John Ruskin And The Pre-raphaelite Brotherhood

JOHN RUSKIN AND THE PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD

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John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

The term Pre-Raphaelite refers to both literature and art, and it was used by two opposing

movements. The term emerged as a result of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which was an

authoritative team of Avante guard painters around mid 19th century. The group was associated

with John Ruskin a prominent poet, painter and a critic. The group was opposed to the traditional

representation of art that seemed stagnated and unresponsive to the demands of the modern

world. John Ruskin inspired the team to believe that art was a serious subject and should be

treated with maximum realism. He urged the artist to “go to nature” where they could draw their

inspiration. The principle inspiration for the art was religion, poetry, literature, love, and death.

The modern social problems also featured in this movement’s themes. As an artist and a theorist

John Ruskin was inspirational, influential, and a great artist whose influence was experienced in

America, Britain, and other parts of Europe. In 1848, a group of young British painters banded

together in reaction against what they conceived as uncreative and artificial historical paintings

of the Royal Academy, formed the Pre-Raphaelite group coining the name from the period

before Raphael (an Italian artist) when they believed the art was real and imaginative.

Landow (2015), however, argues that the term Pre-Raphaelite is conflicting because it

deduced from two movements with the first movement being associated with Ruskin and other

artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, Algernon Charles Swinburne, and

Christina Rossetti.

As earlier pointed out, the second movement was formed around 1848 to

revitalize arts by the young British artist. This movement was composed of William Holman

George P. Landow, "Pre-Raphaelites: An Introduction," Pre-Raphaelites: An Introduction,

September 5, 2015, , accessed April 23, 2017, http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/1.html.

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Hunt, John Everett Millais, James Collinson, D.G. Rossetti, Thomas Woolner, William Michael

Rossetti, and F. G. Stephens. And although Christina was not an active official she played a

significant role in the inner circle. This study will explore the historical period with a focus on

arts and their social habits. It will further examine the first Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

movement whose influence was John Ruskin. Additionally, the study will expand on its birth and

its establishment and the role of John Ruskin in the progress of the movement.

From its’ formation and its’ rebellious nature, the Pre-Raphaelitism was characterized

and based on innovative stylistic choices and aesthetics, social, political and religious themes.

The radical ideas of the group laid its basis for refusing to accept the conventions revered by the

college instructors and the society. They were committed to fundamental change that they

believed art should bring to the community. The young artist thought that political and social

problem could be addressed through art, but it needed first to be reformed through diverting from

the traditional ways uncreative and conventional ways that followed one particular direction. For

art to make sense as the drive to social change, it must live to the needs and the demands of the

current issues that the society is facing. And as the society develops and changes so should art

change to conform to the needs of the changing dynamics of the society.

One of the most distinctive features of the Pre-Raphaelites art was its unruly nature as it

was at its creation. It had sharp lines and “shrill colors” that represented the medieval world with

Bullen, J. B. The Pre-Raphaelite Body: Fear and Desire in Painting, Poetry, and Criticism.

Oxford University Press, 1998. p.18

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the chaotic present.

Perhaps this was a representation of the spirituality of the medieval life. It

was during the same period that John Ruskin was writing The Stones of Venice. Generally, these

concepts were literary unconventional and new to people. The artist believed by introducing new

ideas the society would probably see things differently. They wanted to change the perspective

of things by introducing and rebranding the old art to modern art which was creative and

resonated with the demands of the people at that time.

Origins of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB)

When Millas, Hunt, and Rossetti first met in the late 1840s, they were disillusioned by

the training they had received at the Royal Academy of Arts, because of its rigid teachings on

painting and composition. Ideas started cropping up when they started meeting and discussing

their thoughts on the perceived and how better to improve it through analyzing each other’s

work. Rather than following the old masters and their “old fashioned” style of the past three

centuries, the young artists aspired to simplicity and sincerity of the Gothic and early

Renaissance art. Despite some few closeness through color reproduction, the Pre-Raphaelite art

remained distinct, fresh and true to its unruly name.

