Dr Melanie Gibson – Frederic Leighton: A Victorian Traveller and Collector in the Middle East

This talk is connected to Dr Melanie Gibson’s recent publication The Arab Hall – Frederic Leighton: Traveller and Collector (Gingko, 2026).

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About the Talk

Before becoming President of London’s Royal Academy in 1878, the artist Frederic Leighton made trips to southern Spain, Egypt, Turkey and Syria. During this period, he started putting together a collection of ceramics and carpets. After his death in 1896 his art collection was entirely dispersed, and his reputation as an Islamophile rests solely on his construction of the ‘Arab Hall’, the lavish tiled and domed room that he added to his studio home in Kensington.

In this talk Dr Melanie Gibson will discuss Leighton’s interest in Islamic architecture and design. Her research has shown that Leighton had a discerning eye and that some of his prize pieces are now held in museums worldwide.

About the Speaker

Dr Melanie Gibson writes and lectures on the ceramics of the Middle East. Having studied Arabic at Oxford University, where her interest in the history of the ceramics of the Islamic world began, she gained her doctorate at SOAS, University of London. She is Editor of the Gingko Art Series, and a Trustee of the Friends of Leighton House, where she first became fascinated by the history behind the creation of The Arab Hall.

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Image: Albumen print dated c.1895 showing some of Leighton’s collection on display in the Arab Hall.

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Free and open to all. In person and online via Zoom.

To attend online, email us for a link (email address to be shared closer to the event date).