Clik here to view.
John Everett Millais: only briefly Pre-Raphaelite
John Everett Millais (1829–1896) was a child prodigy and co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB). He started his studies at the Royal Academy Schools in London when he was only eleven years...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A snapshot of 1916 in paintings and painters
The year that William Merritt Chase and Thomas Eakins died, 1916, was an eclectic year for painting, as the Masters of the nineteenth century handed over to the tigers of the twentieth century. Here is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
William Merritt Chase: a life in painting, 4 1901-1916
This is the fourth and last in the series of biographical articles to commemorate the centenary of the death of the American Master painter William Merritt Chase (1849–1916). This instalment covers the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Story in Paintings: Aesculapius or Asclepius
In the second of my recent articles on Sir Edward Poynter, I included a painting of his titled A Visit to Aesculapius (1880), noting that it showed an unusual motif. Just how unusual? If you look at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
William Merritt Chase, 1849-1916: in memoriam
William Merrit Chase was an American Modern Master: an accomplished and prolific portraitist, painter of glorious Impressionist landscapes, and a dedicated teacher whose influence extends into the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema: classics go Aesthetic, 1
The four artists whose reputations bore the brunt of the early twentieth-century rush through Post-Impressionism to Modernism were John Singer Sargent, Frederick, Lord Leighton, Sir Edward Poynter, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema: classics go Aesthetic, 2
In the previous article, I looked at a selection of paintings by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) up to 1873, by which time he had settled in England and established himself as a successful...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anna Lea Merritt: Art locked out
Some artists are known for just one or two of their works which happen to have been added to public collections. Anna Massey Lea Merritt (1844–1930) is a good example of a prolific woman painter who is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anna Alma-Tadema: An eye for detail
When writing about Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, I mentioned that one of his daughters also became a professional artist, and promised to give an account of her life and work. Here it is. Lawrence...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A portrait of revenge: hell hath no fury like a painter scorned
Plenty of artists have found themselves at the wrong end of a partner’s fury, but once in a while, a painter manages to get the better of the situation. This is the story of two paintings of Anne...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Alma-Tadema at Fries Museum, the Netherlands, and in Vienna, and London
If you have enjoyed Lawrence Alma-Tadema‘s paintings, you will be delighted to know that there is currently an exhibition of them touring in Europe. It started on 1 October 2016 in the Fries Museum in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema: the woman’s world
Coming from a medical family, it was only appropriate that the three daughters of Dr George Napoleon Epps should have learned to paint – a social skill which would have helped each secure a good...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pre-Raphaelite Landscapes 1: emergence
In 1843, the following advice was published, anonymously, to aspiring painters: [They] should go to Nature in all singleness of heart, and walk with her laboriously and trustingly, having no other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pre-Raphaelite Landscapes 2: truth
The first article looked at the emergence of the earliest pure landscape paintings among the Pre-Raphaelites, what their characteristics are, and how those arose. Central to the Pre-Raphaelite movement...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pre-Raphaelite Landscapes 3: development
In the last article, I considered how early Pre-Raphaelite landscape paintings addressed the need to be true to nature, and its consequences. Although the PRB itself was short-lived, its style caught...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An introduction to rights to use images in blogs and websites
A couple of visitors to this site have asked me for advice about how to use images of paintings, etc., without infringing anyone’s copyright. Although I am not a copyright lawyer, this article explains...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pre-Raphaelite Landscapes 4: John Brett 1
Most artists had abandoned trying to paint Pre-Raphaelite landscapes by about 1862. Perhaps the most persistent painter in Pre-Raphaelite style was John Brett (1831–1902), who by any account continued...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pre-Raphaelite Landscapes 5: John Brett 2
In the last article, I showed some of the long run of Pre-Raphaelite landscapes painted by John Brett (1831–1902) prior to 1870. This article continues by looking at his paintings from 1871 onwards....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Story in Paintings: Wiertz’s weird tales
It’s hard to conceive what life – and death – must have been like in the early nineteenth century. With more people crowding into cities, epidemics of cholera and other diseases were commonplace, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pre-Raphaelite Landscapes 6: British landscape painting in the 19th century
Having completed my short survey of Pre-Raphaelite landscape painting, its characteristics, and difficulties, in this article I’d like to try to set it in the context of British landscape painting...
View Article