Book Description

The long and stellar career of John Everett Millais (1829-1896) hasbeen framed in terms of his rise to notoriety as an original member of the Pre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood followed by a compromising descent into comfortable success as a popularpainter and leading figure in the Royal Academy. But this dismissal of Millais's post- Raphaelite work overlooks more than forty years of artistic endeavor and distinction. Inthis book, nine scholars reexamine Millais's entire career from a variety of perspectives,arriving at a new vision of his place in the history of British art and finding that fame andrecognition did not represent the end of this important Victorian artist's development. The contributors consider the whole fabric of Millais's work, seeking the patterns ofcontinuity through his career. They acknowledge the significance of Millais's associationwith the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood yet place that brief phase into the context of hisentire body of work. Exploring such topics as Millais's position among contemporaryartists; his active interests in theater, literature, and science; his life-long love of nature;his role as a celebrity and a popular artist; and his enduring fascination with the poignantspecter of mortality, the book presents a portrait of Millais not limited by the parametersof the Pre-Raphaelite movement. It is a portrait of a supremely gifted artist, a rival ofFrederic Leighton, and a counterpart to Alfred Lord Tennyson. ... Read more

Book Description

Among the notorious Victorian artists who called themselves Pre-Raphaelites, the most renowned was John Everett Millais. A fascinating, wonderfully diverse individual, he knew nearly "everybody who was anybody." Well-honored by his peers, he was, for forty years, Britain's most popular artist. The350 paintings he produced displayed their creator's remarkable versatility: Millais was a master of historical, mythological, Biblical, and literary subjects as well as landscapes and portraits. Astonishingly, there has been no full-length biography of Millais for a hundred years, so much of G.H. Fleming's material has never before appeared in a book. This vivid, authoritative portrait is a long-overdue contribution to art history. G.H. Fleming, an authority on the Victorian period, is the author of nine books, including Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Young Whistler, and Whistler: A Life. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

LOADED WITH WONDERFUL INFORMATION
I would highly recommend this book on John Everett Millais for anyone who has an interest in the life of this incredibly talented painter. From his early induction into the Royal Academy to his death, this book seems to uncover every aspect imaginable, be it good reviews or bad. I could not put it down. My only disappointment is that the photos of his work are all in black and white. I am not a scholar, but a layman with a keen interest in learning of the man behind such outstanding pieces as My First Sermon. I will read this book again and again, it is that interesting. ... Read more

Book Description

A handsome large-format monograph on the career and major workof the most successful British painter of the Victorian era. Now inpaperback, featuring 55 fine color reproductions. John Everett Millais(1829-96) was a child prodigy who entered the Royal Academy at theunprecedented age of eleven; he later rose to prominence as one of thefounders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. In the view of theillustrious writer John Ruskin, he was ``the most powerful of themall.'' He achieved fame and wealth as the painter of some of the era'smost popular pictures; he was equally at home with historical,literary, and religious themes as well as landscapes, genre paintings,and society portraits. His private life was considered scandalous (heran off with Ruskin's wife), yet he rose to the highest ranks ofBritish society. This elegant monograph celebrates the life and work ofthe great Pre-Raphaelite master, presenting 55 color reproductions ofhis finest work. Russell Ash's many works on art include TheImpressionists and Their Art and Toulouse Lautrec: The CompletePosters. 96 pp 7 1/2 x 10 55 color illustrations ... Read more

Reviews (1)

good reproductions, plodding text
Well researched, lively and accurate, but really just a traditional account of Millais' career, telling us little new about the paintings. Ash stumbles on reviews which could have suggested a radical re-evaluation of Millais's late work, but he ignores the evidence. Nevertheless, it's wonderful to have reproductions of such neglected marvels as 'Caller Herrin' and the 'Ornithologist'. The reproductions are the thing here. ... Read more

Book Description

John Everett Millais (1829-1896) was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the quintessential English gentleman artist. A Baronet and president of the Royal Academy, Millais produced some of the most famous images of his time. His first Pre-Raphaelite work, The Carpenter's Shop, had a dramatic effect on the critics; Charles Dickens famously described his portrayal of the Christ child as a "hideous, wry-necked, blubbering, red-haired boy in a night-gown." Author Christine Riding analyzes his artistic career, his critics, and his audience, exploring the broader issues that preoccupied his contemporaries on the subject of art itself. ... Read more

Amazon.com

John Everett Millais is still thought of mostly as a Pre-Raphaelite painter, but a much longer portion of his career was devoted to painting the portraits of the Victorian rich and famous. Not only did this prove extraordinarily lucrative--Millais earned what by today's standards would be millions from his portraits--it offered one of the most talented 19th-century painters the chance to fashion powerful and memorable images of the people of his age. This book is the catalog to the 1999 Millais Portrait exhibition debuting at the National Gallery in London and traveling around the United States. It is a much more handsome production than most catalogs. The pictures are beautifully reproduced, and in place of the often bland catalog commentary are essays from four leading art historians on Millais's early and Pre-Raphaelite portraits and his portraits of children, women, and men of power. Altogether, these writings provide an absorbing historical and critical context for the pictures. It is in the contrast between a Millais portrait of an old woman in black (Isabella Heugh, 1872) and the more famous portrait by James Whistler of his mother (Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, 1871) that Millais's talent as a portraitist is precisely articulated. Isabella Heugh is not only full of character but the canvass itself is dynamic and involving with its potent color scheme and diagonal composition. Next to it, Whistler's famous image seems flat and denuded. --Adam Roberts ... Read more

Reviews (1)

lovely pictures
Great reproductions: gorgeous glowing colours in all their glory. Plodding text, though. Some good scholarly work - and for the first time Millais' later paintings are being taken with the seriousness they deserve. But that's about it really. We still get told the ol' story for the most part.

Buy it for he pictures (well worth it), for the information (worth it), but not the ideas (there aren't that many). ... Read more