Pre-Raphaelites in Love

by Gay Daly

In 1848 a group of brilliant young artists banded together and dubbed themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Believing that painting had declined since the time of Raphael, they decreed that every rose must be painted from a live flower and every face from a human being. Inevitably, their creative passions became tangled with romantic ones, as the artists--William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and later, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris--became involved with their models in tempestuous, sometimes tragic, relationships. Anyone who has seen the work of the Pre-Raphaelites has been struck by the dreamy, luminous women portrayed in the paintings. But who were these women? And what happened when these beautiful girls who consented to model--scandalous behavior at the time--found themselves idealized and adored by the men who painted them? In this ambitious and immensely readable book, author Gay Daly introduces us to these intriguing Elizabeth Siddal, the shopgirl so memorably painted as Ophelia and Beatrice, who finally married Rossetti after ten years of nerve-wracking courtship, and died at 32, a suicide. Annie Miller, the barmaid taken up as a "project" by the besotted Hunt, who turned the tables on her suitor when he failed to go through with their marriage. Effie Gray, who ultimately experienced happiness and sexual pleasure with Millais--but only after a six-year marriage to the art critic John Ruskin that was never consummated. Fannie and Edith Waugh, sisters who both married Hunt, Edith becoming his wife after the death of her older sister, a union that was illegal in England at the time. Georgiana MacDonald, who never stopped loving her husband, Burne-Jones, even though he pursued romantic adventures outside the marriage for thirty years. Jane Burden, wife to Morris, who met her match in Rossetti, becoming his muse just as Lizzie Siddal had been before her death. Pre-Raphaelites in Love draws on a wealth of original letters and diaries to reveal the complicated, stormy, and extraordinarily binding relationships of these artists and the women they loved. The result is a vivid, personal group portrait, a provocative exploration of marriage and the challenges inherent in intimacy, as well as a glimpse of the fragile kinship between romance and inspiration.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Art History, Biography Memoir, Victorian

Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the unfortunate title, no doubt slapped on it by some desperate soul in the publisher’s marketing department, this is actually a lively and well-researched nonfiction book about the Pre-Raphaelite poets and painters and the women who came to them as models and found themselves transformed, sometimes very uneasily, into muses: Dante Rossetti and Lizzie Siddal, William Holman Hunt and Annie Miller, William Morris and his eventual wife Jane, and John Everett Millais and Effie Gray. Rich with the words of the Pre-Raphaelites themselves, culled from their literary work and correspondence, the book is structured in a way that you can comfortably read it in “installments,” but you may not want to. Daly’s relaxed, fluid writing style, her deep familiarity with the people she’s writing about, and the inherent drama of their relationships almost make you forget you’re reading non-fiction. My favorite is the story of Millais and his wife Effie, who was originally married to the art critic John Ruskin – a much older man, and brilliant in his field, but at home a nightmare compendium of every possible screwed-up Victorian male attitude towards women, with a few extra special issues of his own thrown in. A fascinating look at a particular subset of 19th century English culture, and at this idiosyncratic movement in the history of Western Art.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange, awkward title, although it is pretty literal. This is pretty repetitive. After about the 3rd Pre-Raphaelite, I got the picture that they all had strange relationships with women. I think this was most interesting as a portrait of Victorian married life among the bohemian set. Man, those guys were pretty fucked up. They all had sexual hang-ups---fear of sex, inability to have sex, etc. And everyone was so sickly--and these were the middle class. Some of these people passed years sick, and it’s not really clear to me what exactly they were sick with. Backaches? Nerves? And they were always collapsing from exhaustion.

[Susan Liston · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most detailed bio of the Pre-Raphs I've read to date. Ah, truth is so often stranger than fiction. If someone made this all up they would be accused of being utterly melodramatic and ridiculously over the top. This is very well researched and quite readable. It's a biography rather than an art book, however, so the illustrations are sparse. So keep another book or the Internet at hand, their work is sooooo incredible...

[Mela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The kind of non-fiction, of a biography book that I love the most. Fascinating people, the narration that believable tried to tell about their lives and to understand them, doing it with a perfect amount of historical fragments (letters, poems, paintings). No place to be overwhelmed with original letters. No feeling of guessing or speculating by the writer.

Additionally, thanks to the Internet, during reading I looked at mentioned paintings (not all, but most of them). It gave me a deeper understanding of those men and women, also more pleasure from the book.

And of course, it was an interesting view of the Victoria era from the perspective of artists and the middle-class. There was something warm in the meeting George Eliot, Charles Dickens, and many others. Like meeting someone at a party who one knows and likes but doesn't expect to see at that party ;-)

[Sophie (RedheadReading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed bulking out my PRB knowledge with this super readable biography, particularly liked the amount of direct quotations from letters, although Daly definitely inserts a lot of her own interpretation and judgement alongside. I confess I wanted a bit more focus on the women from time to time (in their own right, rather than just through their relationships - for example, Georgie's political career, fundraising, etc could have taken up more space!), but it did a great job of catching all the individual hangups that each artist had, the way they viewed/idealised women and all the other messy complications that entailed.

