Wednesday 14 June 2017

John Everett Millais - part 1

1847 Self-Portrait
oil on board 27.3 x 22.2 cm
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK

Sir John Everett Millais was born in Southampton, the son of John William Millais, a wealthy gentleman from an old Jersey family. His mother's family were prosperous saddlers. Considered a child prodigy, he came to London in 1838. He was sent to Sass's Art School, and won a silver medal at the Society of Arts at the age of nine. In 1840 he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools as their youngest ever student, winning a silver medal in 1843 for drawing from the antique, and a gold medal in 1847 for his painting "THe Tribe of Benjamin Seizing the daughters of Shiloh." He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1846, with "Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru."

1846 Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru
oil on canvas 128.3 x 171.7 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

At the Royal Academy he became friendly with fellow student William Holman Hunt, and contributed with Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti to the Cyclographic Society. In 1848 the three helped form the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His first Pre-Raphaelite painting was Isabella” aka “Lorenzo and Isabella” (1848-9, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), which he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1849. His entry for the following year, Christ in the House of His Parents” (“The Carpenter's Shop”) was received unfavourably.

1848-49 Lorenzo and Isabella
oil on canvas 103 x 142.8 cm
© National Museums, Liverpool, UK

In 1855 he married Effie Chalmers, Ruskin's former wife, with whom he had fallen in love while he was holidaying with the Ruskins in Scotland. The couple settled in Perth, where he painted "Autumn Leaves." 

1856 Autumn Leaves
oil on canvas 104.3 x 74 cm
Manchester Art Gallery, UK

Between 1855 and 1864 Millais made illustrations for numerous publications, including the Moxon edition of Tennyson's poems (1857), the magazine "Once a Week" (1859 onwards) and several novels by Trollope. He moved back to London in 1861, where he achieved popular success as a painter of child subjects such as "Bubbles" (1886, A. & F. Pears Ltd.), which became famous as an advertisement for Pears soap. Also popular were his paintings of beautiful young women, such as "Stella" (1868, Manchester City Art Gallery). He built up a practice as a portrait artist from the early 1870s, his sitters including Thomas Carlyle (1877), Lillie Langtry (1878), Gladstone (1879 and 1885), Disraeli (1881) and Tennyson (1881).

1886 Bubbles
oil on canvas
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Wirral, UK

Millais was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1853, and a full member in 1863. In 1885 he was created a baronet and in 1896 was elected President of the Royal Academy, but died shortly thereafter in London. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

biography from Tate, London


1838-39 Three Sword Hilts
oil on canvas
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK

1840-41c The Wrestlers
watercolour on paper 36.2 x 54 cm
Tate, London

1841-42c Othello and Desdemona
oil on panel 33 x 22.5 cm
National Trust, Wightwick Manor, Woverhampton, UK

1842c Study of a Pottery Jug
watercolour over graphite on wove paper 9.2 x 14.9 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

1843 Aeneas Shown the Body of Pallas from Virgil's "Aeneid"
pen and black ink 36.1 x 48.7 cm
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

1843 Hurdy Gurdy Boy
oil on canvas 61 x 51 cm
Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery, UK

1843 Pope Gregory and the Slaves from Britain
20.7 x 30.6 cm
© The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London

1843 Study for Elgiva Seized by Order of Archbishop Odo
pen and ink on paper 20.4 x 30.3 cm
© Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK

1843-47 Elgiva seized by order of Archbishop Odo
oil sketch for painting
© Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK

1843c A Spanish Gentleman ( after John Jackson’s ‘Shylock’ )
oil on canvas 53.3 x 43.2 cm
Tate, London

1846 Original Historical Painting
oil on board 30 x 40.5 cm
Royal Society of Arts, London

1847 Master Currie
graphite on paper
20.3 x 15.2 cm Tate, London

1847 Miss Currie
graphite on paper 20.3 x 15.2 cm
 Tate, London

1847 Mrs Currie
graphite on paper 20.3 x 15.2 cm
Tate, London

1847 The Tribe of Benjamin Seizing the Daughters of Shiloh

1847-48 Cymon and Iphigenia
oil on canvas 114.3 x 147.3 cm
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Wirral, UK

1847-48 Cymon and Iphigenia study

1847c Infancy
oil  on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm
 Leeds Art Gallery, UK

1847c Manhood
oil on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm
Tate, London

1847c Music
oil  on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm
Leeds Art Gallery, UK

1847c Old Age
oil on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm
Leeds Art Gallery, UK

1847c The Artist Attending the Mourning of a Young Girl
oil on panel 18.7 x 25.7 cm
 Tate, London

1847c The Conjuror
 oil on canvas 35.2 x 45.5 cm
Norfolk Museums Service, UK

1848 My Beautiful Lady
pen and ink
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK

1848 Serjeant Ralph Thomas
oil on panel 40.7 x 30.3 cm
Tate, London

1848 Study for Lorenzo and Isabella
indian ink on paper 23.6 x 31.4 cm
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK

1848c Study for Lorenzo and Isabella
graphite on paper 22.5 x 31 cm
The British Museum, London

1848c Landscape, Hampstead
oil on panel 23.1 x 33.6 cm
Sudley House, Liverpool

1848c The Death of Romeo and Juliet
oil on millboard 16.1 x 26.9 cm
 Manchester Art Gallery, UK

1849 A Maid Offering a Basket of Fruit to a Cavalier
oil on panel 15.2 x 11.4 cm
Tate, London

1849 Charles I and his Son in the Studio of Van Dyck
oil on panel 15.9 x 11.4 cm
Tate, London

1849 Ferdinand Lured By Ariel study
graphite on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper 17.5 x 13 cm
Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT

1849-50 Ferdinand Lured By Ariel
oil on panel 64.8 x 50.8 cm
Private Collection

1849c Ferdinand Lured by Ariel
oil on board 14.6 x 10.9 cm
Sudley House, Liverpool, UK

1849 James Wyatt and His Granddaughter Mary
oil on panel
Private Collection

1849 The Disentombment of Queen Matilda
ink on paper 22.9 x 42.9 cm
Tate, London

1849 The Woodman's Daughter study
pen and gray ink, pen and black ink, grey wash, graphite and scraping on moderately thick, slightly textured, beige wove paper 17.8 x 12.7 cm
Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT

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