The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Her Literary Career Flashcards
(14 cards)
When was this group formed and what is the main doctrine?
1848
This movement advocated a return to artistic ideals that preceded the Italian Renaissance, inspired by the works of early Italian and Flemish painters before Raphael.
What are the three main subjects in Pre-Raphaelitism?
What did they capture prior to french impressionists?
Nature and detailed observation
Love and feminine beauty, i.e long luscious red haired women
Spirituality and the quest for ideals
Decade before french impressionists, their brush strokes captured insalubrious subjects from urban life.
Who were the leading members of this movement?
John Everett Millais
William Holman hunt
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
What the main reasons the students wanted to form the brotherhood?
—wanted to spike revolution, as they were dissatisfied with the teaching at RA, and wanted to band as a group.
—believed 19th century art had become lazy, predictable, boring.
—They wanted to reverse emulate the teaching received at RA of form, colour and composition as embodied in the 16th century artist Raphael.
Define ‘Pre-Raphaelite’
Raphael’s paintings/style became very conventionalised and unrealistic; the Brotherhood aimed to return this realistic aspect of art back to before his time.
What did Dante do once dropping out of RA? What was his exhibition in 1850 and what did it contain?
He wanted to work with other painters
He exhibited ‘The Enunciation’ Gabriel visiting Mary to her she’s pregnant.
Gabriel is depicted as a young man instead of a winged angel
Following after the formation of the brotherhood, what did their future look like?
What did John Ruskin write, to who and what occurred?
Their art didn’t sell and had a bleak future.
John Ruskin wrote a letter to the times in favour of their art. He was trusted by the public, so PR artists faced good turning points, i.e introduced new painting techniques and subject matter.
Due to the Industrial Revolution making railways more accessible, what did the brotherhood begin to do? How would they prepare for such excursion?
They began to focus more on landscape painting.
They would prepare paint, i.e powered pigments grounded with a mortar and then mixed with an oil matter — transported in pigs bladder
What is the painting of ‘Ophelia’ by Millais based off and what does it go against?
It is based off the Shakespearean scene from Hamlet — Gertrude describing the tragic death of Ophelia, showing her in the process of drowning.
It goes against the normal viewing of a painting, i.e left and rights are swapped.
What was Rossetti developing an interest in and what was the Brotherhood developing an interest in?
Rossetti — medievalism
Brotherhood — Realism
Who was Lizzie Siddle and what did she develop?
She was one of the main models of the brotherhood and she developed a desire to produce art of her own; she did so with no instruction on the art style so it had a childlike quality as a result.
Christina has never been a direct part of the PRB, but why has her poetry been described as ‘Pre-Raphaelite’? (4 things)
-rich + precise natural detail
-use of symbol
-poignancy
-deliberate medievalism
What are the 8 main influences / aspects of the PRB?
-Radical painting reform
-Sacramental elements
-Desire for realism/truth
-interest in literature, poetry, religious texts
-celebration of / painting in nature
-empathy for fallen women
-interest in Medievalism
-Humanism > Idealism
What could have been 2 of the reasons why Rossetti turned away from poetry to children’s stories/ religious materials instead?
Perhaps she realised that she was unable to write anything better than “Goblin Market” or perhaps her ‘failure’ to surpass her own desires.
