Pre-Raphaelite Inspiration on Pinterest

Fashions for September 1850

I finally put up a Pinterest board with many of the images of Pre-Raphaelite painting, photographs, settings, and fashion that I looked at while writing Ophelia's Muse. Check it out to see pictures of the magnificent Crystal Palace from the Great Exposition of 1851, the house where the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded, and what a Victorian millinery might have looked like.

I also include many of the paintings both of and by Lizzie Siddal, including her self-portrait and many of the sketches of her that Dante Gabriel made. It's interesting to compare their two views of her side by side.

Pre-Raphaelite Works on Paper at the Tate Britain

When I think of Pre-Raphaelite art, the first thing that comes to mind is large jewel-toned canvases dense with color, light, and beauty.  But the sketches - some preparatory, some casual - as well as smaller works in watercolor, often give us a glimpse into more intimate moments and into the artistic process itself. A collection of 60 of these works, including sketchbooks, scraps, and even backs of envelopes, is on view now through the spring of 2017 at the Tate Britain.

From the website: "The preparatory sketches and more finished works on paper on view in this room explore personal dramas, tense and tender encounters sometimes in private settings. The detailed studies reveal another kind of close encounter between artist and subject: the long, intimate observation that underpinned Pre-Raphaelite ‘truth to nature’."

This Daily Mail article combines two of my great loves - the Pre-Raphaelites and real estate. Apparently John Everett Millais' apartment in Kensington is on the market for five million pounds. If only he had that amazing soaking tub when he painted Ophelia, maybe Lizzie Siddal wouldn't have caught a chill posing in a cold tub in his drafty studio!