59 Facts About Alfred Gilbert

Alfred Gilbert was born in London and studied sculpture under Joseph Boehm, Matthew Noble, Edouard Lanteri and Pierre-Jules Cavelier.

Alfred Gilbert was made a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1892, yet his personal life was beginning to unravel as he took on too many commissions and entered into debt, whilst at the same time his wife's mental health deteriorated.

Alfred Gilbert received a royal commission for the tomb of Prince Albert Victor in 1892, but was unable to finish it and the number of complaints from other dissatisfied clients grew.

Alfred Gilbert moved to Bruges in disgrace and separated from his wife.

Alfred Gilbert later remarried, entering a period when he created few artworks.

Alfred Gilbert returned to England and finally completed the tomb of Prince Albert Victor, as well as taking on new commissions such as the Queen Alexandra Memorial.

In 1932, Alfred Gilbert was reinstated as a member of the Royal Academy and was knighted.

Alfred Gilbert was a central inspiration for the New Sculpture movement and in the 21st-century is regarded as one of the foremost sculptors of the Victorian age.

Alfred Gilbert was born 12 August 1854 at 13 Berners Street, near Oxford Street in central London.

Alfred Gilbert was the eldest child of Charlotte Cole and Alfred Gilbert, who were both musicians.

Alfred Gilbert first attended William Kemshead's Academy for a few months in 1863, which was a naval school near Portsmouth.

Alfred Gilbert then went to the Mercers' School in the City of London, afterwards switching to Aldenham School in Hertfordshire, where his father taught music.

Alfred Gilbert enjoyed more spending time with his paternal grandfather, who taught him how to woodwork.

At Aldenham, Gilbert began to make portraits of his schoolfellows with clay he took from ditches and the headmaster Alfred Leeman was encouraging, to the extent that Gilbert made a full-length seated portrait of him in 1872.

Alfred Gilbert's father pushed him to become a surgeon, so he applied to the Royal College of Surgeons and was accepted in 1872.

Alfred Gilbert then went for a scholarship at Middlesex Hospital to work as a surgeon and was rejected, allowing him to pursue his true interest of sculpture.

Alfred Gilbert later credited Boehm and his assistant Edouard Lanteri as his true teachers.

Alfred Gilbert travelled to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Pierre-Jules Cavelier.

Alfred Gilbert had fallen in love with his first cousin, Alice Jane Gilbert, and they were forced to elope.

Alfred Gilbert returned to England in April 1878 to be at the deathbed of his younger brother Gordon, who succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 20.

Later that year, Alfred Gilbert moved to Rome with his wife and two young children.

Alfred Gilbert moved with his family to Rome in order to create the sculpture in marble, attracted by famed sculptors of the Renaissance such as Cellini, Donatello, Giambologna and Verrocchio.

Alfred Gilbert was commissioned by the Baroness von Fahnenberg to design a mausoleum in Spa, Belgium, Belgium but she died without having signed a final agreement, leading him to sue for compensation.

Alfred Gilbert later stated to Joseph Hatton that the bronze statues Perseus Arming, Icarus and Comedy and Tragedy formed a trilogy which referenced his own life.

Alfred Gilbert produced medals, such as the cast bronze portrait of Matthew Ridley Corbet and the struck bronze medal marking 50 years of the Art Union of London.

Alfred Gilbert created spoons, cups, dishes and jewellery; many of his designs can be seen in the collection of Stichting van Caloen on display at Loppem Castle in Belgium.

Alfred Gilbert had accepted the commission with assurances that he would be given used gunmetal to melt down and reuse, however the government did not supply him with it.

Eight drinking cups on chains had been provided for pedestrians to quench their thirst and Alfred Gilbert stated that just one day after the opening, only two cups remained.

Alfred Gilbert referred to the "painful experience of witnessing the utter failure of my intention and design".

Alfred Gilbert produced memorials of the Duke of Clarence and of Lord Arthur Russell, and a memorial font for the son of the 4th Marquess of Bath.

Alfred Gilbert produced busts of Cyril Flower, John R Clayton, George Frederic Watts, Henry Tate, George Birdwood, Richard Owen and George Grove.

Alfred Gilbert designed the statue of David Davies of Llandinam which stands in front of the Barry Docks offices.

Alfred Gilbert was made a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1892.

Alfred Gilbert received many other honours, such as Royal Victorian Order of the fourth class.

Alfred Gilbert became a member of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers and in 1889 he won the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle in Paris.

Alfred Gilbert was a member of the Athenaeum and Garrick clubs in London and was a well-known figure with his cape, sombrero and walking-stick.

Alfred Gilbert's friends included the artists Watts, Edward Burne-Jones, Frederic Leighton and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

In 1892, Alfred Gilbert was asked by the Prince and Princess of Wales to build the tomb for their recently deceased eldest son Prince Albert Victor in St George's Chapel, Windsor.

The perfectionist Alfred Gilbert spent too much time and money on the commission.

Ultimately, Alfred Gilbert was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1901.

Alfred Gilbert sent his family before him to Bruges in Belgium and stayed behind to pack up his studio, destroying many casts in the process.

The Duke of Rutland was driven to complain to the president of the Royal Academy about an uncompleted order in 1908 and Alfred Gilbert was given the choice either to resign or to be expelled from the Academy.

Alfred Gilbert decided to quit, resigning his professorship and his Royal Victorian Order.

Alfred Gilbert's handwriting was similar to Gilbert's and it was believed he had written the screed, making his situation even more dire.

Alfred Gilbert was able to finish A Dream of Joy during a Sleep of Sorrow, a bronze chimney piece commissioned by the Wilson family for their home in Leeds, yet instead of supplying an inset portrait of Mrs Wilson as requested, he included a watercolour painting of his second wife, Stephanie Quaghebeur.

Alfred Gilbert married his housekeeper Stephanie Quaghebeur on 1 March 1918 and they moved to Rome together in 1924.

Alfred Gilbert decided to write his biography and campaigned for his re-acceptance in English high society.

The King was glad to hear news of his old acquaintance and Lady Helena Gleichen became Alfred Gilbert's promoter, offering use of her studio at St James Palace if the funds could be raised to bring him from Italy.

Alfred Gilbert returned to England on 26 July 1926 and his mental state concerned Helena Gleichen; she said he was "broken with nerves, and agitation".

The King provided a stipend and Alfred Gilbert was permitted to use studios at St James's Palace and later Kensington Palace.

In late 1926 Alfred Gilbert had won the commission to make the Queen Alexandra Memorial.

Alfred Gilbert was knighted the day afterwards and was readmitted into the Royal Academy.

On 3 January 1876, Alfred Gilbert eloped to Paris with his first cousin, Alice Jane Alfred Gilbert, and they were married the same day.

Alfred Gilbert remarried in 1918 with his housekeeper Stephanie Quaghebeur, by which time he had already taken on responsibility for helping to raise her seven children from a previous marriage.

Alfred Gilbert died on 4 November 1934 at Cromwell Nursing Home in London.

Alfred Gilbert had long been sick and refusing to eat.

At the time of his death, Alfred Gilbert was one of the most well-known figures in English society and there were plans to make a film about him.

Alfred Gilbert was then disregarded for decades, until critic Richard Dorment published a biography of Gilbert in 1985, which was followed by a retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1986.

Alfred Gilbert is regarded as one of the foremost sculptors of the Victorian age.