Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1855 Port Adelaide, Australia

Died: 1938 Pangbourne, England

Year of Migration to the UK: 1875

Biography

Artist Mortimer Luddington Menpes was born to British parents in in 1855 in Port Adelaide, Australia. His parents had migrated from London to Australia in 1839, some years before his birth, so that his father could undertake work as a property developer. In the mid-1870s, when Menpes was in his early twenties, he moved to England with his parents and siblings, settling in London. Menpes had already shown a strong interest in drawing while growing up in Australia, which he developed further after enrolling at the Royal College of Art in London in 1878. He worked across a variety of media, though he was particularly skilled as a draughtsman and had a growing interest in etching. Around 1880, Menpes met James McNeill Whistler, the now famous American-born painter and printmaker who had been living in London for several years. Menpes became Whistler’s studio assistant and was introduced more fully to the medium of etching by him.

Menpes' oeuvre includes prints, etchings, and paintings. His portraits, in particular, reveal a tenderness and fondness in their execution, while also retaining a vitality in his figures. Both Menpes and Whistler soon began to find artistic inspiration outside of Europe. In particular, they were interested in Japanese woodblock prints. These had been popular in Japan since the 17th century and soon became a major source of inspiration for European artists, who adopted elements of Japanese design in a trend that become known as Japonisme. Since 1603, Japan’s isolationist foreign policy restricted trade and travel, which ended following American military intervention in 1853, after which trade resumed and Japanese art and design began to reach European audiences. Keen to explore Japanese art, Menpes travelled to the country in 1887, incorporating the influence of Japanese art, design, and architecture into his developing style. Upon returning to London, he held his first solo exhibition of Japan-inspired works at Dowdeswell’s Gallery in 1888, to great critical acclaim. That same year, Menpes famously commissioned the architect Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo to design a London house for him in the Japanese style. Sources suggest that this series of events led to a rupture in the cordial relationship between Menpes and Whistler, who may have perceived Menpes as encroaching on his territory as a leading proponent of Japonisme. After Whistler’s death in 1903, Menpes published a book of recollections about their friendship.

Menpes continued to take inspiration from his extensive overseas travels, initially being deployed as an illustrator to South Africa to document the Boer War in 1900. This resulted in an illustrated book titled War Impressions, produced with his daughter Dorothy Menpes, who provided the text, and which was published by the London-based firm, Adam & Charles Black. He later travelled across Europe and to more distant locations, including India, Mexico, Morocco, and Burma (now Myanmar), with his illustrations appearing in further publications. Later in life, Menpes returned to England and settled in Pangbourne in Berkshire in 1910. There, he developed an experimental technique in colour etching and continued to exhibit regularly, including with the Royal Academy of Arts, Fine Art Society and the Leicester Galleries, in London, among others. His recognition in the British art world is further demonstrated by his extensive memberships, including the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI), Royal Society of British Artists (RBA), Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, and Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. He was also a founding member of the New English Art Club (NEAC).

Mortimer Menpes died in Pangbourne, Berkshire, England in 1938. His works have continued to be exhibited worldwide posthumously and are held in numerous major public collections across the UK, including the Ashmolean Museum; British Museum; National Portrait Gallery; Tate; Sheffield Museums; and The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow.

Related books

Julie Robinson et al., The World of Mortimer Menpes: Painter, Etcher, Raconteur (Adelaide, Art Gallery of South Australia, 2014)
Gary Morgan, The Etched Works of Mortimer Menpes, 3 Vol.s (Adelaide, Stuart Galleries, 2012)
Lonsdale & Laura Ragg, Mortimer Menpes [illus.], Venice (London: A & C Black Ltd, 1916)
Mortimer Menpes, Whistler As I Knew Him (London, Adam and Charles Black, 1904)
Catalogue for The Menpes collection of Whistler etchings (London: Leicester Galleries, 1903)
Mortimer Menpes, War Impressions: Being A Record In Colour (London, A & C Black, 1901)
Catalogue of an exhibition of paintings and etchings of the war in South Africa by Mortimer Menpes, R.I. (London: Fine Art Society, 1901)

Public collections

Related organisations

New English Art Club (Founding member)
Royal Institute of Oil Painters (Member)
Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (Member)
Royal Society of British Artists (Member)
Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (Member)

Selected exhibitions

The World of Mortimer Menpes (solo exhibition), Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia (2014)
Dreams and realities: Victorian works on paper (group exhibition), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (1993)
Summer exhibition (group exhibition), Royal Academy of Arts, London (1922, 1919, 1917, 1915, 1913, 1912, 1911, 1900, 1899, 1898, 1894, 1892, 1891, 1887)
'George McCulloch's collection of modern painting and sculpture' (group exhibition), Royal Academy of Arts, London (1909)
The Menpes collection of Whistler etchings, Leicester Galleries, London (1903)
An exhibition of paintings and etchings of the war in South Africa by Mortimer Menpes, Fine Art Society, London (1901)
Paintings, drawings and etchings of Japan by Mortimer Menpes, R.B.A. (solo exhibition), Dowdeswell Gallery, London (1888)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Mortimer Menpes]