Initial reactions to the work of Pre-Raphaelites were often brutal with representation and

treatment of Holy Family with dirty feet, wrinkled eyebrows, bulging blue veins perhaps as a

way of indicating their rebellious nature. This religious theme was unconventional with what

existed earlier. Ideally, these young people were making a point that their art was something

John Ruskin, E. T. Cook, and Alexander Wedderburn, The works of John Ruskin (London:

George Allen, 2015). 294.

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unique and out of creativity. They paid much attention to evoking different emotions to the

audience as a way of making them think differently.

Contrary to using professional models for their painting the artist preferred using their

family members and friends. For example, in one of the earliest endeavors, The Annunciation,

Rossetti decide to use Christina to act as the talent for the Virgin Mary while his brother William

was painted as angel Gabriel. This concept was still very new and perhaps unacceptable because

of what people were accustomed to. Furthermore, Rossetti creatively imagined the realistic

reaction of Mary as a young girl to the news and represented the image like Mary was recoiling

from the angel. This was a reflection of the rebellious nature of the artists and their different

perspectives on life and how they believed people should think differently.

Traditionally, painters used to prepare their canvas with the first layer of earthen or mid-

tone paint, but Rossetti chose to use a white layer a practice that was later adopted by other

painters. The brilliant choice of colors elaborated the details of the costumes and the background

of the image including the vegetation used as the backdrop of the images. This representation of

the new spirit of art was part of the rebellion that the new artists were forming. However, apart

from being just a rebellious nature, the new art presented a new of thinking which was clearly

better suited to the new world. The old cultures and art were not correlating effectively as it was

supposed to be since new challenges were not being addressed by the old art.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood wanted to see a reformed society as a result of reformed

art and design.

Other movements such as the British Aesthetic Movement and the International

Mary, Ann Stankiewicz. "From the aesthetic movement to the arts and crafts movement."

Studies in Art Education 33, no. 3 (1992): 169.

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Arts and Crafts movement sprout as a direct impact of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Around

the 1850s a new group composed of Rossetti and a young poet and designer named William

Morris, Elizabeth Siddall, Solomon Simeon, and Burne-Jones was formed. This new group

examined the relationship between art and poetry, and art and music. The team moved beyond

the traditional fine art of drawing, painting, and sculpture and embraced the new design and

production of textile, furniture, ceramics, stained glass, wallpapers, and illustration of books.

Corbett argues that by the end of the 19

century, the second generation of Pre-

Raphaelites had created almost a new history of painting in visual language suitable to the

changing psychological and social condition of the new generation.

The artists explored

different and difficult concepts which depicted their ability to expand beyond the traditional

expected concepts. They transformed the latent political radicalism of the Pre-Raphaelite

movement into something that different artist wanted to be associated with both British and

Europeans in general. Ideally, the movement was living up to its standards and beyond through

expanding on the level of creativity and exploring ideas that seemed difficult and unreachable.

The finding of the connection between painting and poetry and other arts (sister-arts),

was a defining constituent of the Pre-Raphaelite project. The artists found a way of

complementing the two arts whose connection resulted in the formation of double work of art

whose image and poetic nature combined to form aesthetic effect.

Later on, a digressive

David Peters Corbett, The world in paint: modern art and visuality in England, vol. 1 (Penn

State Press, 2004). 125.

Aaron Kashtan, "Pre-Raphaelite Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling

Rivalry?," Pre-Raphaelite Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling Rivalry?,

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approach was employed to disintegrate preexisting work through a point of origin to produce a

totally different work in a new kind of art. This shift from one form of art to another showed the

potential of creating a new genre of art and a bold step of introducing new arts to the British

society. However, it also indicated chances of duplicating one art to another form which could

have reduced creativity among the artists. Furthermore, the combining of arts could have reduced

the intimacy of the art or at least change the initial meanings of different arts. For example,

poetry would be translated differently from an image depending on the perspective of the

audience. But when combined, the mind of the public is pre-conditioned to the interpretation of

either the painting of the poem to get the meaning of the other. It was also clear that, despite

having the possibility of imitation of one art to another, there was also a chance of derivate

works whose interpretation did not depend on the other source.

