Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement

Authors: Martin Ellis, Victoria Osborne, Tim Barringer
Publishers: American Federation of Arts & DelMonico Books•Prestel
Dimensions: 10 x 12 in.
Format: Soft Cover, 280 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-885444-47-9

Price: $45

Overview

Published by the AFA and DelMonico Books•Prestel, this generously illustrated and exciting new study of the Victorian era features rarely seen works, provocative essays, and a striking, period-inspired design.

Although the word “Victorian” connotes a kind of dry propriety, the artists working in the Victorian era were anything but. Starting with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and lasting through the dawn of the 20th century, the era’s painters, writers, and designers challenged every prevailing belief about art and its purpose. The full spectrum of the Victorian avantgarde is in magnificent display in this book that features nearly 150 works drawn from the Birmingham Museum’s unparalleled collection. Characterized by attention to detail, vibrant colors, and engagement with literary themes and daily life, the paintings, works on paper, and decorative objects featured reveal the myriad ways Victorian artists and artisans made sense of a rapidly changing world. Perceptive essays and the latest scholarship illuminate the issues these artists contended with, including the relationship to art and nature, questions of class and gender identity, the value of handmade versus machine production, and the search for beauty in an age of industry. Designed to reflect the tactile nature of the work and featuring typography inspired by the Victorian era, this beautiful volume is as fresh and bold as the visionaries it celebrates.

About the Author(s)

Tim Barringer is Paul Mellon Professor and Chair of the History of Art at Yale University. He specializes in the art of Britain and the British Empire, notably the Pre-Raphaelites, and American painting. He has curated exhibitions at Tate Britain, Yale and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Martin Ellis is a freelance curator, lecturer, and broadcaster. As Curator of Applied Art at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery for many years, he has particular expertise in the fields of metalwork, ceramics, and stained glass.

Victoria Osborne is Curator of Fine Art for Birmingham Museums Trust, specializing in British nineteenth-century works on paper. She has co-curated several major international loan exhibitions of British nineteenth-century art.

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