| Preraphaelites |
| Since I've already mentioned Preraphaelites, I shouldn't leave all the praises to Rossetti. He and his companion, Jane Morris, certainly did inspire many Aesthetic women in their clothing, but there are many other
painters of this circle that had a special "dress-sensibility". |
| There were many Preraphaelite artists who adopted the social aspect of that movement and from them we have some nice studies on Victorian fashion. However, this was also the aspect that didn't live for too long -
certainly not after 1860's, while the other, the escapistic one, reached even into 1920's. |
| However, the golden age of Preraphaelitism could be outlined with 1848 as the year of foundation of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and 1898 as the death of Edward Burne-Jones. |
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| Millais was with no doubt the most talented member of the preraphaelitic circle. However, he was bad in using this talent for the right causes. His preraphaelitic works were rather pathetic
than idealistic and he soon got lost in painting images for advertisements and commisioned portraits. |
| He was easily influenced and the biggest impact on his work was made by John Ruskin, the poet, painter and, in first years, the supporter of preraphaelitic movement. He was so influenced by
Ruskin that he adopted many of his views, opinions, love for nature and finally his wife. |
| Millais did make several fantastical images, but he was one of the Preraphaelites to give most works to the social side and this is possibly the best thing for costume lovers. Social also means
contemporary and presenting contemporary (Victorian) society with Millais' talent results with many beautiful images where texture of textiles is especially emphasized. His sense for details, especially on clothes, can be compared only with that of
Ingres. It is easy to notice every fold on skirts and guess the type of textile. When being non-contemporary, Millais preferred being historical than fantastical and his studies of historical costumes are equaly astonishing. |
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| Holman Hunt was a bit different, even when dealing with social themes within preraphaelitic circle. Namely, he didn't like them and avoided them as much as possible. Even though he made several
paintings with this topic, like Awakening Conscience, it is obvious that what he dreaded the most was Victorian fashion. He especially liked depicting women, but they were respectfully dressed in casual clothes - peasant rags, half-transparent tunics or
Middle Eastern dresses. |
| His power of transferring textures to the canvas was equal to Millais', although his interests were completely different. His immense talent is obvious on images such as Isabella and the Pot of
Basil where the heroine's silky skin is so obvious and lively through a sheer gauze tunic. |
| Hunt was especially fond of Holy Land's heritage. He made several pilgrimages to the Middle East with Jerusalem as his target and from there he brought back to England images of olive-tanned
Jesus more reliable than of any idealised icons of Western world. He also brought insights into a different fashion, where light textiles and garments were popular. Although he was deeply religious, he disliked the uniformity of Victorian fashion and
toyed with spectators' inuition by presenting light clothes that glorified the body and, moreover, the freedom of the body. |
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