Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2014 Realism to Surrealism: European Art and Culture 1848-1936

Truth and beauty: the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

Assoc. Prof. Alison Inglis, University of Melbourne

29 / 30 January 2014

Lecture summary:

This lecture will investigate the of the group of English artists known as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It will explore the context in which the Brotherhood was formed in 1848 and identify the features of their art that were regarded as controversial. The careers for the three key artists associated with the Brotherhood, namely, John Millais, William Holman-Hunt and , will be examined as well as the work of some of their followers, in particular, Edward Burne-Jones. Special attention will be given, whenever possible, to works by the Pre-Raphaelites in Australian collections. Finally, the transformation of the Pre-Raphaelites from a semi-secret ‘Brotherhood’ into a more general movement within later nineteenth-century Britain, namely ‘Pre- Raphaelitism’ will be considered. The extent to which the artistic movement can be regarded as ‘avant-garde’ (in style, in subject matter, in the lifestyle of its practitioners) will also be addressed throughout the presentation.

Slide list:

1. , The last of England, 1852-55, oil on canvas, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, purchased 1891. 2. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, , 1852, pencil on wove paper, National Portrait Gallery, London, purchased 1953. 3. Ford Madox Brown, Compositional study for ‘The last of England’, 1852-55, pencil and brown ink on paper, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, purchased and presented by subscribers 1906. 4. Sir Max Beerbohm, Rossetti in his Back Garden, watercolour, 1903-04, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, purchased 1981. 5. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Rossetti lamenting the death of his wombat, pen on paper, 1869, The British Museum, gift of Dr Robert Steele (Executor of the will of ) 1939. 6. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Mrs Morris and the wombat, pen on paper, 1869, The British Museum, gift of Dr Robert Steele (Executor of the will of May Morris) 1939. 7. * Ford Madox Brown, Chaucer at the Court of Edward III, 1847-1851, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1876. 8. Two installation photographs of Chaucer at the Court of Edward III at Art Gallery of New South Wales, first from the late nineteenth century, second from today. 9. , The captive (Ruby), 1882, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1885. 10. John M. Strudwick, A story book, 1883-84, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1887.

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11. John D. Batten, Snowdrop and the seven little men, 1897 tempera on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1897. 12. * Edward Burne-Jones, The fight: St George kills the dragon VI, 1866, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, gift of Arthur Moon KC in memory of his mother, Emma, born in Sydney in 1860, the daughter of John de Villers Lamb 1950. 13. John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, Why seek ye the living among the dead? St Luke 24 v5, 1870-1890s, oil, gesso, wax on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, gift of Arthur Moon KC in memory of his mother, Emma, born in Sydney in 1860, the daughter of John de Villers Lamb 1950. 14. Edward Burne-Jones, Sibylla Cumana, 1873, watercolour, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1970. 15. , Portrait of , 1834-1896, pencil on paper, The British Museum, gift of Dr Robert Steele (Executor of the will of May Morris) 1939. 16. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Jane Morris, 1875, pencil on paper, Art Gallery of South Australia, Elder Bequest Fund 1901. 17. John Everett Millais, The Lady of Shalott, 1854, pen, brown ink and wash on paper, Art Gallery of South Australia, Elder Bequest Fund 1901. 18. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The loving cup, c.1867, gouache on paper, Art Gallery of South Australia, Elder Bequest Fund 1901. 19. Edward Burne-Jones, Perseus and Andromeda, 1876, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of South Australia, Elder Bequest Fund 1902. 20. Edward Burne-Jones, J. H. Dearle, Morris & Company, The Adoration of the Magi, 1900- 02, designed 1887, wool and silk tapestry, Art Gallery of South Australia, Morgan Thomas Bequest Fund 1917. 21. , Christ and the two Marys, 1847 & 1897, oil on canvas over wood panel, Art Gallery of South Australia, d’Auvergne Boxall Bequest Fund 1964. 22. Installation photograph of Morris & Co. exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, 2003. 23. Edward Burne-Jones, J. H. Dearle, Morris & Company, Federation, 1900-01, coloured glass, lead, Art Gallery of South Australia, gift of Javier & Arantza Moll 2007. 24. Cover of Christopher Menz, Morris and Company: Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts & Craft Movement (1994). 25. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, watercolour, 1867, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1956. 26. Ford Madox Brown, The finding of Don Juan by Haidee, 1869, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1905. 27. Edward Burne-Jones, Ladies and Death, date unknown, pen and ink over pencil laid down on thin card, National Gallery of Victoria, 1898. 28. Edward Burne-Jones, The Ascension, 1884, brown gouache and charcoal, heightened with white and blue, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1906. 29. Edward Burne-Jones, Ascension, 1874, pencil on paper, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1906, collection of Lawrence W. Hodson. 30. Ford Madox Brown, The Baptism of Edwin, King of Northumbria, 1879-1891, pastel, coloured chalks and grey wash on paper, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1905. 31. William Holman Hunt, The Lady of Shalott, 1850, black chalk, pen and ink on paper, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1921. 32. William Holman Hunt, The Lady of Shalott, Headpiece for Alfred Tennyson’s poem Lady of Shalott, published London: E. Moxon, 1857. 33. Arthur Hughes, Fair Rosamund, 1854, oil on cardboard, National Gallery of Victoria, gift of Miss Eva Gilchrist in memory of her uncle P. A. Daniel, 1956.

