Delaware Art Museum has posted this image on their Facebook page, and I am grateful that they allowed me to share it here as well. Here we see museum staff in the Pre-Raphaelite gallery, circa 1938:
Oh, the Isle of Wight! What a beautiful place steeped in history. Definitely on my list of places that I long to visit. Dr. Jan Marsh will be delivering a lecture on Pre-Raphaelite Women and the Isel of Wight May 26, 2012 at Dimbola Lodge. What a fitting place, as Dimbola Lodge is the home … Read more
Originally published fifteen years ago, Yale University Press has released a revised edition of Reading the Pre-Raphaelites by Tim Barringer. It is an excellent book for any Pre-Raphaelite enthusiast to have, one I hazard that you will revisit repeatedly. This edition contains a new section on photography, which is fitting since Tim Barringer is also a co-author … Read more
If you are looking for Shakespeare inspiration today, you are in luck! Visit happybirthdayshakespeare.com for a large collective of bloggers sharing posts in honor of the day! In celebration of the Bard’s birthday, here’s a post from the archives: King Lear is a tragic play filled with anger and grief. It is wrought with suffering and … Read more
Lauren Laverne shares two examples of muses: Ophelia by Sir John Everette Millais and The Only Blond in the World by Pauline Boty. I love how she describes both:
Another siting for the Unexpected Pre-Raphaelite Sightings list. Alexandrion Drallipo has noticed a William Morris wallpaper pattern in the movie Nim’s Island. This is the Arbutus pattern, seen here in screen caps:
Valerie Meachum offers up an intricate, one of a kind needlepoint based on a Dante Gabriel Rossetti portrait of Lizzie Siddal. Available at etsy.com. The hand-embroidered inscription on the linen border refers to a letter to the artist’s sister, the poet Christina Rossetti, in which he mentions a black silk dress Lizzie had recently made … Read more
In my previous post I mentioned the adaptation of Keats’ Lamia on BBC Radio 4. The broadcast can be purchased and downloaded from AudioGo. Thank you Cathy Baker for sharing the link with me! I downloaded and listened to it and it is a beautiful reading and a perfect way to start my morning.
I just discovered that in January there was an adaptation of Keats’ Lamia on BBC Radio 4. I’m sorry that I missed that. Lamia is one of my favorite works, here are two passages I enjoy the most. (You can read the complete poem here) Lamia has vivid imagery: “She was a gordian shape of … Read more
The birth of the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood T Shirt has been exciting and now they are making their way to new homes! Thank you to these lovely friends who have been kind enough to post pictures of themselves, resplendent in their Pre-Raphaelite threads: Raine Szramski Valerie Meachum Verity Holloway Michaela McAndrew Artist Betina Fink wears her … Read more
Matthew Cain, Culture Editor at Channel 4, delivers a wonderful and thought provoking piece on Emma Thompson’s new movie Effie and the possibility that it may renew interest in Pre-Raphaelite art. He says,“In 2012, we’re so familiar with the work of the Pre-Raphaelites that it’s easy to forget just how radical and revolutionary they were. … Read more
Kris Lundberg of the Shakespeare’s Sister Company has just blown me away. I literally have lovely, grateful tears in my eyes as I write this. She has created a wonderful video in which she introduces the world to the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood T Shirt and to the legacy of Elizabeth Siddal. Thank you so much, Kris! This … Read more
I love this. Via the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood Facebook page, Rosemary Aquilina shared her brilliant discovery of a coloring book version of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s La Ghirlandata: Rosemary says “I spotted La Ghirlandata in my little sister’s coloring book! I was flipping through many pages of this:” “when THIS stopped me in my tracks!” It is … Read more
I am grateful for the positive response to the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood T Shirts. And I have to admit, I was a bit nervous when I first added them to the site but immediately received such lovely comments and emails and I thank you for that. I have to be honest, if you purchase a shirt … Read more
Apparently I can not resist their lure and mermaids have become my theme of the week. Previously I shared that I had read Undine, which prompted a post of Undine images by artists Waterhouse and Rackham and yesterday’s post featuring mermaid images by Burne-Jones and Waterhouse. I was browsing through a book about Waterhouse this … Read more
Last week, I posted about reading the classic fairy tale Undine, in which a water spirit marries a human in order to gain a soul. If you seek the enchantments of water-women, then a dose of Burne-Jones is in order: The Sea-Nymph: One of the most haunting images I’ve ever seen, The Depths of the … Read more
I am thrilled to announce that Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood T Shirts are now available for purchase. Please visit the T-Shirt page to order. Shirts are priced at $20, plus shipping charges. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. It’s fun and if you purchase one, I hope you’ll email me a picture … Read more
I’ve recently read Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. Written in the early 1800s, it is a classic fairy tale in which Undine, an elemental water spirit, marries a human in order to gain a soul. It may be derived from the tale of Melusina. (I prefer Melusina, who seems to have a strength … Read more
This post is a departure for me, I’ve never recommended a book on this blog that was not strictly Pre-Raphaelite. However, I believe that readers of my blog will appreciate this beautiful new book by Theodora Goss. The Thorn and the Blossom is one of the most unique books I have ever seen. It … Read more
My husband is in the hospital again. Still dealing with the repercussions from his accident last May. It’s more serious this time. An infection has spread to the bone. Let me use the technical term, just so I can feel the weight of it: Osteomyelitis. It’s serious and scary, but we are remaining hopeful and … Read more
In two previous posts, I talked about the marriages of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin. Here’s a photograph of both men, courtesy of George P. Landow and the Victorian web. Ruskin looks absolutely frightening with that stick! June 29, 1863 Albumen Print Downey made made this double portrait during the same session at Rossetti’s … Read more
Today is a thrilling day as I have just received a beautiful and gracious gift from artist Margje Bijl. You may remember Margje from my post about her project, Reflections on Jane Morris. If you missed that post, please go read it. Her work is fascinating and revolves around not only her uncanny physical similarity to … Read more
February 11th is the 150th anniversary of Lizzie’s death. To commemorate this, Highgate Cemetery (Lizzie’s final resting place) is having a Talk at the cemetery on that day by Lucinda Hawksley, author of Lizzie Siddal: Face of the Pre-Raphaelites. Being in the U.S., I will not be able to attend but my ever-faithful friend Kirsty … Read more
John Ruskin was an an author, art critic, and social reformer who was an early champion of Pre-Raphaelite ideals. Interestingly, he was also the patron who supported the work of Elizabeth Siddal. His marriage to Euphemia Chalmers Gray, known as Effie, is universally described as a disaster. The story goes that Ruskin rejected Effie on their … Read more
I’ve spent years reading about the relationship between Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal. One thing I’ve noticed through comments and emails I receive at lizziesiddal.com is that there are a lot of people who are so sympathetic towards Lizzie that they passionately hate Rossetti. When you learn about people, I think a story forms … Read more