The PreRaphaelites: Roadtrip recollections No.2

The Beloved, Dante Gabriel Rossetti

My Dad took me to a gallery when I was very little and we stood gazing at a painting of a glamourous woman for some time. He pointed out the model's deep red long hair. I was transfixed. I loved the fact something so simple and lovely could capture my Dad's imagination. 

I didn't know it at the time but I was looking at a PreRaphealite work; probably my first foray into the world of pin up girls. Of course these Victorian models didn't have the cheeky knowing smile of an Elvgren or the Hollywood styles of a Vargas, but they were glamorous and untouchable all the same, with their own particular brand of beauty.

I've loved the PreRaphaelites ever since that moment, and my roadtrip to Liverpool was based around seeing as many of the original works as I could.

I began at the Alice In Wonderland Exhibition at the Tate. I had a vague memory of Lewis Carroll knowing the PRB's. It turns out he, Rosseitti and Holman Hunt were good aquaintances, Lewis, a keen photographer took pictures of the Rossetti family.

There I also saw Rossetti's painting, The Beloved. I've always enjoyed this work because of it's pseudo exotic appeal. It's been read in many ways over the years; some seeing the inclusion of the black boy in the foreground as racsit. Others recognising that Rossetti, a keen suporter of anti slavery, was possibly using the figure as a means of support towards the cause. There is also a mixed race woman in the background, Fanny Eaton, a popular model to the PreRaphaelites and their asscociates. 

-

The Walker Art Gallery was next on the list; I was lucky enough to catch a talk about the PreRaphaelites while I was there. I was part of a large group who dutifully carried our fold up chairs with us as we were guided from one painting to the next. 

 The Martyr, John Everet Millais

Some of the tidbits I learnt were: Millais painting, The Martyr (another favourite of mine) was  part of a much larger painting at the start of it's life. The original picture showed the martyr of Solway, so called because she refused to recognise the Church of Scotland (so they very Christianly chained her to a rock to be swallowed by the tide) naked, about to be saved by a knight. She brazenly looking directly at her rescuer.

Victorian audiences were outraged! Millais cut the offending figure away from the work and clothed her, creating the smaller work you can see above.The proof can be seen in this Xray:

We were also treated to examples of the traditional Victorian painting which had become the Royal Academy's norm back the the first half of the 1800's; sentimental muted images always two thirds dark one third light, a hangover from Sir Joshua Reynolds who the PRB nicknamed 'Sir Sloshula'. 

 The Strawberry Girl, Sir Joshua Reynolds 

It was the PreRaphaelites mission to change this style, taking inspiration from nature, medieval art and poetry. A great representation of this being Millais Isabella.

Issabella, John Everet Millais

Here we saw, bright colours, distorted perspective, rampant symbolism and a truth to nature. Quite refreshing. I enjoyed working through the story with the guide. Basically, the guy offering his blood orange to the girl is in for a stormy ride; her brothers on the opposite side of the table don't agree with the romance and eventually kill him. Isabella finds his body, cuts his head off and plants it in a pot of basil to keep it safe, watering it with her tears. It's all there if you look...

-

I then rounded off my roadtrip by travelling to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight. This place is a well hidden treasure box! The village is chocolate box perfection and nestled between the quiet timber framed houses is a gallery filled with art goodies!

Work from the symbolists, asthetics and PreRaphaelites fill the walls, while glorious white marble figures fill the two staute halls.

I was really looking forward to seeing Rossetti's The Blessed Damozel but it was being exhibited on loan to Paris. However I did find a Rossetti I never knew existed, A Christmas Carol;

I recognise that hair ornament as worn by many other Rossetti girls, including one of the musicians from the Bower Medow, housed at Manchester Art Gallery. It was a real treat to find this gem, especailly as it was hidden below some stairs and I might have missed it if it weren't for the fab gallery staff! 

I had a great time on my roadtrip, I saw A LOT of art, not only PreRaphaelite but many amazing works which would be too many to mention here, all housed in these wonderful public galleries. It's worth remembering that our history and culture are only a visit away waiting to be explored!

Alice in Wonderland: Roadtrip recollections No.1

Estelle Dudley as Alice in Wonderland 1917

Image copyright of the National Portrait Gallery

I've just come back from my bumper gallery roadtrip to Liverpool where I began by visiting the Tate to see the Alice in Wonderland exhibition.

It's great to see the Tate choosing to do this show; they have created a treasure box with a universal appeal which has lured not only art fans but families and non gallery goers too. Maybe it's because Alice has permeated our culture, inspired artists, writers and even the way we think.

Sparking Alice mania back in it's day, the book has left a never ending legacy of surrealism and childhood imaginings which we still plunder in order to make sense of the world we live in today. It wasn't until I saw this show I realised just how influenced we are by this children's story.

Like all good fairy tales, Alice in Wonderland began with some grains of truth; I saw Dodgson's (or Carroll's dependiong on which way you want to view it) original camera, the Victorian version of Nikon; cutting edge technology, so compact you could box it up and carry not only the machine but the developing equipment with you wherever you went, the exquisite glass bottles of developing fluid labled 'Poison'.

Then there were his photos, children playing, children dressed up as fairy tale characters, or children sleeping, their still black and white forms looking like peaceful corpses one moment, the image of innocence the next. One photograph showed a young girl sitting next to a mirror, her reflection creating another character, suggesting a whole new dimension to be explored. Nothing was quite what it seemed. His adoration of the Liddell sisters was evident in the copious images he produced of the three little girls, Alice Liddell clearly his favourite and eventual muse.

Seeing these artifacts within the deep red velvet room in which they were set, elements of Alice began to take shape, it was like delving into Dodgson's mind and connecting the dots.

I especially enjoyed the room filled with different editions of Alice in Wonderland. When the copyright to the story ceased in 1907 a fever for all things Alice took hold and her image along with those of her companions were seen everywhere. Tea sets, magic lanterns, ornaments and dolls, plays, musicals and photography. It was fascinating to see how different people translated the book into new and individual imaginings.

As early as the 1900's artists were beginning to find favour in the many layers of Alice's adventures; Echoes of the little girl in a dangerous and nonsense world can be seen in the work of Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst. One sculpture by Tanning made from a tactile black velvet looked very much like a teapot from one angle and a cat luxuriantly washing itself from another, the double meaning and uncertainty of the book revealing itself in her work.

Eine Klein Nachtmusik Dorothea Tanning 1946

Moving on through the decades the 60's saw an explosion of psychedelia and mind altering drugs which suited the surreal offerings of Wonderland.

Yayoi Kusama sent out invitations to a naken tea party happening in New York's Central Park at the Alice statue. Idolising the heroine she stated 'When she was feeling down, Alice was the first person to take a pill to feel high'

While I wandered through the maze like layout of the exhibition, I couldn't help but feel a little like Alice myself, as I encountered strange and unsettling characters. A Humpty like being sat atop a lofty perch, a re-animated rabbit moving dream like in it's deceased state, and possibly the most strange, Robert De Niro talking to himself in a mirror as the famous scene from Taxi Driver was projected in double across two walls, drawing De Niro into a four way conversation, or so it seemed.

I left feeling a little hazy, but hungry for more. If I'd found a cake with 'Eat Me' written on it I wouldn't need to be told twice. Such a good day that gave me much to ponder upon.