Additionally, a new phase of Romantic poetry was marked by the Pre-Raphaelite

Brotherhood. The term Pre-Raphaelite was also used to refer to the new style adopted by the

young rebellious artists to describe their art. Once the painting was linked with poetry, the genre

became quite interesting and attractive many people. Poetry was appealing and combined with

the visual appeal of the paints, the impact of the two was lasting in the mind of the audience. The

images created a vivid idea of the poem while the poem itself created rhythm and harmony for

the paint. The audience found this blend fascinating and more appealing as opposed to the

previous independent arts. Furthermore, the art complimented well with artists being able to

create unique art as desired in the formation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

December 20, 2004, , accessed April 23, 2017,

http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/kashtan12.html.

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The Second Phase of the Movement: Aesthetic Pre-Raphaelite

As earlier indicated, PRB disintegrated by 1853 with some of its founders and members

continuing with their independent careers. The exhibition of Autumn Leaves in 1856 by Millais

benchmarked for the modern images that lacked any specific narrative or any specific meaning.

Millais provoked the thoughts of rethinking of aesthetic potential of art. The initial concept of the

movement was creativity and not following any specific rules when presenting the paintings and

this idea by Millais lived to that standard.

It opened a way for others to be creative without

having to follow the contemporary unwritten rules of arts. Mr. Rossetti argued that Millais was

confirming himself in the tendency to paint with great breadth and if he continued with the same

spirit, a new mode of imaginative realism would probably rise. For Millais, it was a natural

evolution that he believed would influence other Victorian painters.

During this period, a series of intimate paintings were painted by Rossetti which he

named them “beauty for the beauty’s sake.” He showed great interest in Japanese ceramics and

above all was the beginning of Bocca Baciata in 1859. His new work was directed as eroticized

ideal beauty which marked the end of chaste ideals of early Pre-Raphaelitism. This new concept

was shocking but also a beginning of new generation or erotic images involving female

characters.

Abigail Newman, "Frozen Moments in Time: Seriation in Pre-Raphaelite Painting and Poetry,"

Painting Connections: Expanding Literary Webs into the Visual Arts in Pre-Raphaelite Serial

Paintings, March 5, 2005, accessed April 25, 2017,

http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/newman12.html.

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Rossetti and Brown later joined the Morris and Burne-Jones and together they reformed

the decorative arts through simplified designs inspired by medieval European and Islamic

example. The group preferred the use traditional craftsmanship technique. The groups not only

were involved in simple decoration but also participated in architecture projects involving Philip

Webb. Furthermore, sophisticated designs on the surface of the furniture were witnessed as the

work of the two artists. Philip pioneered the revival of embroidery and other crafts.

John Ruskin, the biggest supporter of the idea of combining poetry with painting, was

born on 8th February 1819 in London. He was a critic of art and a gifted painter. By 1856, the

analogy of “as is painting, so is poetry” once more ended up with the formulation of any of the

“sister arts.”

In his work, “Modern Painters,” Ruskin described poetry and painting as kind of

creative expressions.

Ruskin through advocating for poetry to be combined with painting, he

was trying to favorably compare the two because initially poetry was given much priority as

compared painting. Furthermore, Ruskin believed that poetry and painting deserved to have

equal weight in terms of their influence on the people. In other words, they deserved to be

recognized equally as part of the art.

Aaron Kashtan, "Pre-Raphaelite Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling

Rivalry?," Introduction: The Correspondence of John Ruskin and William Holman Hunt,

December 20, 2004, , accessed April 25, 2017,

http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/whh/HRLet/introduction.html.

Landow, George P. "Coventry Patmore and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood." Pre-Raphaelite

Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling Rivalry? June 24, 2014. Accessed April

25, 2017. http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/kashtan12.html.

