Mid-Victorian Illustration Visit the PRS website at www.pre-raphaelitesociety.org www.dmvi.cf.ac.uk/

The Database of Mid-Victorian The Illuminated Books Project The Pre-Raphaelite Society Number 17 Illustration, which was funded www.illuminated-books.com/ Newsletter of the Summer 2007 in 2004 to digitize and index a The Illuminated Books Project is a private non-profit, sampling from the 1860s heyday collaborative effort of three individuals, Alfredo Malchiodi, of wood-engraved illustration, is Anita Malchiodi and Carlos Alonso Cabezas. They share a now online. vision to make available, in high-resolution, many illuminated The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s American Cousins and illustrated books from their private collections. Royal W. Leith A team at Cardiff University did membership exceed 27. The These books are mainly from the Victorian period and has overseen the reproduction, During the 1850s several Association itself was short-lived. It include works from the Arts and Crafts Movement and description, and subject tagging of met for the last time in March 1864, private presses, extending from 1800s to the 1920s. factors contributed to the birth of a Pre- almost 900 such illustrations from In the selection of books exhibited, particular emphasis is Raphaelite movement in the United admitting Henry Roderick Newman a selection of major illustrated publications, taking 1862 as the given to the illustration, illumination and book design over States late in that decade. Among the to its ranks just before formally sample year. the literary content. most important were: the enormous disbanding. Moore and Newman, popularity of ’s writings; however, remained practicing Pre- The aim of the project was to digitize and mount on a publicly English Heritage’s Viewfinder Picture Archive an exhibition of several hundred Raphaelites for the remainder of accessible website a cross section of illustrations from different http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/ pieces of British art, including several their long lives, and through their literary texts and by a range of artists and engravers. The year ViewFinder presents a selection of historic and more important Pre-Raphaelite paintings influence they cultivated a younger 1862 was chosen because it saw the emergence and growth of recent photographs from the National Monuments Record’s that visited , , generation of artists, centering major illustrated periodicals, including the Cornhill Magazine important collections, dating from the 1840s to the present and Boston in 1857-8; and the nearly mainly around , and Good Words, and allowed for the inclusion of familiar day. All the photographs are presented seamlessly on in the ideas of John Ruskin and illustrated works like Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, ViewFinder, allowing users to search across the whole simultaneous arrival in America of a the practice of Pre-Raphaelitism. illustrated by her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, alongside archive at once. young English artist named Thomas those that are less well known. Charles Farrer, who had actually American and English Pre- The Helen Allingham Society learned to draw from Ruskin himself. Raphaelitism differed greatly from Of course, these pictures only represent a fraction of the range www.helenallingham.com/ Farrer eventually became each other. Whereas the English Pre- of images that appeared in books and periodicals in the period, Devoted to the appreciation of the life and works of one of the leader of the American Raphaelites mostly adhered to the but the database gives a sense of the richness of the material the finest watercolour artists of Victorian times. counterparts to the English Pre- tradition of large oil paintings with and the place of illustration in Victorian visual culture. Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group figurative subjects, mainly historical, Poemhunter mythological, religious or literary, in www.poemhunter.com that called itself The Association for Paul Goldman, familiar to the Pre-Raphaelite Society as an This database, which originates from France, contains the Advancement of Truth in Art. contrast, the Americans took to heart expert on 19th century book illustration, served as project 168,207 poems from 16,474 poets. The Association consisted of eight Ruskin’s exhortation to “go to nature,” advisor. founding members when it came into adapting Pre-Raphaelitism to the View of Florence from the East being at a meeting in Farrer’s New Henry Roderick Newman, American landscape tradition dating 1888, 14 x 7 7/8 inches Private collection York studio on January 27, 1863. Only back to the 1830s. Indeed, Moore was “To see him has always been a pleasure; his voice has always been a sweet sound in my two members of the group were actual artists, Farrer and friendly with the son of , founder of the Hudson ears. Behind his back I have never heard him praised without joining the eulogist; Charles Herbert Moore, and at no time during its existence River School, and used his painting studio in Catskill, I have never heard a word spoken against him without opposing the censurer. Continued These words, should he ever see them, will come to him from the grave, and will tell him of my regard—as one living man never tells another.” — Anthony Trollope on John Everett Millais on the south and east sides (fig. Rediscovering Vinland 1). Carved capitals and decorative Adrienne Leigh Sharpe scrollwork accentuate the façade. and Sarah Kuchta The iconography on the exterior ranges from Celtic, Nordic, and In the Studios of Paris: William Bouguereau and his American Students In the 1880s, Newport, Runic symbols to other, more Frick Art and Historical Center ■ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ■ July 7, 2007 - October 14, 2007 Rhode Island was a bustling port common medieval motifs, abstract This exhibition, the first to examine Bouguereau’s role as an influential teacher, features paintings, drawings, and prints by city, marked by droves of seasonal geometric patterns, and