Art, John Everatt Millais

JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS
Biography information from  Wikipedia

Millais (pronounced Mih-lay) was born in Southampton, England in 1829, of a prominent Jersey-based family. His prodigious artistic talent won him a place at the Royal Academy schools at the unprecedented age of eleven. While there, he met William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti with whom he formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (known as the "PRB") in September 1848 in his family home on Gower Street, off Bedford Square.This style was promoted by the critic John Ruskin, who had defended the Pre-Raphaelites against their critics. Millais' friendship with Ruskin introduced him to Ruskin's wife Effie. Soon after they met she modelled for his painting The Order of Release. As Millais painted Effie they fell in love. Despite having been married to Ruskin for several years, Effie was still a virgin. Her parents realized something was wrong and she filed for an annulment. In 1856, after her marriage to Ruskin was annulled, Effie and John Millais married. He and Effie eventually had eight children including John Guille Millais, a notable naturalist and wildlife artist.

After his marriage, Millais began to paint in a broader style, which was condemned by Ruskin as "a catastrophe". It has been argued that this change of style resulted from Millais' need to increase his output to support his growing family. Unsympathetic critics such as William Morris accused him of "selling out" to achieve popularity and wealth. His admirers, in contrast, pointed to the artist's connections with Whistler and Albert Moore, and influence on John Singer Sargent. Millais himself argued that as he grew more confident as an artist, he could paint with greater boldness. In his article "Thoughts on our art of Today" (1888) he recommended Velázquez and Rembrandt as models for artists to follow. Paintings such as The Eve of St. Agnes and The Somnambulist clearly show an ongoing dialogue between the artist and Whistler, whose work Millais strongly supported. Other paintings of the late 1850s and 1860s can be interpreted as anticipating aspects of the Aesthetic Movement. Many deploy broad blocks of harmoniously arranged colour and are symbolic rather than narratival.

Later works, from the 1870s onwards demonstrate Millais' reverence for old masters such as Joshua Reynolds and Velázquez. Many of these paintings were of an historical theme and were further examples of Millais' talent. Notable among these are The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower (1878) depicting the Princes in the Tower, The Northwest Passage (1874) and the Boyhood of Raleigh (1871). Such paintings indicate Millais' interest in subjects connected to Britain's history and expanding empire. Millais also achieved great popularity with his paintings of children, notably Bubbles (1886) – famous, or perhaps notorious, for being used in the advertising of Pears soap – and Cherry Ripe. His last project (1896) was to be a painting entitled The Last Trek. Based on his illustration for his son's book, it depicted a white hunter lying dead in the African veldt, his body contemplated by two Africans.
More information from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Everett_Millais

delete reply madisonpooface wrote on Oct 26, '09 I am loving all the Pre-Raphaelite paintings today. Great work. Thanks for the post, beautiful

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Oct 25, '09 Beautiful & touching...his humanity showed through every stroke. Thanks, Loretta!

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Oct 25, '09 standing ovation to you, ma'am! the PRB sounds a bit like the painter's version of the rat pack. wonderful music, too......thank you.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Oct 25, '09 oh loretta this is wonderful just wonderful

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Oct 24, '09 you are added to the art sunday tour http://nemo4sun.multiply.com/journal/item/184/art_sunday_tour

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Oct 24, '09 I'm no art critic but I like all of these paintings.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Oct 23, '09 You've included some wonderful work of his, love the use of colors /:-)

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Oct 23, '09 Not an artist I'm very familiar with, but I do like some of the paintings you've included here. I particularly like the two landscapes near the top of the post.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Oct 23, '09 you did an excellent job :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 23, '09 Thanks Nemo, I chose these particular paintings because of their 'autumn ' colours.............there are loads more paintings by him but i thought I'd stick to the 'autumn ' ones for this blog.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Oct 23, '09, edited on Oct 23, '09 so beautifull the colors and imagery have a real "autumn" feel i will get a tour page up tomorrow :)