PRS 2019 Events
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21 September 2019
Lecture by Michaela Jones: ‘Emerging from the Shadows: The Pre-Raphaelitism of Christiana Herringham’ Venue: John Peek Conference Room, Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham. B3 3BS. @ 11.00 am (Reception from 10.30 am) Christiana Herringham (1852-1929) was a central figure in the British art world at the turn of the twentieth century and a leading proponent of Pre-Raphaelite values. She followed Ruskin’s directive to ‘go to Nature … rejecting nothing, selecting nothing, and scorning nothing,’ creating life-size depictions of plants and wildflowers in their natural setting. Herringham was also a leading figure in the British Tempera Revival. By copying early Italian Renaissance paintings in their original medium of tempera, she not only promoted the artists before Raphael, but also called for a return to medieval methods. This talk will examine Herringham’s paintings – including recently rediscovered works – and discuss her contribution to the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Michaela Jones is in the final stages of completing her PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her thesis focuses on Christiana Herringham and her art collection which was bequeathed to the university following her death. Michaela co-curated the exhibition ‘Christiana Herringham: Artist, Campaigner, Collector,’ which was held at Royal Holloway between January and March 2019. |
Michaela Jones - Photo ©PRS 2019
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13 July 2019
Lecture by Adrian Barlow – ‘Kempe and the Pre-Raphaelites’. Venue: Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham. B3 3BS. John Peek Conference Room. Lecture starts 11.00 am (Reception from 10.30 am). Charles Eamer Kempe has often been compared unfavourably – e.g. by critics such as Nikolaus Pevsner – with William Morris and the later Pre-Raphaelite stained glass artists. But little attention has been paid to the close personal and professional links between Kempe and Morris, particularly during the 1860-70s when both men were much indebted to the architect GF Bodley for encouragement, direction and commissions. This talk re-examined these close links in the light both of prevailing artistic currents such as the Aesthetic Movement and of Kempe’s own lifelong admiration for Morris. It explored some of the comparisons drawn between Morris and Kempe by critics in the immediate aftermath of Kempe’s death in 1907. Adrian Barlow writes and lectures on literature, architecture and stained glass. A Senior Member of Wolfson College, Cambridge, and former President of the English Association, his recent publications include Kempe: the Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe(2018) and Espying Heaven: the Stained Glass of Charles Eamer Kempe and his Artists(2019), both books illustrated with photographs by Alastair Carew-Cox. |
Adrian Barlow - Photo ©PRS 2019
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18 May 2019
Lecture by Colin Cruise – ‘Starting with Illumination: Rossetti, Burne-Jones and medieval painting’ Venue: Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham. B3 3BS. John Peek Conference Room. This talk revisited the topic of medieval illumination as an inspiration for Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s 1850s’ watercolours, examining some of the inspirations for his ground-breaking sequence of works, chiefly on Arthurian themes. Attention then turns to Burne-Jones’s first drawings and watercolours in which Rossetti’s generalised ‘aesthetic’ of illumination is transformed – rather than simply copied – by the younger artist. The paper compared and contrasted works from these phases of each artist’s career to analyse the significant differences that medieval illumination inspired in their imaginative practices. Following his recent retirement from a full-time, university professorial position Colin Cruise works as an independent art history researcher and as a writer and lecturer. He is the author of Pre-Raphaelite Drawing (Thames and Hudson, 2011); he has also written for the Tate Britain exhibition catalogues Queer Art in Britain (2017) and Edward Burne-Jones (2018), as well as for the Lowry Centre exhibition, Lowry and the Pre-Raphaelites (2018). |
Dr Colin Cruise - Photo ©PRS 2019
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13 April 2019
Lecture by Dr Ellie Pridgeon – ‘The Pre-Raphaelites and their Circle: The Influence of the Medieval World on Nineteenth-Century Mural Paintings.’ Venue: Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham. B3 3BS. John Peek Conference Room. This talk examined the impact of medieval art and architecture on the content and iconography of Pre-Raphaelite painting, focusing on 19th century murals such as Morris and Rossetti’s Morte d’Arthur paintings at the Oxford Union Library; recently-discovered paintings by Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Siddal, Brown and Morris at the Red House, Bexleyheath; and the Clayton and Bell murals at Freedland, Oxfordshire. The talk will also assess the influence of the medieval period on 19th century wall painting techniques, processes and pigments, and the significance of Thomas Gambier Parry’s ‘spirit fresco’ invention. Dr Ellie Pridgeon FSA lectures in History of Art and Architecture at the universities of Leicester, Oxford and Cambridge. Her research and publications focus on medieval and post-Reformation wall paintings in England and Wales. Ellie is especially interested in the architectural and art historical influences of the medieval period on the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and other 19th century artists. |
Dr Ellie Pridgeon - Photo ©PRS 2019
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12 January 2019
Lecture by Kirsty Stonell Walker – ‘Gathering the Girl Gang: How Women enhance the Pre-Raphaelite narrative.’
Venue: Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham. B3 3BS. John Peek Conference Room. Lecture starts 11.00 am (Reception from 10.30 am).
Kirsty’s lecture focuses on how studying the women in the Pre-Raphaelite story helps us see the art from different angles. The models especially are often seen as inconsequential in the biographies of the Brotherhood, but their stories can both challenge and enhance our appreciation of the art and the stories around the paintings. Painters, writers, models, sculptors, wives and daughters all have a part to play in our understanding of the term ‘Pre-Raphaelite’ and their part should be celebrated.
It was while studying for her degree that Kirsty became immersed in the life and loves of the Pre-Raphaelites. The plight of ‘bad girl’ Fanny Cornforth fascinated her so much she spent a decade researching her life and wrote her biography Stunner: The Fall and Rise of Fanny Cornforth. Since 2011 she has written a blog The Kissed Mouth, where she publishes original research on the many models of the Pre-Raphaelites. She has also written two novels about Victorian artists.
Lecture by Kirsty Stonell Walker – ‘Gathering the Girl Gang: How Women enhance the Pre-Raphaelite narrative.’
Venue: Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham. B3 3BS. John Peek Conference Room. Lecture starts 11.00 am (Reception from 10.30 am).
Kirsty’s lecture focuses on how studying the women in the Pre-Raphaelite story helps us see the art from different angles. The models especially are often seen as inconsequential in the biographies of the Brotherhood, but their stories can both challenge and enhance our appreciation of the art and the stories around the paintings. Painters, writers, models, sculptors, wives and daughters all have a part to play in our understanding of the term ‘Pre-Raphaelite’ and their part should be celebrated.
It was while studying for her degree that Kirsty became immersed in the life and loves of the Pre-Raphaelites. The plight of ‘bad girl’ Fanny Cornforth fascinated her so much she spent a decade researching her life and wrote her biography Stunner: The Fall and Rise of Fanny Cornforth. Since 2011 she has written a blog The Kissed Mouth, where she publishes original research on the many models of the Pre-Raphaelites. She has also written two novels about Victorian artists.