Alexander Bassano

The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are London. Work by Alexander Bassano is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Canada, National Portrait Gallery, National Library of Wales, Royal Collections of the Netherlands and J. Paul Getty Museum.

• Name — Alexander Bassano • Birth Name — Alessandro Bassano • Born — 1 May 1829 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 21 October 1913 • Place of death — West Acton, London, England • Children — 3 • Occupation — Photographer • Relatives — Louisa Bassano (sister)

• Illustration — Photograph of Prince Albert Victor, 1875 • Illustration — Photograph of Queen Victoria, 1882 Alessandro Bassano was the second-youngest child of Italian Clemente Bassano (originally a fishmonger of Cranbourne Street, later an oilman and warehouseman of Jermyn Street, London) and his English wife, Elizabeth Browne. He later anglicised his first name to Alexander. Bassano received early artistic training with artists Augustus Egg and William Beverley. He opened his first studio in 1850 in Regent Street. The studio then moved to Piccadilly 1859–1863, to Pall Mall and then to 25 Old Bond Street in 1877. There was also a Bassano branch studio at 132 King's Road, Brighton from 1893 to 1899. The Old Bond Street studio was decorated with carbon photographic prints and plaster busts and was large enough to accommodate an 80-foot panoramic background scene mounted on rollers, which provided a variety of outdoor scenes or court backgrounds. Bassano had taken portraits of William Ewart Gladstone and even monarchs such as Queen Victoria and Cetshwayo kaMpande. Bassano's headshot of Lord Kitchener formed the basis of the First World War recruiting poster Your Country Needs You. Bassano retired from work at the studio around 1903, when the premises were extensively refurbished and relaunched as Bassano Ltd, Royal Photographers. The studio moved once again in 1921, a move written about by the Lady's Pictorial at the time. The article described about a million negatives, all systematically numbered, which had to be moved from the cellars of the premises to the new location at 38 Dover Street. The company became "Bassano and Vandyk" in 1964. The following year, it incorporated Elliott & Fry, a photographic partnership that had been running in Baker Street since 1863. In 1977, the company became Industrial Photographic. It was based at 35 Moreton Street, SW1. Over 40,000 negatives from the Bassano Studios, including some by Alexander Bassano, are held in the National Portrait Gallery in London. The Museum of London holds a large number of fashion-related plates. The National Portrait Gallery held an exhibit of Bassano’s work: Alexander Bassano: Victorian Photographer in 2013, the centenary of his death.

Bassano married Adelaide Rose Ainslie Lancaster (1825–1906) in 1850. They had a son, Clement George Alexander (1853–1899), and two daughters, Adelaide Fanny Louise (1850–1921) and Camilla Teresa ("Lily") (1859–1928). Portraits of his wife and children are held in the National Portrait Gallery in London. His sister Louisa Bassano was a noted singer and teacher.