The Victorian Era: Favourite Art

William Morris

Morris was the first artist that I studied as a young first grader in primary school.  I remember that we were to copy one of his prints as closely as we could, and colour it just as carefully.  I spent forever, tracing, erasing and colouring the pattern.  All the while I remember marveling at the care it took to create something so beautiful: I never looked at wallpaper the same way.  Morris, a poet as well as an artist, was precise and accurate in his work.  I think that since that class in primary school, I have always associated Victorians with Morris' work.  His use of colour: generally darker colours, and his emphasis on rich pattern and floral design embody the nature of the upperclass Victorian, in my eyes.

Ophelia- John Everett Millais, 1851-52

What an incredible piece of art!  There are two things I love about this particular piece.  firstly, it does what the Victorians did best: it tells a story.  Naturally, it asks us to recall Ophelia's story: one of madness and suicide.  Though I think more often, I contemplate Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott when viewing this painting.  Either way, what is interesting to me is that the story itself is dramatized beautifully: it is romanticized!  Horror and ugliness (of the act of suicide itself) is instead replaced with the floral depictions of a seemingly honorable death.  What exactly does this say about Victorians?  Were they in denial?  Or just very poetic?

James A. M. Whistler- Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket, 1875 

I chose to feature this painting because it is just so different to things we see typically of the Victorian era in art: at least during the beginning of the era.  Art seemed to be a business: depicting a consequential person within society, recreating a scene as acurately and beautifully as possible, and sketching for political purposes.  In this painting, however, I feel like the artist is attempting to depict emotion in the painting rather than an event.  The vibrant and excessive use of colour is the artist's primary tool in captivating his audience.  There is something magical about the painting:something unusual, but all the while realistic enough to tell a story.