Culture: A Walk Through British Art History - Meet The Pre-Raphaelites & The Victorians @ Tate Britain London

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - My wife and I are staying in Vauxhall, the first part of our long London visit. The place is relatively close to the Tate Britain where admission is free. That inspires us to visit the museum more times. I already reported about their Van Gogh show ( driveby). We are exploring also their regular collection which is displayed in chronological order, each room contains a certain historical period, beginning in the mid-sixteens century. I blogged already about their collection through the early 19th century  (driveby  ). During our next visit we focused on the 19th century art and artists which are called Pre-Raphaelites  & The Victorians. Here I present my favorites from , a very subjective selection as usual.

 

The Pre-Raphaelites was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848  ( wikipedia ). According to Wikipedia "the group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what it considered the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Its members believed the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art, hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite". I like their unique style which is flamboyant and sensual. The Victorians existed during the long regency of Queen Victoria (1837 until 1901 ), the Victorian epoch  ( wikipedia ).

 

Above you can see 2 famous Pre-Raphaelite ladies: Dante Gabriel Rossetti`s "Proserpine from 1874" followed by Théodore Roussel`s The Reading Girl from 1886–7. 

 

Above Simeon Solomon`s "A Youth Relating Tales to Ladies from 1870" .

 

Above details from Sir John Everett Millais, Bt`s "Christ in the House of His Parents (‘The Carpenter’s Shop’)"  from 1849–50.

 

Above Augustus Leopold Egg`s "Past and Present, No. 1 from 1858".  The  curators explain "the theme of the triptych is the discovery of the woman's infidelity and its consequences. In this first scene the wife lies prostrate at her husband's feet, while he sits grimly at the table and their children (the older girl modelled by William Frith's daughter) play cards in the background. The husband is holding a letter, evidence of his wife's adultery, and simultaneously crushes a miniature of her lover under his foot. The setting is an ordinary middle-class drawing room, but closer observation reveals that the room is full of symbols. Egg was clearly influenced in his approach by Holman Hunt's The Awakening Conscience of 1853 (Manchester City Art Galleries). The house of cards is collapsing, signifying the breakdown of the couple's marriage. The cards are supported by a novel by Balzac - a specialist in the theme of adultery. An apple has been cut in two, the one half (representing the wife) has fallen to the floor, the other (representing the husband) has been stabbed to the core. As a parallel, the two pictures on the wall depict the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden (labelled The Fall); and a shipwreck by Clarkson Stanfield (labelled Abandoned). The couple's individual portraits hang beneath the appropriate image". 
.

 

Above Walter Crane`s "The Renaissance of Venus"  from 1877.

 

Above Stanhope Alexander Forbes` "The health of the Bride" from 1889 &  Richard Redgrave`s "The Sempstress" from 1846.

 

Above William Frederick Yearnes` "Amy Robsart" from 1877 & Atkinson Grimshaw`s "Liverpool Quay by Moonlight"  from 1887.

 

To be continued