born in the Netherlands as Laurens Tadema, to the family of the town notary. Lawrence Alma-Tadema is one of the most highly renowned romantic artists of late 19th century Britain.

Sir lawrence alma