I’ve seen Pre-Raphaelite paintings of women dismissed as ‘languid’ or ‘vapid’ and many critics view them as sensual images created solely for the male gaze. That’s a fair argument, of course, but I feel it’s a point of view that barely scratches the surface. To me, Pre-Raphaelite women are not shallow objects of beauty, but women focused more on their…
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- Alexa Wilding, Annie Miller, Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, Fanny Cornforth, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Jane Burden Morris, mary zambaco
What is the “Pre-Raphaelite Woman”?
Women are central figures in Pre-Raphaelite art and this has given us the concept of a “Pre-Raphaelite Woman”. I frequently see the term ‘Pre-Raphaelite’ in occasional news articles, usually describing an actress or singer with long curly hair. Florence Welch is often described as Pre-Raphaelite and it’s definitely a look she has embraced. But was there a unified ideal? If we…
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Annie Miller portrait soon to be auctioned
Via The Press Association: A portrait previously owned by LS Lowry of an “enthralling” artists’ muse will go under the hammer next month. The 1860 drawing of Annie Miller by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) is expected to fetch between £200,000 and £300,000. Annie Miller (1835-1925) was a striking model from a humble background, who “enthralled each artist for whom she…
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More on Annie Miller…
Annie Miller, painted by Millais. Millais painted her hair darker than William Holman Hunt or Dante Gabriel Rossetti did. One facet of Pre-Raphaelite art that I find interesting is that several artists would use the same models time and time again, each painting her differently. Which raises the question: did they portray women how they saw them? Or how they…
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Annie Miller
Jan Marsh briefly describes Annie Miller’s childhood in Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood (not associated with this website) as horribly poor and unhygienic, saying that a neighbor had described Annie and her sister as “dirty and covered with vermin”…and that Annie’s hair was particularly “wild and filthy”. Annie’s mother had died some time after her birth, leaving Annie and her sister to…
