Pre-Raphaelites in Love

Rating:
Summary: Rich
Review: "Each is a psychological and aesthetic puzzle," Gay Daly writes about the women who modeled for the Pre-Raphaelite painters. "One woman sits with eyes closed in a religious trance that seems to border on sexual ecstasy. Another, longing for an absent lover, stretches like a langorous tiger, her voluptuous body wrapped in a dress of rich royal blue velvet that dominates the canvas, insisting that the viewer dwell on her curves" (pp. xvii-xviii). Founded in 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, namely William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, "believed that every rose must be painted from a live flower, every face from an actual human being" (p. xviii). They searched every Victorian street corner, drawing room, and church for the faces and bodies that would fire both their artistic and romantic fantasies. The "beautiful" and equally "disturbing" women they painted came from almost every class and corner of London. Among them were the "spoiled, petted daughter of a solicitor, a hearty, motherly prostitute, a wily barmaid, and the daughter of a Methodist minister" (p. xix).

Drawn from letters written by and to these intriguing women (p. xxii), Daly's book triumphs at bringing the Pre-Raphaelites and their romances to life in these pages. For instance, Daly explores the ten-year romance between Rossetti and his "medieval shining angel" (p. 32), Lizzie Siddal (a shopgirl), which ended with her suicide at age 32; Hunt's "dance of approach and avoidance" (p. 120) with a "gorgeous young" barmaid, Annie Miller (p. 101), a "street urchin" who "swore like a trooper and couldn't read a word" (p. 104); and Millais' sexually-charged marriage to Effie Gray, who was previously linked to John Ruskin in a strange marriage that was never consumated. Along the way, Ruskin, Charles Dickens, George Eliot and Rudyard Kipling make appearances in Daly's ambitious book.

Although it was challenging to locate a copy of Daly's out-of-print book, her study of the Pre-Raphaelites was as interesting to read as a Victorian novel. She insightfully examines Victorian social values and marriage, and reveals that the romantic lives of the Pre-Raphaelites were just as mesmerizing as their luminous paintings.

G. Merritt

Rating:
Summary: The art of love.
Review: "Each is a psychological and aesthetic puzzle," Gay Daly writes about the women who modeled for the Pre-Raphaelite painters. "One woman sits with eyes closed in a religious trance that seems to border on sexual ecstasy. Another, longing for an absent lover, stretches like a langorous tiger, her voluptuous body wrapped in a dress of rich royal blue velvet that dominates the canvas, insisting that the viewer dwell on her curves" (pp. xvii-xviii). Founded in 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, namely William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, "believed that every rose must be painted from a live flower, every face from an actual human being" (p. xviii). They searched every Victorian street corner, drawing room, and church for the faces and bodies that would fire both their artistic and romantic fantasies. The "beautiful" and equally "disturbing" women they painted came from almost every class and corner of London. Among them were the "spoiled, petted daughter of a solicitor, a hearty, motherly prostitute, a wily barmaid, and the daughter of a Methodist minister" (p. xix).

Drawn from letters written by and to these intriguing women (p. xxii), Daly's book triumphs at bringing the Pre-Raphaelites and their romances to life in these pages. For instance, Daly explores the ten-year romance between Rossetti and his "medieval shining angel" (p. 32), Lizzie Siddal (a shopgirl), which ended with her suicide at age 32; Hunt's "dance of approach and avoidance" (p. 120) with a "gorgeous young" barmaid, Annie Miller (p. 101), a "street urchin" who "swore like a trooper and couldn't read a word" (p. 104); and Millais' sexually-charged marriage to Effie Gray, who was previously linked to John Ruskin in a strange marriage that was never consumated. Along the way, Ruskin, Charles Dickens, George Eliot and Rudyard Kipling make appearances in Daly's ambitious book.

Although it was challenging to locate a copy of Daly's out-of-print book, her study of the Pre-Raphaelites was as interesting to read as a Victorian novel. She insightfully examines Victorian social values and marriage, and reveals that the romantic lives of the Pre-Raphaelites were just as mesmerizing as their luminous paintings.

G. Merritt

Rating:
Summary: Just the juicy bits
Review: Fact that reads like fiction is my favorite genre - and this book is it: pet elephants in London apartments, exhumed beauties, a long married virgin and of course plenty of sex and drugs. Daly gives biographies of the artists with emphasis on their love lives and how that tied in with their paintings (the women discussed modeled for them even if they weren't models in general). Artists covered: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, William Holman Hunt, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. Each is given a biography with many reproductions of art works, and much much focus on the woman or women they loved.

Although the book focuses on aspects of the artists lives which might tend toward lurid rather than serious, the stories interweave seemlessly with the paintings, so this book is anything but soft. For example Elizbeth Siddal became ill while poseing for Millais' Ophellia. She posed floating in a bathtub full of water while he depicted the famous drowning victim. She was Rossetti's favorite model and girl and the recuring illness influenced both their lives. He often painted her as Beatrice and in his mind saw him and her as playing out the doomed story of Dante and Beatrice.

The biographies of each artist were constantly reinforced and tied to art works. Reproductions of art were small but good quality. There were examples of sketches and the single painting by Siddal, a self portrait. This is particularily interesting because she depicted herself as serious and severe while these famous artists depicted her as the epitome of beauty.

This is very readable and gave me more appreciation for the stories behind these paintings. I recommend reading this if it sounds at all interesting to you. Libraries should archive a copy because this is excellent art history with more emphasis on women than usual, and because the painting and sketches by Elizabeth Siddal are very rarely reproduced. There is also a good discussion of the founding and early history of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and some detail about the childhoods of each artist.

Rating:
Summary: Rich
Review: Gay Daly's first book I believe is so rich with facts and so well researched I couldn't help thinking all the way through how much time and effort she must have put into it.

It is a journey back in time to Victorian England making you feel you like you are there watching these amazing artists do their thing. To have found out so much detail on the lives of these people was astonishing to me and if you read it you will get a fabulous education on the Pre-Raphaelites and what they believed in.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful look at the relationships of artists and models
Review: The author reveals the intimate lives and souls of both the Pre-Raphaelite painters and their models. The thoughtless treatment of the women by these self-centered men is made acceptable only by the evidence of the genius involved in their craft. Daly's ability to bring these complex personalities to life is captivating.