Although this painting was completed in 1860 and relates to an event some decades earlier its familiar theme and humanity still resonate strongly today. The story relates to the engraving which hangs on the wall. It is a copy of a painting by Jacques-Louis David depicting Napoleon crossing the Alps which alludes to the fate of the young man.
In Victorian times, much like now, the promise of a warm bank holiday weekend was sufficient to lure people to the rivers and to the seaside en masse. This complex work by Edward Gregory depicts such a weekend at Boulter’s Lock on the River Thames, to the west of London near Maidenhead.
Edward Burne-Jones was obsessed with the legends of King Arthur. As a young man he had stumbled upon an old edition of the tales in a shop and had visited the shop each day until he’d read every word.
Despite its Venetian setting, this painting has a strong Cheshire connection. Its painter, Sir Samuel Luke Fildes, was born in Liverpool and studied both in Chester and at the Warrington School of Art. He was deeply influenced by his grandmother Mary Fildes, who was an early-suffragette and a key figure in the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.
Fildes shared his grandmother’s concern for the poor and was a firm believer that the power of art could influence public opinion. Throughout his career he painted many powerful paintings highlighting the suffering and injustices inflicted on the underprivileged. (more…)
This small painting is easily missed amongst the much larger paintings on the walls of the Lady Lever Gallery. Yet despite its small stature it perfectly exemplifies the draughtsmanship and attention to detail of its creator Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
Alma-Tadema was Dutch born but settled in Britain where he quickly became known for producing historical scenes. He initially focussed on medieval subjects but after a visit to Pompeii in his mid-thirties turned to the ancient world of Greece and Rome. (more…)
No other artist has yet managed to capture the spirit and beauty of a rural British winter as evocatively as Joseph Farquharson.
This work is arguably one of the finest depictions of a wintry landscape in the world. It has grown to become one of the most popular Christmas card designs in history. Its creator Joseph Farquharson was a master of using sunlight at dusk or dawn to convey a certain mood. In doing this here he was able to produce beauty and majesty from an everyday farming scene. (more…)
After a typically wet and wild British winter the promise of clement weather and the reawakening of nature fills our hearts with optimism. Spring is finally upon us.
Sir John Everett Millais was a prodigiously talented painter and one of the founding members of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. This group of young artists rebelled against the classical ideals of an art world still heavily influenced by the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds who wanted to portray a perfect idealised view of nature. Millais, on the other hand, believed art should portray nature as it was, in all its flawed glory, which was a decidedly controversial stance in Victorian England. (more…)
Michael Escolme 