Beguiled by a master

Hidden Burne-Jones
Leighton House Museum, 12 Holland Park Road, London W14, until 27 January

It’s always a pleasure to visit Lord Leighton’s house and imagine oneself in a more spacious era, venturing into the artists’ quarter of Kensington and paying a call on one of the most popular artists of the Victorian period. The remarkable architecture of the house with its famous Arab Hall always deserves another look, though the exhibitions mounted in the upstairs gallery are becoming an increasing draw for the art public. Last year it was Leighton’s drawings, now brilliantly followed up by a show of little-known Burne-Jones drawings from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Edward Burne-Jones (1833–98) was friendly with Leighton and used to attend musical evenings at Leighton House. According to Walter Crane, he and Burne-Jones were to have been responsible for the decoration of the dome of the Arab Hall, but this never transpired. Burne-Jones was subsequently rather dismissive of what was done, but this coolness notwithstanding there couldn’t be a more appropriate setting for a small intimate show of his drawings. You approach through a dimly lit antechamber in which a pink watercolour of a woman with flowers greets the visitor. To its left is a full-length study for ‘The Garland Weavers’, a draped standing figure in coloured chalks. It’s quite charming but has a certain awkwardness to it (look where the right knee is suggested, unbelievably far down the leg). For a more crisp and convincing delineation, turn to the study of Pygmalion for ‘The Soul Attains’ nearby. A Leighton nude (chalk on brown paper) is hung here for useful comparison.

Burne-Jones used watercolour a lot but some of his sepia ink and wash drawings are more impressive and beguiling.