vegetal Bouguereau and some of his most prominent American students, including: Cecilia Beaux, Minerva Chapman, Eanger Irving visitors and the Gilded Age élite and animal forms. Leaves, vines, Couse, Elizabeth Gardner, Robert Henri, Anna Klumpke, and others. A fully-illustrated color catalogue will accompany the who decided to build summer flowers, and grape clusters appear exhibition. “cottages” on the water. In 1882, at intervals, and cover a portion Catharine Lorillard Wolfe — at of each façade. In addition, a Great British Watercolors from the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art that time, the single richest woman figurehead of a Viking ship ■ ■ Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Richmond, Virginia July 11, 2007 - September 30, 2007 in America — commissioned appears at the northeast corner This major exhibition, spanning approximately 100 years from the emergence of watercolor painting in the mid-18th century Peabody and Stearns to build her of the roof. to its high point in the late-19th century, investigates a historically important technique - a medium that was for a time greatly Fig. 1 Vinland, Newport, Rhode Island dream cottage there. Peabody Vi n l a n d o r i g i n a l l y underappreciated. Through his patronage, Paul Mellon helped initiate a reassessment of this demanding technique. and Stearns, a renowned architectural firm from Boston, featured an interior decorative scheme by the British design Massachusetts, had recently designed the Breakers (1877- firm of Morris & Company. Lavish details such as Morris & 78) for her cousin, Pierre Lorillard. A close neighbor to the Company’s recognizable stained glass windows, portières, All material for publication in the PRSUS Newsletter For general inquiries and membership should be addressed to the Editor: information please contact the Secretary: Breakers, Vinland would also be located along the Cliff embroideries, and carpets combined to create a Nordic Tim McGee Barry C. Johnson Walk. theme. 1209 Palm Avenue 37 Larchmere Drive Vinland is an excellent example of Peabody and Catharine Lorillard Wolfe became interested in San Mateo, California 94402 USA Hall Green Stearns’s 1880s design work. The mansion was initially Icelandic history after viewing the legendary Old Stone Registered Charity: 1095111 [email protected] Birmingham, B28 8JB, England built as a long, low structure in the Romanesque Revival Mill in Newport, supposedly built by Vikings during their style, complete with turrets, bay windows, and porticoes Continued Rediscovering Vinland Continued PRB’s American Cousins Continued New England settlement. It was this Viking heritage that inspired the name The Victorian House New York during the 1860s. Unlike the Hudson River painters, of Lorillard Wolfe’s estate, “Vinland.” Also fascinated with Icelandic stories, Judith Flanders however, the American Pre-Raphaelites preferred watercolor over HarperPerennial; William Morris traveled to Iceland, learned the Icelandic language, and oil paint. Most notably, they used a minute, painstakingly detailed New Ed edition translated many sagas. For Morris, Iceland represented both escape and technique that greatly limited the size and number of their works. isolation and romance and happiness. Utilizing such contrasting themes The Association’s infl uence stretched beyond its brief An incisive and added an air of mystique to the Vinland home, showcasing the imaginative 14-month existence. Its monthly journal, called The New Path, irresistible portrait of nature of both Lorillard Wolfe and Morris. continued for two years. Furthermore, during the 1860s, the Victorian domestic life. Above all, the highlight of this interior was the stained glass window American Pre-Raphaelites steadily gained power and prestige, The book itself is itself provided by Morris & Company for the fi rst-fl oor landing at Vinland. reaching their zenith in 1867. Founding Association member Peter laid out like a house, Designed by Burne-Jones in conjunction with Morris, the window was Bonnett Wight completed the new National Academy of Design following the story of originally composed of nine lights or panes; three rows of three lights each daily life from room to building in 1865 and Yale’s new fi ne arts home, Street Hall, in 1866, (fi g. 2). In the top portion, the Sun and room. Through a collage both designed according to Ruskin’s Gothic Revival architectural of diaries, letters, advice the Moon fl ank the middle window, principles; American Pre-Raphaelites were instrumental in the books, magazines and the centerpiece of which is a Viking creation of the American Society of Painters in Watercolor in paintings, Flanders ship complete with roaring fi gurehead 1866, which represented an important step in the elevation of shows how social “a toss” on the sea (fi g. 3). The central watercolor, the Pre-Raphaelite medium, to a status equal to oil; history is built up out portion of the window presents the former Association members Clarence Cook and Russell Sturgis of tiny domestic details, through which we can Norse gods Thor, Odin, and Frey as were art critics for the New York Tribune and The Nation, powerful understand the desires, motivations and thoughts seated figures placed centrally with positions from which they acted as advocates for the American of the age. The houses are familiar, but the lives their respective castles nestled into Pre-Raphaelites; and fi nally, at the fi rst exhibition of the American are not. The Victorian House will change all that. rocky landscapes behind them. Society of Painters in Watercolor, 40 American Pre-Raphaelite The lower portion of the window works were shown, and, later that year, features three full-length figures, an exhibition celebrating the opening of Thorfi nn, his wife Gudridr, and ‘Leif the Street Hall featured 69 Pre-Raphaelite Lucky’ or Leif Erikson, renowned for Fig. 3 works, a quarter of all pictures shown. The Last Ruskinians their travels and exploration of North Nonetheless, the movement Harvard University Art Museum America. The men are dressed in full suits