34. John Everett Millais, The Rescue, 1855, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, 1924. 35. Edward Burne-Jones, The Wheel of Fortune, 1871-1885, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1909. 36. Edward Burne-Jones, The garden of Pan, 1886-1887, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1919. 37. Cover of A. Dixon, S. Dean and I. Zdanowicz, The Pre-Raphaelites and their Circle in the National Gallery of Victoria (1978). 38. Cover of R. Healy et al, Fashion and Textiles in the International Collections of the National Gallery of Victoria (2003). 39. Selection of book and DVD covers. 40. William Holman Hunt, Portrait of Walter Howell Deverell, black and red chalk with wash on paper, date unknown, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. 41. Walter Howell Deverell, The grey parrot, c.1852-53, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1913. 42. Walter Howell Deverell, Study for ‘The grey parrot’, date unknown, pen and black and brown ink on paper, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1972. 43. William Holman Hunt, Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Bt, 1853, chalk on paper, National Portrait Gallery, London, gift of L.G. Esmond Morse in memory of his father, Sydney Morse 1937. 44. John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, 1853, pencil and wash on paper, National Portrait Gallery, London 1985. 45. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, pencil and white chalk on paper, 1847, National Portrait Gallery, London 1891. 46. Arthur Hughes after William Holman Hunt, The Pre-Raphaelite Meeting, 1848. Published in William Holman Hunt, Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1905. 47. John Everett Millais, Frederick George Stephens, 1853 pencil on paper, National Portrait Gallery, London, gift of the sitter's son, Holman Stephens 1929. 48. William Holman Hunt, F. G. Stephens, 1847, oil on mahogany, Tate, London, bequeathed by H.F. Stephens 1932. 49. Ford Madox Brown, (1829-1919) by lamplight, 1856, oil on panel, National Trust, UK. 50. Fra Angelico, Annunciation, 1430-32, fresco, San Marco, Florence. 51. Buonamico Buffalmacco, The Triumph of Death, 1360s, fresco, Camposanto, Pisa. 52. Luca Giordano, Rape of the Sabine Women, 1672-74, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Australia, purchased 2000. 53. William Etty, The Golden Age, c.1840, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Florence Turner Blake Bequest 1968. 54. Edwin Landseer, Scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania and Bottom, 1848-1851, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1932. 55. Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, oil on oak, National Gallery, London, purchased 1842. 56. Jean August Dominique Ingres, Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière, 1806, oil on canvas, Louvre. 57. Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Annunciation, 1818, oil on canvas, Nationalgalerie, Berlin. 58. , Madonna and Child, 1845, oil on canvas, Royal Collection, London. 59. John Everett Millais, Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru, 1846, oil on canvas, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, bequeathed by Henry Hodgkinson.

