Early life
Charles Eastlake was born in Plymouth, the birthplace of other famous painters, notably Sir Joshua Reynolds. He was educated at the local grammar schools of Plymouth and Plympton before briefly attending Charterhouse in London.
Painting career
Early on he determined on a career as an historical painter, studying under the watercolour painter Samuel Prout before going to London to work under the historical painter, Benjamin Haydon and receiving tuition from the Royal Academy schools in 1809.
His first success came with his painting of Napoleon, during the latter’s captivity on the 'Belleraphon' when the ship was moored off Plymouth Sound. A second larger version of this portrait was bought by five gentlemen from Plymouth, and the proceeds, together with the patronage of the banker Jeremiah Harman, allowed Eastlake to travel abroad to study the Old Masters.
Travel and friendships
After two brief trips to France in 1814 and 1815, Eastlake went to Rome in 1816 where he settled for the next 14 years. He continued to travel widely, for instance touring Greece in 1818 and Northern Europe in 1828. His friendships with Italian and German artists, philosophers and writers influenced his practice as an artist and his ideas about the theory of art. He became close friends with J.M.W. Turner and the portrait artist Sir Thomas Lawrence who encouraged Eastlake to brighten his palette.
Success as an artist
Eastlake was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Academy in 1827 and was made a full member three years later, an event which induced his return to England. The 1830s was his most productive decade as a painter. His subjects of bandits and idealised female portraits were particularly popular, although today it is his landscape sketches that are perhaps most admired.
Writing
From the 1840s, however, Eastlake spent increasing amounts of time writing about art. In 1840 he translated Goethe’s 'Colour Theory' and wrote a lengthy review of Johann David Passavant’s 'Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi'. The following year he compiled notes for Franz Kugler’s handbook of Italian painting. In 1847 his own 'Materials for a History of Oil Painting' was published, a book which was quickly translated into German and Italian and which is still widely consulted today.
Arts administrator
Eastlake also became involved in arts administration. In 1841 he was appointed Secretary to the Fine Arts Commission of which Prince Albert was President. The principal purpose of this body (which existed until 1870) was to find artists to decorate the new Houses of Parliament, although its broader aim was to encourage a new school of English history painting.
It was decided that the murals should be painted using the fresco technique and Eastlake wrote several important papers on the history of that technique for the commission – some of which were later re-published in 'Contributions to the Literature of the Fine Arts' (1848; a second volume of which was published posthumously, in 1870). Unfortunately the Westminster murals project was blighted by the artists’ lack of experience in painting in fresco, which resulted in many failed efforts.
At the Royal Academy
In 1850 Eastlake was elected President of the Royal Academy, a post to which he was annually re-elected until his death. He did much to open up the academy, notably by admitting engravers to the rank of full academicians; by allowing female students to study there; and by encouraging foreign artists to exhibit paintings in the Summer Exhibition. Furthermore, journalists were allowed to attend the annual dinner for the first time in 1851.
At the National Gallery
Eastlake’s association with the National Gallery started in 1843 when he was appointed to be its second Keeper, a position he retained for four years until he resigned – apparently to have more time for his painting and writing, but presumably also because of the negative press commentary about his role in the controversial cleaning programme of the pictures during the early 1840s.
Director of the Gallery
In 1850 he became a trustee of the Gallery (an ex-officio position due to his being President of the Royal Academy). In 1855 he was appointed the Gallery’s first Director. He chose Ralph Nicholas Wornum to act as Keeper and Otto Mündler as Travelling Agent, securing an annual purchase grant of £10,000. To this end he spent every summer abroad, usually in the company of his wife, Elizabeth, who was a writer, art critic and amateur artist.
During his directorship the Gallery acquired over 150 pictures, mainly representative of the early and later Italian Renaissance. His purchases significantly helped to transform the Gallery, changing it from a collection of acknowledged masterpieces into one that is representative of the entire tradition of western European painting. It could now rival continental galleries such as the Louvre in Paris or the Prado in Madrid.
Legacy
Eastlake’s legacy at the National Gallery does not stop with his acquisition record. His attempts to run the Gallery along professional lines with regard to its collection of pictures, their study and management were groundbreaking and set an example which has been followed ever since.
Indeed, many of the ideas which Eastlake instigated have flourished: his interest in examining and protecting the paintings has led over time to the creation of the Scientific and Conservation Departments; his catalogues foreshadowed the later National Gallery Schools Catalogues; and his desire to arrange the pictures in historical sequence still influences the arrangement of pictures in the permanent galleries of the National Gallery today.
Death
Eastlake died during his continental trip of 1865, in Pisa on December 24. He was buried at Florence, but at the desire of the Royal Academy his body was returned to England and buried at Kensal Green cemetery.