Luke Fildes English illustrator Date of Birth: 18.10.1844 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Luke Fildes

Luke Fildes was an English artist and illustrator who became one of the most successful and highly paid artists in England by 1900. Born on October 18, 1844, in Liverpool, Fildes was raised by his grandmother, Maria Fildes, who was a political activist and a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement. Maria Fildes was a leading member of the Chartists, a working-class movement for political reform.

At the age of seventeen, Luke Fildes became a student at the Warrington School of Art. In 1863, he won a scholarship that allowed him to study in London. Fildes moved to the South Kensington School of Art, where he met fellow artists Frank Holl and Hubert von Herkomer. All three were heavily influenced by the works of Frederick Walker, a leader of the social realism movement in Britain.

By the late 1860s, Fildes was earning a living as an illustrator for popular periodicals such as "Cornhill Magazine" and "Once a Week." Sharing his grandmother's political beliefs and concern for the impoverished, Fildes joined the staff of "The Graphic," an illustrated weekly newspaper edited by social reformer William Lawson Thomas, in 1869. Fildes and Thomas believed in the power of visual images to change public opinion on topics such as poverty and injustice.

Fildes became a well-known and popular artist, and in 1870, he left his job at the newspaper to focus on oil painting. In the 1880s, Fildes transitioned into portrait painting and became one of the most successful and highly paid artists in England by 1900. He painted portraits of several members of the royal family, including a portrait of Edward VII. In 1906, Fildes was knighted for his contributions to the arts.

Luke Fildes passed away on February 27, 1927. His son, Paul Fildes, went on to become a renowned scientist.