Pre-Raphaelite Sisters

Youde, Glenda; Wilkes, Robert

Pre-Raphaelite Sisters

Art, Poetry and Female Agency in Victorian Britain

by Glenda Youde (Volume editor) Robert Wilkes (Volume editor)

The Arts

Series: Cultural Interactions: Studies in the Relationship between the Arts, Volume 49

Summary

This is the first edited collection of essays entirely devoted to the women of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite Sisters exhibition and conference of 2019–20, the individual essays present new research into the wide-ranging creativity of the Pre-Raphaelite women. Artistic subjects include Evelyn De Morgan’s goldwork paintings and her experiments with automatic writing. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Mary Seton Watts and Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale are also examined. Elizabeth Siddal’s relationship with her sister-in-law Christina Rossetti is explored, as is her appropriation of the Pre-Raphaelite principle of «truth to nature». Women’s writing is addressed, extracting Georgiana Burne-Jones from the memoir of her husband and reassessing the book of fairy tales she planned with Siddal. Fashion history informs an analysis of the sartorial practices of Jane Morris and Siddal, while the influence exerted by the Siddal–Rossetti relationship on a prominent Czech artist demonstrates how women initiated the spread of Pre-Raphaelite ideals in Europe. More personalised accounts of engaging with and recovering women in history include the painstaking genealogical research undertaken by the great-grandson of model Fanny Eaton and the curation of a Siddal exhibition at Wightwick Manor. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the Pre-Raphaelites.

Excerpt

Cover
Title
Copyright
About the editors
About the book
This eBook can be cited
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: ‘A Silent Passing By’ – Pre-Raphaelite Women in Context (Robert Wilkes)
Part I Making Art
1 Evelyn De Morgan: Visions in Gold (Sarah Hardy)
2 New Woman in Disguise: The Art of Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale and the Woman Question at the Fin de Siècle (Christin Neubauer)
3 New Light Upon the Soul: Mary Seton Watts’s Legacy of Progressivism and Late-Pre-Raphaelitism in the Watts Cemetery Chapel (Caroline E. Giddis)
4 Politics and Paint: The Life Work of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (Margaretta S. Frederick)
Part II Poetry and Writing
5 ‘Words Came Slowly One by One from Frozen Lips Shut Still and Dumb’: A Reappraisal of the Poetry of Elizabeth Siddal (Rosalind White)
6 Queer Tombs and Reframing Doom: Elizabeth Siddal and Georgiana Burne-Jones’s Unfinished Collaborative Project (Nat Reeve)
7 Christina and Elizabeth Rossetti: Poetic and Artistic Rivals (Glenda Youde)
8 ‘The Result of an Experiment’: Evelyn De Morgan and Automatic Writing (Carey Gibbons)
Part III Female Agency
9 ‘Direct and Serious and Heartfelt’: Truth-to-nature in Elizabeth Siddal’s Creative Agency (Laure Nermel)
10 Dismantling Pre-Raphaelite Dress: Facts and Fictions in Women’s Artistic Sartorial Practices (Robyne Calvert)
11 Alžbĕta Siddallová and the Czech Rossetti (Helena Cox)
12 Georgiana, Lady Burne-Jones: A Self-Portrait in the ‘Memorials’ of Her Husband (Charlotte Gere)
Part IV Personal Perspectives
13 Fanny Eaton: An Attempt to Discover the Woman behind the Images (Brian Eaton)
14 Beyond Ophelia and Wightwick Manor: Collecting and Exhibiting Women Artists’ Work at the National Trust (Hannah Squire)
Notes on Contributors
Index
Series Index

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Illustrations

Figure 1.1. Evelyn De Morgan, The Light Shineth in the Darkness, and the Darkness Comprehendeth It Not, gold pigment on dark wove paper, c. 1890, © Christie’s.

Figure 1.2. Evelyn De Morgan, Angel of Death, gold pigment on dark wove paper, 1885, Chicago, Art Institute Chicago © Art Institute Chicago.

Figure 1.3. Evelyn De Morgan, Gloria in Excelsis, gold pigment on dark wove paper, c. 1895, London, De Morgan Foundation © De Morgan Collection, courtesy of De Morgan Foundation.