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Through equating painting with poetry, Ruskin tried to improve public perception on

painting as an important part of art because poetry was already enjoying a high rate of

popularity. Ruskin was to the idea that poetry and painting could marry each other and emulate

distinctive features of each other. Furthermore, his technique of word painting used language to

replicate the experience of combining visual appeals with words. He, however, did not write in

poetry as it would have been expected but rather used a continues prose. Nevertheless, the

meaning and the appeal was not lost because of failing to use poetry. In fact, it implied the

effectiveness of using text in combination with visual appeals such as combining poetry with

painting to create a more vivid and appealing idea.

Ruskin was everything to Victorians and made moral and political pronouncements about

visual arts. Ruskin was much of an independently minded artist, and he was against the so-called

moralizing concept or simply denouncing any political responsibility. To him, an artist had an

independent mind, and any work of art was not a moral representation of the artist. Thus, the

artist deserved to be viewed differently from work produced. The aesthetics used in arts were not

to have any social or political responsibility the meaning denoted in the piece of art. However, he

believed that art should have social or political relevance to impact social change or perspective

on people.

Each generation reinvented the Pre-Raphaelites in its own image. The first generation is

remarkably renown for the efforts of its pioneers. This generation brought the whole concept of

change introducing new ideas to people. They rebelled against what was the common norm and

market initial step towards the reformation of art. Through their creativity, the group encouraged

other artists to think beyond the norms. IT was a time to experiment and take big risks without

caring much about the written or unwritten rules. They believed art gave them freedom of

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expression and through it, they sort to live a different life from their predecessors. To this group

of artist, art was supposed to change as the life of people changed or at least art was to provoke

imaginations of people. It was only through art that people were going to improve their way of

life.

The second generation of the Pre-Raphaelites was marked with new creativity in

aesthetics. The combination of different arts brought new creativity in the beauty of arts. The

young artists explored different ideas that increased the aesthetics of arts. However, this group

was more attached to re-inventing the past but in a modern, simplified way. They challenged the

way artists think and through creating other imaginative ideas new concepts were developed. The

collections shown in the exhibition depicted just how art can go beyond what people consider

“extreme” and provocative. For example, the erotic paintings were more than what people

expected, but they provoked other artists to think and express their thoughts without any

inhibitions. Furthermore, the artist exhibited great confidence in their work and did not try to

relieve the life of the previous generations.

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Bibliographies

Corbett, David Peters. The world in paint: modern art and visuality in England, 1848-1914. Vol.

1. Penn State Press, 2004.

Kashtan, Aaron. "Pre-Raphaelite Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling

Rivalry?" Introduction: The Correspondence of John Ruskin and William Holman Hunt.

December 20, 2004. Accessed April 25, 2017.

http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/whh/HRLet/introduction.html.

Kashtan, Aaron. "Pre-Raphaelite Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling

Rivalry?" Pre-Raphaelite Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling Rivalry?

December 20, 2004. Accessed April 23, 2017.

http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/kashtan12.html.

Landow, George P. "Coventry Patmore and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood." Pre-Raphaelite

Approaches to Ut Pictura Poesis: Sister Arts or Sibling Rivalry? June 24, 2014. Accessed

April 25, 2017. http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/kashtan12.html.

Landow, George P. "Pre-Raphaelites: An Introduction." Pre-Raphaelites: An Introduction.

September 5, 2015. Accessed April 23, 2017.

http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/1.html.

Newman, Abigail. "Frozen Moments in Time: Seriation in Pre-Raphaelite Painting and Poetry."

Painting Connections: Expanding Literary Webs into the Visual Arts in Pre-Raphaelite

Serial Paintings. March 5, 2005. Accessed April 25, 2017.

http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/prb/newman12.html.

Ruskin, John, E. T. Cook, and Alexander Wedderburn. The works of John Ruskin. London:

George Allen, 2015.

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Stankiewicz, Mary Ann. "From the aesthetic movement to the arts and crafts movement." Studies

in Art Education 33, no. 3 (1992): 165-173.

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