Exhibitions. Huon Mallalieu. Leighton and Landscape. Leighton House, 16th November to 27th April

Earlier this year, the restoration and extension of Leighton House in Kensington won the RIBA London Award. The Moorish palace built for Lord Leighton (1830-96) is more than ever worth a visit. As the citation said, ‘From the helical stair adorned with a hand-painted mural to the refurbishment of the Winter Studio, every aspect of the intervention reflects a deep understanding of Leighton House’s historical significance and a dedication to honouring its legacy.’

Frederic Leighton was one of the most celebrated British artists of his time, as his house – the most splendid of the artists’ residences around Campden Hill and Holland Park – testifies. However, artistic fashion always rotates. When young, we despise what our parents revered, and often we rediscover the idols of our grandparents.

Leighton, already a knight and a baronet, a day before his death was the first artist to be ennobled, the shortest- lived creation in the peerage, as he had no heirs. His great reputation took only a little longer to fade, and even now he is remembered principally for just two things, Leighton House and Flaming June.

That painting was originally owned by the Graphic, which made a Christmas edition of reproductions from it. Then it went on loan to the Ashmolean, before disappearing from view in 1932. It was rediscovered in the 1960s, in part by the great Victorian specialist Jeremy Maas. Since then, it has been owned by the Museo de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Famous once more, it has been loaned to galleries around the world, including Leighton House in 2017, and is now on display at the Royal Academy (to 12th January).

The exhibition at Leighton House shows a completely different side of his work, little known in his lifetime and not at all since. He was an inveterate and from 1856 onwards his habit was to record snatches of landscapes and intriguing details of towns in small, dashing oil sketches. As is the case with many artists, these are much more immediate and indeed modern in feel than his formally composed finished paintings.

Among them are many of Capri, and the newly discovered Bay of Cadiz – Moonlight, bought at Christie’s in June with the help of grants for nearly £33,000. It could almost be by Lavery, across the Straits in Tangier. Shown with these are works by contemporaries from his collection.