Figure 1.4. Detail of Evelyn De Morgan, Gloria in Excelsis, gold pigment on dark wove paper, c. 1895, London, De Morgan Foundation © Sarah Hardy, 2019.

Figure 1.5. Detail of Evelyn De Morgan, Gloria in Excelsis, gold pigment on dark wove paper, c. 1895, London, De Morgan Foundation © Sarah Hardy, 2019.

Figure 1.6. Evelyn De Morgan, Valley of Shadows, gold pigment on dark wove paper, c. 1899, London, De Morgan Foundation © De Morgan Collection, courtesy of De Morgan Foundation.

Figure 1.7. Evelyn De Morgan, Saint Francis and Holy Poverty, gold pigment on dark wove paper, 1902, London, De Morgan Foundation © De Morgan Collection, courtesy of De Morgan Foundation.

Figure 1.8. Evelyn De Morgan, Mercy and Truth Have Met Together, Righteousness and Peace Have Kissed Each Other, gold pigment on dark wove paper, 1896, London, De Morgan Foundation © De Morgan Collection, courtesy of De Morgan Foundation.←xiii | xiv→

Figure 1.9. Evelyn De Morgan, Opes, gold pigment on dark wove paper, c. 1895, London, De Morgan Foundation © De Morgan Collection, courtesy of De Morgan Foundation.

Figure 2.1. Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, The Pale Complexion of True Love and the Red Glow of Scorn and Proud Disdain, 1899, Oil on canvas, 71.4 × 91.8 cm. Private Collection. Photo © Whitford & Hughes, London.

Figure 2.2. Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, The Little Foot Page, 1905, Oil on canvas, 90.8 × 57.0 cm. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Photo by Walker Art Gallery. © National Museums Liverpool.

Figure 2.3. Phil May, The New Woman, illustration, Phil May’s Illustrated Winter Annual (1894), 11, Public Domain.

Figure 2.4. Charles Dana Gibson, The Gibson Girl, ink on paper, 31.75 × 24.13 cm, Public Domain.

Figure 2.5. Israhel van Meckenem, The Ill-Matched Couple, c. 1480–90, engraving, 14.7 × 11.4 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY. Photograph by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain.

Figure 2.6. Punch’s Physiology of Courtship – No. 1, illustration, Punch 52 (1867), 118. Public Domain.

Figure 2.7. Charles Dana Gibson, The Ambitious Mother and the Obliging Clergyman, illustration, LIFE 39 (1902), 488–9. Public Domain.

Figure 2.8. William Lindsay Windus, Burd Helen, 1856, Oil on canvas, 84.4 × 66.6 cm, Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery. Photo by Walker Art Gallery. © National Museums Liverpool.←xiv | xv→

Figure 2.9. Arthur Hughes, As You Like It, 1872–3, Oil on canvas, 72.0 × 46.0 cm, Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery. Photo by Walker Art Gallery. © National Museums Liverpool.

Figure 2.10. Fashion à la Shakespeare, illustration, Punch, 11 September 1897. Public Domain.

Figure 3.1. Frederick Hollyer, Mrs G. F. Watts, c. 1890, platinum print, 15.2 × 6.8 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 7810–1938. © Victoria and Albert Museum.

Figure 3.2. Interior of Watts Chapel, 2014, photograph by Ann Ayerst, Watts Gallery Trust.

Figure 3.3. Watts Cemetery Chapel, Surrey, 2016, photograph by Mark via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Figure 3.4. The Spirit of Love frieze, Watts Cemetery Chapel, 2009, photograph by Anne Purkiss, Watts Gallery Trust.

Figure 3.5. Unattributed, Folio 292r: John; In p/rinvi/pio erat uer/bum [et] uer[b]‌um ‘Gospel of John, Chapter I:I’, in Book of Kells, c. 800, coloured ink on vellum, 33 × 25 cm, Trinity College Dublin, IE TCD MS 58.

Figure 3.6. Watts Chapel Interior, 2011, photograph by Girish Gopi via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Figure 3.7. Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Tree of Life, 1888, watercolour and gouache, 181 × 242 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 584–1898. © Victoria and Albert Museum.

Figure 3.8. Angels, Interior of the Watts Chapel, 2019, photograph by Caroline E. Giddis.←xv | xvi→

Figure 3.9. Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, The Rose Bower, The Legend of Briar Rose series, 1886–90, oil on canvas, 125.1 × 228.6 cm, Buscot Park, Faringdon, Oxfordshire. © The Faringdon Collection Trust at Buscot Park.