[Virginie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am deeply immersed in this engrossing biography, it depicts a fascinating world, ...these Pre Raph actually were a fascinating bunch.I am having a wonderful time.I gulped down a bio about Lizzie Siddal last year, I loved it...everything about Pre Raphs has been triggering my interest ever since.

I recommend !

Great study of passionate and often tragic relationship between the most famous Pre-raph artists and their models, lovers and wives.I recommend reading this book along with one showing the paintings and drawings since many of them are referred to and are of course of significance,the iconography in Gay Daly's book being unfortunately too scarce.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so pleased with this book. I had heard about it from "The Lives of the Muses" It's so well researched but also just really easy to read, which makes for a lovely combination in an art history book. It goes deep into everyone's lives, their strengths and faults. The book feels carefully done and makes me want to understand more about the period, I love feeling that way after finishing a book.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores the lives and relationships of several of the key persons in the Pre-Raphaelite movement. At times it is quite engrossing and had trouble putting it down to go do other things. I can totally understand the unique situations these individuals found themselves placed in having been there myself in the pursuit of art in one form or another. Well worth the reading if you are interested in the Pre-Raphaelite's.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fairly detailed history of the main creators of the PreRaphaelite school of art which emerged in Victorian Britain. It is also the history of their loves and marriages, models and muses. In my opinion there is no romance novel which can compete with this story for tragic love and tempestuous passion. I would only recommend this book to people who are already interested in the art and artists whose lives are documented within.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this was a labor of love.... love of these artists and their work... and a great respect for the women who suffered with and for them. If you have any interest in Victorian England and the artists of that time, this would be a fabulous read for you.

[Marylouise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough, intelligent, lively history of the Pre-Raphaelite painters and the women who were their muses. I loved reading about the private lives of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones. Their models were chosen often at just a romantic glimpse in a theater or at a concert. William Morris discovered Jane Burden (later Jane Morris) while at Oxford. Elizabeth Siddal worked in a bonnet shop. Along with Effie Millais, Fanny Hunt and Maria Zambuco these are the real women who gaze out dreamily and mysteriously from the canvas. The painters were faithful to their muses until it no longer suited them. Pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood all roles that were incongruous with presenting as the romantic ideal of Guinevere, Beatrice, Helen of Troy or Proserpine. The paintings that resulted from this brief period in British painting captivate me. Even more so now that I know the women behind the muses.

[Meri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely left me feeling a bit emotionally exhausted afterwards.

Not because of the author -- oh no.

But because I wanted to reach through the pages and slap some sense into these PRB lot. Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood? More like Pretty Rotten Bridegrooms. I felt sympathy and anger for the women. From a feminist perspective, it was a bleak exploration into the rights -- or rather, great big lack thereof -- for women in 19th Century British society.

Anyway I choose to remember each of their names: Lizzie Siddal, Jane Morris, Fanny Holman-Hunt, Edith Holman-Hunt, Effie Millais, and Georgie Burne-Jones -- ESPECIALLY GBJ, my god that woman is my hero. I wouldn't be as nearly patient with old Ned. He'd quite likely find himself wearing his bloody paintings as a DIY ruff...

[Christine Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!
I read this in conjunction with catalogue from the PRB exhibition in London a few years ago so I could study the pictures as they were mentioned. (Gaps readily filled by Google).
Very readable though even if you don’t have an interest in The Brotherhood.

[Libby E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely excellent biography of the major Pre-Raphaelites,and their most well known models.The lives of the artists were as varied as their models lives. There are other books concerning later,lesser known models,li ke Alexa Wilding,though I have yet to read those.

[Elizabethbeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Вообще я прочла другую книгу о Пререафаэлитах, сборник из поэзии, но почему-то здесь ее просто нет. Так что вот так.

[Emily Wang]

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a real piece of work but GOD could he paint

[SusanA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I loved this book. Read it, bought it, read it a few more times.

[Samuel Valentino · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-researched, informative, and entertaining book. I learned much more about the history of the major Pre-Raphaelite painters by reading this.

