Born in 1852, in Philadelphia, United States, Abbey studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Isaac Williams before going on to work as an illustrator for Harpers magazine. However, he left this position after about three years to pursue a freelance careerand returned to Harpers two years later able to command a far higher salary. It was about this time that Philadelphia hosted exhibitions which bought European paintings to the attention of an American audience, and Abbey was inspired by the collection that included works by Leighton and Watt. His first trip to England was made in 1878 in order to complete research for his drawings. He returned to the continent every year until he finally settled in England in 1882. Whilst in England he befriended many artists; such as Alma-Tadema, and other expatriates such as Whistler and Sargent. In 1887 Harpers commissioned Abbey to illustrate some of Shakespeare’s comedies: he felt that his place in England was ideal for research into authentic costumes. In 1890 he received one of the most important commissions of his career: the Boston Public Library requested a mural depicting The Quest of the Holy Grail. It took Abbey eleven years to complete this mural, which he mostly prepared from his studio in England. He was made a member of the Royal Academy in 1898. Another important commission came from the British Royal family, a request for a mural depicting the coronation of Edward VII in Buckingham Palace; this was in 1902. He was also offered a knighthood in 1907 however he declined this honour in order to continue to hold American citizenship. In 1911, Abbey became ill with cancer and died in August of that year. His friend Sargent and his studio assistant completed the unfinished Grail project in Boston.
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