Figure 3.10. Mary Watts and students of her Home Arts and Industries Association class decorating interior panels for the chapel in her studio, c. 1902, photograph, Watts Gallery Trust.

Figure 4.1. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 1856, Watercolour and gouache on paper, F. V. du Pont Acquisition Fund, 2016, Delaware Art Museum.

Figure 4.2. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Trees with Haystacks, 1850, Watercolour on paper, Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press.

Figure 4.3. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Absorbed, undated, Ink on paper, Personal Papers of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon [GBR/0271/GCPP Bodichon], Folder 8–14. The Mistress and Fellows, Girton College, Cambridge.

Figure 4.4. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, From Fort Napoleon, undated, Watercolour on paper, Personal Papers of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon [GBR/0271/GCPP Bodichon], Folder 8–14. The Mistress and Fellows, Girton College, Cambridge.

Figure 4.5. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Nasturtiums, undated, Watercolour on paper, Acquisition Fund, Delaware Art Museum.←xvi | xvii→

Figure 4.6. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Boats in the Rain, undated, Watercolour on paper, Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press.

Figure 4.7. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, View of Scalands Farm, undated, Watercolour on paper, Personal Papers of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon [GBR/0271/GCPP Bodichon], Folder 8–15. The Mistress and Fellows, Girton College, Cambridge.

Figure 4.8. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, Windswept Trees on the Algerian Coast, undated, Watercolour on paper, Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press.

Figure 5.1. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Lady of Shalott, 1857, from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Poems (1903 reissue). Licensed under Creative Commons by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Figure 5.2. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, St Cecilia or The Palace of Art, 1857, from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Poems (1903 reissue). Licensed under Creative Commons by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Figure 5.3. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal in a chair, c. 1855, Pen, brown ink & black ink on writing paper, 17.9 × 11.3 cm, Accession no. 1432, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Figure 5.4. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Portrait of Elizabeth Siddal, Reading, 1854, Graphite, pen & Indian ink on paper, 24.2 × 29.0 cm, Accession no. 2155, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.←xvii | xviii→

Figure 5.5. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, 1860, Graphite on paper, 25.8 × 25.2 cm, Accession no. 684, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Figure 5.6. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Portrait Sketch of Elizabeth Siddal, c. 1850–60, Pen & brown ink on writing paper, 17.0 × 10.5 cm, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. Licensed under Creative Commons by Birmingham Museums Trust.

Figure 5.7. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Portrait of Elizabeth Siddal, 1854, Pencil, 17.1 × 11.4 cm, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. Licensed under Creative Commons by Birmingham Museums Trust.

Figure 6.1. Georgiana Burne-Jones, Death and the Lady, c. 1861. Reproduced with kind permission from the owner. Photograph by Nat Reeve.

Figure 7.1. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–1894) in a Tantrum and destroying the Contents of a Room, 1862, Pen and brown ink and wash, 39.2 × 33.4 cm, National Trust, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton (NT 1287928). National Trust Photographic Library/Derrick E. Witty/Bridgeman Images.

Figure 7.2. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, 1853, pencil and wash, 28.2 × 21.0 cm, National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG 5428. © National Portrait Gallery.

Figure 7.3. Christina Georgina Rossetti, Portrait of William Michael Rossetti, c. 1853, Graphite on ivory wove paper, 17.9 × 12.8 cm, Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA. Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2010.462. Creative Commons Open Access.←xviii | xix→

Figure 7.4. Simon Edwards Esq. Grave of Christina Rossetti [and Elizabeth Rossetti], 1 July 2020, Photograph © Simon Edwards Esq. Creative Commons Attribution – Share Alike 4.0 International Licence.

Figure 8.1. Evelyn De Morgan, Medea, 1889, Oil on canvas, 148 × 88 cm, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead. Image © Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead.

Figure 8.2. Evelyn De Morgan, Medea, c. 1889, Pastel on paper, 149.9 × 88.9 cm, Wightwick Manor, West Midlands. Wightwick Manor © National Trust / Sophia Farley and Claire Reeves

Figure 8.3. Evelyn De Morgan, Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamund, c. 1903, Oil on canvas, Canvas: 75.6 × 66.7 cm, Framed: 96.2 × 87.4 × 8.6 cm, London, De Morgan Foundation © De Morgan Collection, courtesy of De Morgan Foundation.

