Painting, sculpture, architecture, photography and general art history related finds. Feel free to message me any questions, comments or suggestions.

Ford Madox Brown, Work, 1859-63 Check out this video on the Tate Gallery’s website, which features the co-curator of the Tate’s recent Pre-Raphaelites blockbuster show, Tim Barringer, discussing the stories and iconography behind one of Ford Madox Brown’s most famous works.

Ford Madox Brown, Work, 1859-63

Check out this video on the Tate Gallery’s website, which features the co-curator of the Tate’s recent Pre-Raphaelites blockbuster show, Tim Barringer, discussing the stories and iconography behind one of Ford Madox Brown’s most famous works.

Ford Madox Brown, 1860, Walton-on-the-Naze From the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource: The artist and his family stayed in Walton-on-the-Naze, a small town on the Essex coast, in August 1859. The gentleman on the left discussing the beauty of the scene is undoubtedly a self-portait of Brown. The lady and the little girl, drying their hair after bathing, are his wife Emma and their daughter Catherine. The scene is concerned with the theme of leisure, and the developing mid-nineteenth century interest in tourism. Londoners could reach the resort by steamer - visible on the horizon. The tourists are contrasted against the world of work represented by the stacks of wheat in the foreground, the smoking factory in the background and the ships in the estuary.

Ford Madox Brown, 1860, Walton-on-the-Naze

From the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource:

The artist and his family stayed in Walton-on-the-Naze, a small town on the Essex coast, in August 1859. The gentleman on the left discussing the beauty of the scene is undoubtedly a self-portait of Brown. The lady and the little girl, drying their hair after bathing, are his wife Emma and their daughter Catherine. The scene is concerned with the theme of leisure, and the developing mid-nineteenth century interest in tourism. Londoners could reach the resort by steamer - visible on the horizon. The tourists are contrasted against the world of work represented by the stacks of wheat in the foreground, the smoking factory in the background and the ships in the estuary.

Ford Madox Brown, 1851-92, Take Your Son, Sir! My course studies this term have introduced me to the Pre-Raphaelites and their position in the development of modern art. We have looked in depth at this unfinished piece by Ford Madox Brown (a Pre-Raphaelite associate, not an official Brotherhood member) and discussed it as a modern life subject. Some of the articles and readings I looked at described how the woman’s identity has been interpreted in two significant ways: the first is her as a wife passing her newborn child to her husband (identified as us, the viewer, in the halo-like mirror behind her head), and the second is that she is an abandoned mistress and the child is a bastard. For me, the title of the painting suits the latter interpretation far better; I can almost imagine her saying Take Your Son, Sir! in an accusatory tone as she hands over her illegitimate child.

Ford Madox Brown, 1851-92, Take Your Son, Sir!

My course studies this term have introduced me to the Pre-Raphaelites and their position in the development of modern art. We have looked in depth at this unfinished piece by Ford Madox Brown (a Pre-Raphaelite associate, not an official Brotherhood member) and discussed it as a modern life subject. Some of the articles and readings I looked at described how the woman’s identity has been interpreted in two significant ways: the first is her as a wife passing her newborn child to her husband (identified as us, the viewer, in the halo-like mirror behind her head), and the second is that she is an abandoned mistress and the child is a bastard. For me, the title of the painting suits the latter interpretation far better; I can almost imagine her saying Take Your Son, Sir! in an accusatory tone as she hands over her illegitimate child.
Millie Smith by Ford Madox Brown, 1876

Millie Smith by Ford Madox Brown, 1876

Romeo and Juliet

This classic Shakespearean romantic pairing doesn’t really need an introduction. There are so many visual versions of the most famous scenes from this tragic love story, (mainly the infamous balcony meeting and the devastating death scene at the end of the play). These are some of my favourite depictions of both Romeo and Juliet, (there are some lovely paintings of Juliet on her own which I will try and post shortly). 

Top to bottom: Sir Frank Dicksee, 1884; Joseph Wright of Derby, c.1790; Ilyas Phaizulline, 2007; Ford Madox Brown, n.d; Konstantin Makovsky, c.1890s