Arthur Hughes, Self-Portrait, 1851.
Private Collection.
Arthur Hughes
(London, 1832 - Kew, 1915)
Arthur Hughes was the third and final son of Edward and Amy Hughes. In 1838 he entered Archbishop Tenison’s Grammar School, and it was in this establishment that he took his first steps in drawing. At fourteen, he entered the School of Design at Somerset House in London where he studied under Alfred Stevens, a Belgian painter close to the Impressionists. He was accepted the following year, in 1847, at the Antique School of the Royal Academy, where he won several prizes. In 1849, his painting Musidora was exhibited at the Academy.
In 1850, while he was a third-year student at the Royal Academy, he discovered Pre-Raphaelitism by reading all four issues of the periodical The Germ, and was immediately enthused. He began painting according to Pre-Raphaelite principles. He was particularly interested in their desire to remain true to nature and their love of literature. Like them, he enjoyed the poems of John Keats and Tennyson, whose verses he later illustrated. He met Rossetti, Brown, Hunt and the sculptor Alexander Munro, and adopted their ideals. He also met the woman who would become his wife, Tryphena Foord.
In 1852 he met Millais and exhibited his first painting created according to Pre-Raphaelite principles: Ophelia. This painting depicts Ophelia a few moments before her death, unlike that of Millais where we see her floating at the surface of the water. The first time it was exhibited, the painting was hung in an inconspicuous location, but Millais noticed and appreciated it. The next year, Hughes began a painting entitled Orlando in the Forest of Arden, in which he paid particular attention to the background. However, the painting was not chosen by the Royal Academy in 1855. Not letting himself be discouraged, Hughes replaced the figure of Orlando with a man and woman promising one another eternal love. In this form, the painting was accepted and exhibited in 1859.
In November 1855, he married Tryphena Foord at Holy Trinity Church in Maidstone, and they later had five children. She posed as a model for many of his paintings, including April Love in 1855-1856. This painting earned him the praise of Ruskin, who particularly appreciated the detailed vegetation. It was purchased by William Morris, who then presented it to Edward Burne-Jones.
In 1855 Hughes began a career as an illustrator and worked with George MacDonald. In 1856 he painted The Eve of Saint Agnes, inspired by John Keats’ 1820 poem. Like his Ophelia of 1852, this triptych painting is surrounded by a golden frame engraved with verses from the poem that inspired it.
As with April Love, Ruskin was delighted: “A very noble painting […] Madeline’s face is exquisite.” In 1857, he collaborated with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, and Morris in painting the walls of the Oxford Union Library. The following year, he moved to London, then travelled to Italy in 1862. At various times in his life, Hughes held teaching posts at South Kensington Schools and Working Man’s College. The last exhibition of his works while he was still living took place at the Royal Academy in 1908. He spent the last years of his life in isolation surviving on a Civil List Pension, and he died in Kew, not far from central London. Hughes was never part of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, but was very close to all the members and embraced their principles quite early. Though timid and reserved, he was much appreciated by the Brothers and was one of their most faithful followers.
Arthur Hughes, Home from Sea, 1863.
Oil on panel, 50 x 65 cm.
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology,
University of Oxford, Oxford.
Edward Burne-Jones (design) and Morris,
Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (production), Elaine, 1870.
Stained and painted glass, 86.3 x 51.4 cm.
Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Anonymous,
Portrait of Burne-Jones and Morris.
Private Collection
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
(Birmingham, 1833 - West Stratton, 1898)
Ned Burne-Jones was an only child. He lost his mother a few days after his birth and was raised by his Welsh father, who was deeply affected by the death of his wife and had difficulty accepting the presence of his son. Consequently, the young Edward was often left to himself and found comfort in drawing. From 1844 he studied at King Edward’s School in Birmingham; at first envisaging a career in commerce, he nevertheless studied the classics, and would maintain this interest throughout his life. His fascination with mythology was particularly lasting. Additionally, the young Burne-Jones loved painting and his work showed promise. In Birmingham, his drawing teacher was Thomas Clark, a landscape painter who exhibited at the Royal Academy. In January 1853 he entered Exeter College, Oxford at the same time as William Morris who, like him, was attracted by the Oxford Movement and wanted to enter the priesthood. They had a deep friendship and shared a passion for the Middle Ages as well as for the writings of Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin. Soon, Burne-Jones took up painting and drawing again. He studied Italian paintings and engravings by Dürer in the University galleries, but felt the greatest enthusiasm for the works of a contemporary English painter, Rossetti. Like Morris, Burne-Jones decided to abandon his aspirations to the priesthood to pursue his artistic career.
In 1856 he met Rossetti, who became his mentor, and left the University shortly thereafter to take up residence in London. He moved to 17 Red Lion Square with Morris, into an apartment formerly occupied by Rossetti, from whom he had taken informal lessons. Rossetti strengthened their desire to reintroduce the formal purity, stylisation, and high moral value of medieval art works into contemporary art. In the same year, Burne-Jones met his future spouse Georgiana (Georgie) MacDonald, the sister of a school friend and the daughter of a Methodist minister. Recognising his student’s talent, Rossetti soon declared that he had nothing more to teach Burne-Jones, and in the autumn of 1857 they worked together decorating the walls of the Oxford Union. However, none of the painters involved had mastered the fresco technique, and the paintings were already crumbling soon after their completion. In 1859 Burne-Jones travelled to Italy and visited Florence, Pisa, Sienna, and Venice. By the end of the 1850s, Burne-Jones’ work was stylistically similar to that of Rossetti. His feminine ideal was also similar to Rossetti’s, characterised by abundant hair, strong chins, long necks and androgynous bodies hidden under large medieval robes. In 1860 he painted the two portraits Sidonia von Bork and Clara von Bork, then in June of that year he married Georgiana, whose sisters had married Sir E. Poynter, the future President of the Royal Academy, and Lockwood Kipling, father of Rudyard Kipling. The couple’s home was in Bloomsbury.
In 1861 Burne-Jones was a founder of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co., for whom he was the principal stained-glass artist, creating more than five hundred designs.
Though he was most strongly influenced by Rossetti, he also benefited from contact with other artists such as G.F. Watts. In 1862 Burne-Jones and Georgiana accompanied Ruskin on a trip to Milan and Venice.