Figure 8.4. Figure 2 in [Sophia De Morgan], From Matter to Spirit. The Result of Ten Years’ Experience in Spirit Manifestations. Intended as a Guide to Enquirers (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1863), 55. General Research Division, The New York Public Library.

Figure 8.5. Figure 1 in [Sophia De Morgan], From Matter to Spirit. The Result of Ten Years’ Experience in Spirit Manifestations. Intended as a Guide to Enquirers (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1863), 54. General Research Division, The New York Public Library.

Figure 9.1. Elizabeth Siddal, The Ladies’ Lament from ‘Sir Patrick Spens’, 1856 Watercolour on paper, 24.1 × 22.9 cm, Tate Gallery, London. Purchased 1919. Photo: Tate.←xix | xx→

Figure 9.2. Anna Blunden, View near the Lizard: Polpeor Beach, 1862, Watercolour on paper, 32.9 × 56.6 cm, The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. Image courtesy of the Whitworth, University of Manchester.

Figure 9.3. Elizabeth Siddal, Lady Affixing a Pennant to a Knight’s Spear, c. 1856, Watercolour on paper, 13.7 × 13.7 cm, Tate Gallery, London. Bequeathed by W. C. Alexander 1917. Photo: Tate.

Figure 9.4. Elizabeth Siddal, Two Men in a Boat and a Woman Punting, 1850–2, Pen and ink on paper, 11.6 × 18.3 cm, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. ©Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.

Figure 9.5. Elizabeth Siddal, The Eve of Saint Agnes, 1850, Gouache on paper, 16.5 × 12 cm, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton. 1889775 © National Trust/ John Pittwood.

Figure 9.6. Elizabeth Siddal, Madonna and Child, 1855–7, Watercolour over pencil on paper, 6.3 × 5.7 cm, Private collection. Photograph: Bonhams.

Figure 9.7. Elizabeth Siddal, Lovers Listening to Music, 1854, Pen and ink on paper, 29.5 × 23.8 cm, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. © Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.

Figure 9.8. Elizabeth Siddal, The Haunted Wood, 1856, Gouache on paper, 11 × 12 cm. Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton. National Trust © National Trust / Paul Highnam.

Figure 10.1. John Parsons, Jane Morris posed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 7 July 1865. Albumen print from wet collodion-on-glass negative, 253 × 200 mm. Victoria and Albert Museum [1738–1939]. © Victoria and Albert Museum.←xx | xxi→

Figure 10.2. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Photograph of mid-1850s drawing of Elizabeth Eleanor Rossetti (née Siddal), c. 1863. Albumen print, 119 mm × 95 mm, National Portrait Gallery, London [NPG P1273 (2a)]. Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London. CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Figure 10.3. French fashion plate of women’s day dresses, c. 1855–6. Public domain image courtesy the Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. © Metropolitan Museum.

Figure 10.4. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, c. 1854. Graphite with stumping, on ivory wove paper, edge mounted to off-white wove paper, 26.4 × 11.3 cm. Art Institute of Chicago [1989.472]. CC0 Public Domain.

Figure 10.5. Unknown maker, Day Dress, c. 1855. White muslin roller-printed with blue flowers and very small dots in background. Glasgow Museums [E.1985.65.4]. © Glasgow Museums.

Figure 10.6. Unknown photographer, Elizabeth Siddal, May 1861, Hand coloured photograph, 7.6 × 5.1 cm, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Photo: The Walters Art Museum.

Figure 10.7. John Parsons, Jane Morris posed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 7 July 1865. Albumen print from wet collodion-on-glass negative, 204 × 140 mm. Victoria and Albert Museum [1750–1939]. © Victoria and Albert Museum.

Figure 10.8. John Parsons, Jane Morris posed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 7 July 1865. Albumen print from wet collodion-on-glass negative, 256 × 203 mm. Victoria and Albert Museum [823–1942]. © Victoria and Albert Museum.←xxi | xxii→

Figure 10.9. John Parsons, Jane Morris posed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 7 July 1865. Albumen print from wet collodion-on-glass negative, 171 × 133 mm. Victoria and Albert Museum [1746–1939]. © Victoria and Albert Museum.

