Pre-Raphaelites

Pre-Raphaelites
Key Dates: 1848-1920

This movement was originally founded in 1848 by Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. The name was decided upon as the group aimed to rediscover the painting styles of artists working earlier than the time of Raphael. The group, initially comprising Rossetti, his brother William, James Collinson, the sculptor Thomas Woolner as well as Hunt and Millais, specialised in detailed studies of medieval scenes strong on elaborate symbolism and noble themes.

Controversy tainted the group early on with commentators believing their name implied that they were superior artists to Raphael, but the influential critic John Ruskin supported them and ensured their success. However, after Millais’ ‘Ophelia’ (1850-1851) was exhibited to great acclaim at the Academy Exhibition the group dissolved.

Rossetti, together with William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones formed an alternative Brotherhood based in Oxford, specialising in the depiction of pale, ethereal beauties, while Millais and Hunt went their separate ways but continued working according to the original ideas of the movement.

Pre-Raphaelitism was highly successful during the Victorian era and continued into the early 20th century with artists such as Maxwell Armfield and Frank Cadogan Cowper before becoming out-moded in the 1920s.

Representative Artists:
Ford Maddox Brown
Sir John Everett Millais
William Holman Hunt
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
William Morris
Edward Burne-Jones
John William Waterhouse