60. * John Everett Millais, Lorenzo and Isabella, 1848-49, oil on canvas, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. 61. John Everett Millais, Isabella, head study of the youth, 1848, pencil on paper, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. 62. William Holman Hunt, Rienzi, 1848-49, oil on canvas, private collection. 63. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, 1848-49, oil on canvas, Tate, London, bequeathed by Lady Jekyll 1937. 64. William Holman Hunt, My Beautiful Lady, etching published in , Vol. 1, 1850. 65. Frontispiece to The Germ, Vol. 1, 1850. 66. John Everett Millais, Lovers by a rosebush, date unknown, pen and ink on paper, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. 67. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Dante Drawing an Angel, 1848-49, pen on paper. 68. John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents (‘The Carpenter’s Shop’), 1849-50, oil on Canvas, Tate, London, purchased with assistance from the Art Fund and various subscribers 1921. 69. John Rogers Herbert, The Youth of Our Lord, 1847, oil on canvas, Guildhall Art Gallery, London. 70. John Everett Millais, , 1851, oil on mahogany, Tate, London, accepted by HM Government in lieu of tax and allocated to the Tate Gallery 1999. 71. William Holman Hunt, , 1850, oil on mahogany, Tate, London, Chantrey Bequest 1919. 72. John Everett Millais, , 1854, oil on canvas, private collection. 73. William Holman Hunt, , oil on canvas, 1851, . 74. * William Holman Hunt, , 1853, oil on canvas, Tate, London, presented by Sir Colin and Lady Anderson through the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1976. 75. William Holman Hunt, The Light of the World, 1854, oil on canvas, Keble College, Oxford. 76. William Holman Hunt, , 1870-73, oil on canvas, Manchester Art Gallery 1883. 77. John Everett Millais, , 1851-52, oil on canvas, Tate, London, presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894. 78. John Everett Millais, , 1856, oil on canvas, Manchester Art Gallery 1892. 79. John Everett Millais, The Order of Release, 1852-53, oil on canvas, Tate, London, presented by Sir Henry Tate 1898. 80. John Everett Millais, Hearts are Trumps, 1872, oil on canvas, Tate, London, Chantrey Bequest 1945. 81. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Beatrice meeting Dante at a marriage feast, denies him her salutation, 1852, watercolour and bodycolour on paper, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased with funds provided by John Schaeffer 2003. 82. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Blue Bower, 1865, oil on canvas, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, London 1959. 83. * Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The wedding of St George, 1864, watercolour and bodycolour on paper, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased with funds provided by John Schaeffer 2003. 84. Edward Burne-Jones, Blessed Damozel, 1871-1878, oil on canvas, Harvard Art Museums, Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop, 1943. 85. Thomas Woolner, Portrait of Sir James Martin, 1854, bronze medallion, Art Gallery of New South Wales, gift of Mr L. Beaton 1973. 86. William Morris, La Belle Iseult, 1858, oil on canvas, Tate, London, bequeathed by Miss May Morris 1939.

87. Robert Herdman, The Fern Gatherer, 1864, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, purchased by Sir Charles Eastlake, 1864. 88. John Everett Millais, , 1856, oil on canvas, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, presented by the Rt Hon William Kendrick, 1892. 89. John Bedford, La Belle Yseult, 1863, oil on panel, National Gallery of Victoria, purchased by Sir Charles Eastlake, 1864. 90. , La Belle Isolde, 1862, oil on canvas, private collection. 91. Christian Waller, , c.1927, linocut, National Gallery of Australia, purchased 1981. 92. Napier Waller, The Questing knight, linocut 1923, National Gallery of Victoria. 93. William Holman Hunt, The Light of the World, 1854, oil on canvas, Keble College, Oxford. 94. Nineteenth-century publication on The Light of the World, produced at the time of the painting’s tour of Melbourne. 95. Brooks, Robinson & Co., Light of the World, stained glass window adapted from Holman Hunt’s work, 1947, St Thomas’, Werribee. 96. Ford Madox Brown, The finding of Don Juan by Haidee, 1869, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1905. 97. Ford Madox Brown, The Entombment, c.1866-78, watercolour on paper, National Gallery of Victoria Australia, Felton Bequest 1905. 98. Ford Madox Brown, The Baptism of Edwin, King of Northumbria, 1879-1891, pastel, coloured chalks and grey wash on paper, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1905. 99. Edward Burne-Jones, Studies for ‘’, c.1875, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1906. 100. Edward Burne-Jones, Studies for ‘The Golden Stairs’, c.1875, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1906. 101. Edward Burne-Jones, The Golden Stairs, 1880, oil on canvas, Tate, London, bequeathed by Lord Battersea 1924. 102. John Everett Millais, Diana Vernon, 1880, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1914. 103. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Study for ‘St Catherine’ (formerly Miss Siddall painting at her easel), c.1856-57, pencil and wash, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1920. 104. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, St Catherine, 1857, oil on canvas, Tate, London, bequeathed by Mrs Emily Toms in memory of her father, Joseph Kershaw 1931. 105. John Everett Millais, The Rescue, 1855, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, 1924. 106. Wood engravings by William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais for Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott (London: E. Moxon, 1957), National Gallery of Victoria, gift of Sir Percival Serle 1927. 107. William Holman Hunt, The Lady of Shalott, engraving for Lord Alfred Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott (London: E. Moxon, 1957), National Gallery of Victoria, gift of Sir Percival Serle 1927. 108. Edward Burne-Jones, Study for ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ (The Slave), c.1870, chalk and bodycolour on paper, National Gallery of Victoria 1957. 109. Edward Burne-Jones, Study for ‘The Briar Rose’, c.1870-90, gouache on brown paper, National Gallery of Victoria, purchased 1958. 110. Edward Burne-Jones, The Briar Rose series: The Price enters the Briar Wood, c.1870-90, oil on canvas, Buscot Park. 111. Edward Burne-Jones, Study for ‘Cupid finding Psyche’, 1870, pencil on paper, National Gallery of Victoria, presented by Mrs Montagu Grover 1959.

