Lord Frederick Leighton - Lord Frederick Leighton Leighton Flaming June Painting

bh46

Leighton Flaming June was created in 1895. Painted with oil paints on a 47" x 47" square canvas, it is widely considered to be Leighton's magnum opus, showing his classicist nature. It is thought that the woman portrayed alludes to the sleeping figures the Greeks would often paint which were collectively referred to as Venus.

Leighton Flaming June was auctioned in the 1960s, during a period of time known to be difficult for selling Victorian era paintings, where it failed to sell for its low reserve price of $140 USD (the equivalent of $840 in contemporary prices). Afterward, Flaming June was promptly purchased by the Ponce Museum of Art in Puerto Rico where it currently resides.