A prodigiously talented artist, Sir John Everett Millais (1829–96) co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with Rossetti and others, helping to revolutionise the Victorian art world. The minute realism of paintings like Christ in the House of His Parents, and his high-profile marriage to Ruskin's ex-wife Effie, were gradually accepted, and the iconic Ophelia was widely admired. Success as an illustrator also put him in the public eye, with the engravings market bringing him new wealth. With popularity came a return to more traditional forms in portraiture and landscape, inspired by Reynolds, Velázquez and the Old Masters, although he also played off Whistler and the aesthetic movement. He became president of the Royal Academy in the last year of his life. His son, John Guille Millais (1865–1931), published this highly illustrated and acclaimed two-volume biography in 1899.
Contents
Volume 1: Preface; 1. The birth of Millais; 2. Pre-Raphaelitism: its meaning and its history; 3. Lorenzo and Isabella; 4. Millais commences Ophelia; 5. The volunteer movement; 6. 1853–5; 7. Leech, Thackeray, Wilkie Collins, and Anthony Trollope; 8. Millais' marriage; 9. The struggle of 1859; 10. 1861–7; 11. Holman Hunt; 12. 1865–80. Volume 2: 13. 1867–72; 14. 1874–8; 15. 1878–81; 16. 1881–5; 17. 1885–9; 18. The man and his home life; 19. George du Maurier; 20. 1890–5; 21. 1894–6; 22. His art life and methods; 23. Reminiscences of Millais; 24. Some recollections of Millais; 25. The man and his art; Appendix; Index.
Printer friendly version