Details of Sculptor

Surname

Legrew

Alternative Surname

First Name

James

Initial of Surname

L

Year of Birth/Baptism

1803

Flourished

Year of Death

1857

Biographical Details

James Legrew was a sculptor, a scholar proficient in several ancient languages and deeply religious. He combined these passions in A Few Remarks on the Sculpture of the Nations referred to in the Old Testament, 1845.
He was born on 5 October 1803 in Caterham, Surrey, the second son the Rev James Legrew, the Rector of St Lawrence’s and his wife Elizabeth. The family were descended from Huguenot refugees, who had settled in Spitalfields, London.
Legrew showed an early talent for sculpture and after completing a first class classical education his father sent him in 1821 to study under Sir Francis Chantrey. In 1822 he enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools where he gained the silver medal in 1824 and a gold in 1829 for Ajax tearing Cassandra from the altar of Minerva (15). In 1822, while living at 7 Palace Street, Pimlico, he was awarded the silver palette by the Society of Arts for a plaster copy of a single figure (14). Having acquired some training and experience, Legrew travelled extensively in Italy, working and studying for a period in Rome.
He executed several portrait busts and a number of church monuments, including several in his native Surrey. He also carved ideal figures drawn from the Bible, literature and classical mythology. In 1844 he sent two works to the Westminster Hall competition, The last prayer of Ajax (20) and Milton dictating to his daughters (19). Other ideal works include Samson about to burst his bonds (18), described as a ‘fine and vigorous conception’ (AJ, 1857, 348) and Rachel mourning her children, an emotional subject also known as The murder of the innocents (49). Both these were exhibited at the Crystal Palace in 1851. Legrew was responsible for some architectural sculpture, a group decorating the front of the Asylum for Orphan Girls in Lambeth and a statue of London for Somerset House (35, 37).
The sculptor wrote a short life of Flaxman and in 1845 published his major literary opus, A Few Remarks on the Sculpture of the Nations. He hoped this would be the precursor of a larger second volume, which did not materialise. A Few Remarks was poorly reviewed in the Athenaeum by T K Hervey, who considered it a deeply flawed work. Hervey described Legrew as a sculptor ‘whom we have had occasion to commend for his promise, rather than its adequate redemption; and the work before us indicates that he is a man of learning and research – not, in this instance, turned to the most useful account’ (Athenaeum 1845, 1106-7). Legrew also received adverse criticism for some of his sculpture: the Literary Gazette felt his work to be ‘finely proportioned’ but ‘too smooth’ and the composition of his figures ‘liable to question’ (Lit Gaz, cited in Gunnis 1968, 237–8). The Art Journal noted that Legrew’s career was ‘not successful’ but that the sculptor did not allow this ‘to affect his feelings towards his professional brethren’ (AJ 1863, 348).
Following a period of mental illness the sculptor took his own life in 1857. He had experienced ‘mental delusions’ for some time (Redgrave 1878, 266) and these were exacerbated by the deaths of his father in 1856 and brother, Arthur in March 1857. Legrew died at his home in Kensington on 15 September 1857, aged 53. He never married. The Art Journal described him as a religious and charitable man ‘of a most affectionate disposition’ (AJ, 1863, 348). In addition to his talent for sculpture and languages, he was noted as having considerable skill as a musician, particularly on the organ. He exhibited at the Royal Academy over a period of 27 years. Few of his works have been identified and it may that many, particularly his female figures, were plaster models never executed in marble, a suggestion made in his obituary in the Art Journal. Fortunately, one of Legrew’s earliest works, A sleeping boy survives and can perhaps be identified with A sleeping child, his first exhibit at the RA (38). This charming infant study suggests that Legrew’s talent did not receive the encouragement it deserved.
Caroline Jordan
Literary References: Builder, 27 July 1844, 367; AJ, 1863, 348 (obit); Redgrave 1878, 266; DNB, 1892, XXXII, 422; Graves V,1905-6, 24; Gunnis, 1968, 238