– The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (also known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The three founders were soon joined by William Michael Rossetti,James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner to form a seven-member "brotherhood".
When one thinks of student-led rebellions and the changes they can create, one typically thinks of the struggles of the twentieth century, such as the civil rights movement or anti-war protests of the sixties. But there havebeen less ddramatic, though no less passionate, rebellions led by young activists in previous centuries – rebellions that had lasting impact on the world around us. One such example is the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
In the mid-1800s, the art world in England was rattled by the initials PRB. The PRB was founded by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabreil Rossetti. These three burgeoniing artists (the oldest of whom was 21) and their disdain for the artistic conventions of the time would have a dramatic influence on the art world for generations to come.
The PRB was formed in response to the brotherhood's belief that the current popular art being produced in England was lacking in meaning and aesthetic honesty. During the era leading up to the PRB, the Royal Academy dominated British art. The Royal Academy advocated a style that was typically staid and relied heavily upon the use of dark amber and brown tones to depict overly idealized landscapes, carefully arranged family portraits and still lifes, and overly dramatic nature scenes such as a coat caught in stormy seas. By contrast, the PRB believed that art should present subjects that, by their very nature, had greater meaning and more accurately depicted reality. The PRB was committed to bringing greater integrityto art and even went so far as to publish The Germ, a journal that extolled the virtues of the PRB's aesthetic principles.
To develop subjects with greater meaning, the PRB initially turned to ancient myths and stories from the Bible. Many of the PRB's biblically themed paintings portrayed the religious figures as regular people. This departure from the convention of the time is notable in John Everett Millais' Christ in the Home of his Parents. In this painting, Jesus is portrayed as a young boy in his father's carpentry shop. Everyone in the painting, including Christ himself, looks like a common person of that time period, complete with dirty feets and hands. This realism – especially as it related to the Biblical figures – was not well received by many in the art world at that time. Later works done by fellow PRB members, and those inspired by them, utilized themes from poetry, literature, and medieval tales, often with the aim of highlighting the societal and moral challenges of the time.
With the goal of bringing greater honesty to their work, the PRB ignored the convention of painting an imagined or remembered landscape or background. Instead, PRB members would hunt (sometimes for weeks) for locations to incorporate into their paintings nd then paint them in exacting detail.
One of the most distinctive aaspects of PRB works – both in contrat to the works produced during the early nineteenth century and with the art of today – is their dramatic use of colour. By committing themselves to accurate depiction of nature, the PRB brought a freshness and drama to its work through copious use of colour. Further enhancing their work was a technique they used which involved applying the coloured paint on top of wet white paint previously applied to their canvasses. The effect was to make the colours even brighter and more dramatic. Even today, more than 150 years later, PRB paintings have a luminescence beyond those of other works from the same time period. It is believed that their paintings have this quality today because the white layer underneath the coloured paint cotinues to add brightness and life to the painting.
Originally founded by three upstart young men, the PRB had a tremendous influence on an entire generation of artists. Willia Morris, Ford Maddox Brown, and Edward Burne- Jones are just a few of the significant artists of the time whose work was dramatically influenced by the PRB.
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Examples of paintings:
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| Proserpine, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. |
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| Medea by Evelyn De Morgan, 1889, inquattrocento style. |
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| Ophelia, by John Everett Millais.1851 - 1852, in Tate Britain, London. |
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| Christ In the House of His Parents, by John Everett Millais, 1850. |
Reflection questions:
1) a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?
ans: It relates to Human expression through the arts. The Brotherhood's unique, rebellious style of painting reflects certain quality and thinking about them, I believe art is a different way of expressing your ideas, just like music.
b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?
ans: It also relates to Ingenuity and invention. They PRB invented new ways to portrait their paintings that makes them different from the paintings at that time.
2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?
ans: I chose this topic because I think the PRB is pretty important in the British art history. It took me 2 hours to complete this artifact.
3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?
ans: I understood that people who have different thoughts are not wrong, and sometimes people deny the fact, compress people from expressing their ideas, that is very arbitrary and incorrect attitude.
4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?
ans: I think this does reflect my best work, because I spend a lot of time doing researches on the topic, and also I've studied it before in art class, so it is easier for me to become familiar with it.
5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.
a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 4
b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 4
c. Impact on your learning. 4
d. Level of creativity and Originality. 2
ans: 3
6) Any additional comments.
ans: No comment.
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