112. Edward Burne-Jones, Cupid and Psyche, c.1870, watercolour, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. 113. Edward Burne-Jones, Portrait of , c.1870, watercolour. Clemens- Sels-Museum, Germany. 114. The Royal School of Art Needlework, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones designers, 115. Poesis, c.1880, wool and cotton tapestry, National Gallery of Victoria, purchased through the Art Foundation with the assistance of Miss Flora Macdonald Anderson and Mrs Ethel Elizabeth Ogilvy Lumsden 1992. 116. Edward Burne-Jones, Portrait of Baronne Madeleine Deslandes, 1895-96, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, purchased through the NGV Foundation with the assistance of an anonymous donor, 2005. 117. Edward Burne-Jones, Study for ‘Portrait of Baronne Madeleine Deslandes’, c.1895, pencil on paper, National Gallery of Victoria, purchased 2007 with assistance of anonymous donor.

References:

Colin Cruise, Pre-Raphaelite Drawing, London & New York: Thames & Hudson, 2011.

Kate Flint, ‘Criticism, Language and Narrative,’ in The Victorians and the Visual Imagination, Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 197-368.

Dianne Sachko Macleod, ‘Pre-Raphaelitism: Progressive or Regressive?’ in Art and the Victorian Middle Class: Money and the Making of Cultural Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 139-208.

Jan March, The Pre-Raphaelite Circle, London: National Portrait Gallery, 2013.

Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde (ex. cat.), edited by Tim Barringer, Jason Rosenfeld and Alison Smith, London: Tate Publishing, 2012.

Pre-Raphaelite Vision: Truth to Nature, edited by Allen Stanley and Christopher Newall, London: Tate Publishing, 2004.

Elizabeth Prettejohn, The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.

Stuart Sillars, ‘Pre-Raphaelite Meridian,’ in Shakespeare, Time and the Victorians: A Pictorial Exploration, Cambridge & New York, Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 71-100, 325-328.

Joyce Townsend, Pre-Raphaelite Painting Techniques: 1849-56, London: Tate, 2004.

Marcia Werner, Pre-Raphaelite Painting and Nineteenth-Century Realism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Images:

Ford Madox Brown, Chaucer at the Court of Edward III, 1847-1851, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1876.

Edward Burne-Jones, The fight: St George kills the dragon VI, 1866, oil on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, gift of Arthur Moon KC in memory of his mother, Emma, born in Sydney in 1860, the daughter of John de Villers Lamb 1950.

John Everett Millais, Lorenzo and Isabella, 1848-49, oil on canvas, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The wedding of St George, 1864, watercolour and bodycolour on paper, Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased with funds provided by John Schaeffer 2003.

William Holman Hunt, The Awakening Conscience, 1853, oil on canvas, Tate, London, presented by Sir Colin and Lady Anderson through the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1976.