Abstract

William Logsdail (1859-1944) was a Lincoln born artist. He is largely unknown to the general public and little has been written about him even though he was a successful and prolific artist during his lifetime, as contemporary accounts prove. This is the first comprehensive and modern scholarly account of this artist’s life and work.
The thesis is comprised of two sections, plus an appendix of a full, annotated catalogue of the artist’s known works. Part I relates to Logsdail’s life, training and artistic achievements in relation to the cultural environments and circumstances under which he produced his work. The primary evidence for this has come from contemporary articles on the artist, and his own unpublished notebooks, written in later life, which contain details of his life, work and travels.
Part II provides an analysis of the stylistic content of Logsdail's work, and of the artistic influences on it from the early stages of his career through to his later portrait works. His work here is considered primarily with regard to contemporary notions of Realism and Impressionism and, by extension of the latter, to 'modernity'. It also explores contemporary critical reviews of Logsdail’s work, both in terms of how it was understood within the wider artistic movements and trends of the time, and to assess Logsdail's contribution to late nineteenth/early twentieth century British art today. Furthermore, the thesis also assesses Logsdail’s portrait work as an area that has been hitherto neglected, thus providing a complete study of the artist, and adding to our understanding of British Portraiture at this time.
Appendix I, William Logsdail: Catalogue Raisonné, provides an original catalogue of all known works. This is rare for a British artist of his time and in itself constitutes an original piece of research. This catalogue will hopefully provide a useful source for further research on the artist, his contemporaries, and on British art at that time.