of armor and their helmets bear 2007 never really caught on with the public a strong similarity to those that appear in the early work of Burne-Jones. or with many artists outside the small The catalogue accompanying the Last Viewers today can only piece together the original artistic vision for core of former Association members. Ruskinians exhibition examines Ruskin’s Fig. 2 Vinland through archives and scrapbooks, as the house was deconstructed Newman wrote about “a gentleman signifi cant infl uence on taste, collecting, and many of the furnishings redistributed. Archival records can be found at from Chicago [who] called…with some and art instruction, with special emphasis the Newport Historical Society, the Headquarters of the Preservation Society of Newport County, Salve Regina University’s New York ladies…. The gentleman on the role of his close friend and McKillop Library, and the Delaware Art Museum. Recently, new information regarding the Vinland windows has come to wanted me to do some work for him, but emissary in America, . light; it seems that fi ve of the windows were offered for sale at an auction in 1993, and are currently housed in a private after looking over my studies concluded The 104-page catalogue contains 57 color collection. Further study of these windows will undoubtedly contribute to our understanding of Morris & Company’s legacy that I was too Pre-Raphaelite… I fi nd and 24 black-and-white illustrations. in the United States. that Pre-Raphs are not fashionable here. ‘They are so ultra.’” Artists were Adrienne Leigh Sharpe recently completed her MA at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in NYC, reluctant to invest the considerable time focusing on Victorian art and architecture. She is a member of the Victorian Society in America and a governing board member of the William Morris required to produce Pre-Raphaelite work. Moore wrote that it took Society in the United States. him about three to four hours to fi nish a section the size of his Performing the Victorian Sarah Kuchta is a second-year MA student at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT, studying art therapy. thumb-tip. Newman said, much later, after many years of practice, Sharon Aronofsky Weltman that he spent an hour on each square inch of his watercolors. In works as celebrated The American Collections Thus, by the end of the decade, the American Pre- as Modern Painters and Raphaelite movement ended. T.C. Farrer, who had led the obscure as Love’s Meinie, Among the many amazing collections at Princeton University Library is the Henry Virtue movement, returned to England in 1869, first to visit, then Ruskin uses his voracious Tebbs collection of Pre-Raphaelite photographs. Henry Virtue Tebbs (1846-??) was a permanently in 1871, and though he continued to paint, he attendance at the theater to close friend and admirer of Rossetti, and many letters to him and his wife Emily are completely abandoned the Pre-Raphaelite style. So, to varying illustrate points about social recorded among Rossetti’s correspondence. He bought works by Rossetti, promoted degrees, did other artists affiliated with the movement, justice, aesthetic practice, and epistemology. his work, and after his death wrote the preface to the 1883 exhibition of Rossetti at the including Farrer’s brother Henry, the eminent academician Burlington Fine Arts Club. His intimacy with the artist was such that he was among a very , and Richards’s protégé Fidelia Bridges. few to be present at the disinterment of Rossetti’s wife, Elizabeth Siddal, in 1869 when he In 1985 the Brooklyn Museum organized the superb In addition to Ruskin on theater, Performing the wished to rescue the manuscript volume of poems which he had buried with her. exhibition “The New Path: Ruskin and the American Pre- Victorian interprets recent The collection consists of mounted photographs of drawings and paintings by Dante Raphaelites.” This exhibition resurrected the almost forgotten theater portraying Ruskin Gabriel Rossetti, his wife Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, and a few other members of the story of the American Pre-Raphaelite movement. The story the (The Invention of Love, Pre-Raphaelite circle, put together for or by Henry Virtue Tebbs. Many of the mounts exhibition told ended in the late 1860s. But that story had a The Countess, the opera have been inscribed by Rossetti himself—most importantly, the photographic portfolio sequel, documented by the Fogg Museum’s recently concluded Modern Painters) as of his late wife’s drawings, but also a good number of the “detached” photographs. One Study of Elizabeth Siddal by exhibition “The Last Ruskinians: Charles Eliot Norton, Charles merely a Victorian prude Dante Gabriel Rossetti (photograph) Herbert Moore, and Their Circle.” Readers interested in or pedophile against which contemporary culture is inscribed by Rossetti to Tebbs’s wife Emily, and the letter which accompanied the gift defi nes itself. These theatrical depictions may is printed by Dr. William Fredeman. In addition, many of the mounts are inscribed in learning more about the American Pre-Raphaelites are directed Princeton University Library be compared to concurrent plays about Ruskin’s pencil with Tebbs’s name, sometimes with reference to other collectors of the time such to the superb catalogues that accompanied both exhibitions. Manuscripts Division friend and student Oscar Wilde (Gross Indecency: as Charles Fairfax Murray. It is perhaps no coincidence that a number of the originals of these photographs were owned at one point by Fairfax Murray himself. A photograph of a One Washington Road The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Judas Kiss). Princeton, New Jersey well-bearded man also in this collection (item 76) may be of Tebbs. The present collection 08544 USA Royal W. Leith is an independent art historian who teaches at the Buckingham was purchased by Princeton in 2005. www.princeton.edu/~rbsc Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, MA. He is the author of a book and several articles about Henry Roderick Newman.