Leighton House Museum

Located on the edge of Holland Park in Kensington, Leighton House Museum is one of the most remarkable buildings of the 19th century. Owned and operated by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the house was the former home and studio of the leading Victorian artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896). The house was built to his precise requirements combining studio space with domestic accommodation and entertaining space. Originally constructed on a modest basis, it grew to become a ‘private palace of art’ visited by many of the great artists of the day and regarded as one of the architectural sights of London.

The Arab Hall, designed to display Leighton's priceless collection of over a thousand Islamic tiles, is the centrepiece of the house. A compelling vision of the Orient is created through the Islamic tiles, mostly brought back from Damascus in Syria, combined with the gold mosaicked interior, marble columns and golden dome. The opulence continues through the richly decorated interiors, adorned with elaborate mosaic floors and walls lined with peacock blue tiles by the ceramic artist William De Morgan. On the first floor, the grand painting studio with its great north window, dome and apse is the room in which all Leighton’s important later works were produced, including the celebrated Flaming June. Also on the first floor, the Silk Room displays paintings by Leighton’s friends and contemporaries. The house was restored to great acclaim between 2008-10, winning an RIBA award and a Europa Nostra award.

Leighton rose to become the President of the Royal Academy in 1878 and the pre-eminent classical painter of his age. He remains the only British artist to have been raised to the peerage, becoming Baron Leighton of Stretton just before he died. He was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral amidst great ceremony.