That being said - and while I still give it five stars - as an artist I couldn't help but notice that the author had a PhD in English Literature, rather than Art History. As such, she seems to value the artists' work based on what she thinks of the artist, rather than artistic merit. And she has decided opinions on the artists. It appears that she's indifferent to Millais, despises Hunt, and likes Burne-Jones. The biggest giveaway on those last two are her description of their spouses. Hunt's wife Edith wanted nothing more than to be the loyal wife of a famous artist, as did Georgie, Burne-Jones' wife. Yet, since the author appears to hate Hunt, Edith comes across as a miserable housewife, whose death is recounted so briefly - in one terse sentence - as to smack of spite. Hunt, however, was nothing but completely loyal to her as well. Meanwhile, Burne-Jones blatantly cheated on Georgie, and even considered leaving her, yet the author is rarely critical of him, and very warm toward Georgie. Similarly, Hunt's art is lambasted while Burne-Jones' is praised. I note this because I, myself, like both Hunt and Burne-Jones' art. And Hunt is not nearly as unsympathetic as she portrays him - in this book itself she even quotes a letter saying how much fun Hunt was at parties.

But that's just my take on this as an artist. As a biography, it's first rate, and enjoyable. I'd just caution about taking her viewpoints on the worth of the artists at face value.

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say I was not very impressed by this book at all. In the preface Daly claimed she was writing a feminist history on marriage, however what she was writing was in fact very male-focused biography. The women seemed to only exist in HOW they related to the men, their own lives, activities and artistic abilities were largely ignored. For example, one of them set up an art school, raised 10,000 to fund under privileged artists, ran and won a councillor seat in a local election, this was covered in one paragraph, and then Daly went up to say how the best thing she did was writing her husband’s biography. I must admit I don’t care much for biographies, particularly when, like this one, they tend to not go into the social or cultural history of the time. Despite later showing how this was not the case, Daly seemed to constantly be restating people’s misconceptions about the Victorian’s particularly Victorian sexuality. She said how unmarried men did not have sex, except with prostitutes, how Rushkin was shocked by his wife’s pubic hair, while at the same time appearing to be totally baffled by the more complicated relations among the PBR. Daly did quote quite a lot from letters between people, however, overall there seemed to be far too much of her own interpretation brought into the text. This isn’t really one I could recommend.

[Ladyknightstar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pre-Raphaelites in Love is a worthy read. Daly explores the social context of the love lives of the Pre-Raphaelites and how the way they chose to live affected them in English society, as well as their relationships with each other. In contrast to the modern's rejections of romanticism and satire of Victorian life by other artists, like Oscar Wilde, the Pre-Raphaelites celebrated romance and beauty and medieval aesthetics, and were the popular non-elitist artists of their day. I enjoyed most the insight letters between the artists provided but disliked most many of Daly's interpretations without citations of actual documents in her research for the book. For instance she categorically stated that things such as holding hands while courting are things which meant so much more than than now, thanks to casual sexual relationships, as though no one holds hands anymore, and several other statements to that effect which are more than subjective. Daly is an intelligent and witty narrator of the lives of the artists though, who catches subtle details in the context of the historical period, so she does deserve props and this makes up for some of her other observations which seem far from the mark.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for those interested in a different angle on the art history of the 'Pre-Raphs ' (term I got from Paul). Their tapestries, paintings, books and furniture are handsome but their relationships were not idyllic. It explores Rosetti's love with Jane Morris, his young bride's death and Morris' dedication to his art and politics. I remember thinking no wonder Morris could write about utopia and create such wonderful work because he had servants! I don't remember details (but I pasted a very good synopsis in the information window) but I remember really enjoying this book.

[Christina K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I looooove this book, and its look at all the unknown shenanigans that the Great Painters of the 19th Century were getting up to. Also, it gives equal time to all the models/wives/sisters/lovers/supporters of these man-children (sometimes) as well as the men themselves. So many more scandals than I ever dreamed of! Also, great photos of the art, and explanations of their friendships' problems, their arguments with the Royal Academy, and how history kind of ran over them in favor of the Impressionists and Modernists.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrative non-fiction as art history. This is an utterly fascinating group biography of all the major players in the Pre-Raphaelite movement, most of whom led very bizarre lives. The book was as just as gripping as a good novel, but I also learned so much about the period and its art and literature.

[Joseph Teller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this - these people had HORRIBLE lives, especially the women, and made really bad choices in love. On the other hand, its extensive, detailed, and gives an interesting look into these artists and their families and their world. Don't read it if you depress easily.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book about the ultimate disfunctional extended art family, The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of mid-19th century England. Their glorious paintings are astounding as were their lives. Constantly changing partners and living extraordinary lives.

[lisa_emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading about the Pre-Raphaelites even though I do think they are cads, most of them. Interesting cads. This book does a good capturing the various love affairs of the main painters of the Brotherhood. In reading this, one could feel better about one's own whacked love affairs.

[Ccmaria62 crow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Educational if you like the art.

[Vel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully intricate amorous account of the pre-raphs' lives, seeking the inseparable connection between their loves and their art, all written in an elegant, eloquent style.

[Tatjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book with gorgeous quality color plates.
Never "read it", but have it and look at it often.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was took years to find — and was so very worth the wait.