Figure 10.10. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Jane Morris (The Blue Silk Dress), 1868 Oil on canvas, 110.5 × 90.2 cm. The Society of Antiquaries of London (Kelmscott Manor). © Society of Antiquaries.

Figure 10.11. Unknown photographer, Jane Morris holding May Morris, c. 1865 William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Figure 10.12. Frederick Hollyer, The Burne-Jones and Morris families, 1874, sepia-toned platinotype print, 15.0 mm × 13.5 cm, acquired unknown source, 1975 National Portrait Gallery, London, [NPG x11881]. Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London. CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0.

Figure 11.2. Edward Burne-Jones, Love Among the Ruins, c. 1873, Watercolour, bodycolour and gum Arabic on paper, 96.5 × 152.4 cm, Private collection. Photo © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images.

Figure 11.3. Max Švabinský, Radost, radost - studie milenců [Joy, Joy – Study of Lovers], 1898, charcoal on paper, 68 × 56 cm, National Gallery Prague (K 42911). Copyright © National Gallery Prague.←xxii | xxiii→

Figure 11.4. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, 1855, Watercolour on paper, 25.4 × 44.9 cm, Tate Gallery, London. Purchased with assistance from Sir Arthur Du Cros Bt and Sir Otto Beit KCMG through the Art Fund 1916. Accession #: N03056. Photo: Tate.

Figure 11.6. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Proserpine, 1874, Oil on canvas, 125.1 × 61.0 cm, Tate Gallery, London. Presented by W. Graham Robertson 1940, Accession #: N05064, Photo: Tate.

Figure 11.8. Max Švabinský, U stavu [By the Loom], 1900, Lithograph on paper, 56.2 × 67.3 cm, Moravian Gallery, Brno, inv.no. C4079.

Figure 11.9. Edward Burne-Jones, The Garden Court, c. 1894, Oil on canvas, 126.3 × 237.4 cm, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. © Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives. Given in memory of Mr and Mrs Francis James Fry by their children, 1930. Bridgeman Images

Figure 12.1. Georgiana MacDonald Æt 16, from a photograph. Memorials I, opposite page 134.

Figure 12.2. Attributed to Georgiana Burne-Jones, illustrated poem titled ‘To Mabel’; two of a series of six sketches alternating with verse, depicting a young girl, a baby and an adult woman in various attitudes, on two pieces of paper once joined. c. 1859, Pen and ink, 17.7 × 11.4 cm, British Museum, London. Object no. 2012,7089.1.←xxiii | xxiv→

Figure 12.3. The Studio at the Grange, 18 June 1898. From a water-colour drawing by Ambrose M. Poynter. Memorials II, opposite page 350.

Figure 13.1. Simeon Solomon, Portrait of Mrs Fanny Eaton, profile left, 1859, Graphite on paper, 14.9 × 13.1 cm, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Accession no. PD.54-1959, Ref. 13633). Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Figure 13.2. Simeon Solomon, Portrait of Mrs Fanny Eaton, 1859, Graphite on paper, 14.7 × 13.4 cm, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Accession no. PD.55-1959, Ref. 13634). Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

Details

Pages: XXVIII, 468
Year: 2022
ISBN (PDF): 9781800795655
ISBN (ePUB): 9781800795662
ISBN (MOBI): 9781800795679
ISBN (Softcover): 9781800795648
DOI: 10.3726/b18605
Language: English
Publication date: 2022 (October)
Keywords: Women in the Pre-Raphaelite movement Female Agency in Victorian Britain Women’s History Pre-Raphaelite Sisters Glenda Youde Robert Wilkes
Published: Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Wien, 2022. XXVIII, 468 pp., 39 b/w ill, 62 colour ill.

Biographical notes

Glenda Youde (Volume editor) Robert Wilkes (Volume editor)

Glenda Youde has recently completed her doctorate at the University of York researching the neglected artistic legacy of Elizabeth Eleanor Rossetti (née Siddall). Robert Wilkes is a postdoctoral fellow in art history at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). Together they organised the successful conference Pre-Raphaelite Sisters: Making Art at the University of York in December 2019.

Pre-Raphaelite Sisters

Summary

Excerpt

Table Of Contents

Illustrations

Details

Biographical notes

Key Subject Areas