Rossetti: Painter and Poet - Hardcover

Bullen, J. B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0711232253 ISBN 13: 9780711232259

Publisher: Frances Lincoln, 2011

Synopsis

Dante Gabriel Rossetti is the most intriguing and flamboyant figure in nineteenth-century British art. He inspired the first Pre-Raphaelite generation of 1849 and the second generation ten years later and both brought about significant changes in British art. His poetry, too, acted as a stimulus to many writers at the end of the century, who saw in his subtle manipulation of the sonnet and the ballad forms ways of giving expression to issues that were peculiar to the that century.

Dominant among those issues was that of sexual desire, for Rossetti, more than any other artist in this period, struggled with the contradictions of sexuality. When he died in 1882 people knew of him as the painter of alluring women with exotic names - Lilith, Monna Vanna, Fiammetta - and the writer of subtly erotic verse. He projected onto women his anxieties, his pleasures and his needs. He also mythologized them, so that Elizabeth Siddal, Fanny Cornforth, Jane Morris and others became for him Beatrice, Guenevere, and Isolde. In doing so he shaped them, he changed the direction of their lives, and in some cases he both made and destroyed them.

This richly illustrated book, by tracing the development of Rossetti's painting and poetry in the context of the drama of his life, follows this powerful thread. Sometimes sensual, at others spiritual, Rossetti's mission was to transcend the Manichean division that separated body and soul and, through the visionary power of art, reconcile what he saw as elements fundamental to human experience.

About this title

About the Author:

J. B. Bullen is a Professor Emeritus University of Reading, where he has taught and lectured on English Literature and Art History for more than twenty-five years. The author of several books and articles, his other title for Frances Lincoln is Rossetti (9780711232259).

Review:

Although the book devotes much attention to biographical narrative, its real originality lies not in the treatment of the life, but in the account of the transmutation of the life into art

A lucid, compelling and elegant account of the life of one of our great artists, encased in a beautiful silky-paged volume stuffed with luxuriant colour reproductions. A must for any art lover.

A richly illustrated and an enjoyable, fluent read, revealing poignantly Rossetti's mission to transcend the division between body and soul and, through the visionary power of art, reconcile what he saw as elements fundamental to human experience. This is an important new contribution to Rossetti scholarship.

Of particular interest to those interested in 19th century British art and literature....highly recommended.

Although the book devotes much attention to biographical narrative, its real originality lies not in the treatment of the life, but in the account of the transmutation of the life into art

'Rossetti’is a hugely enjoyable, readable and informative account of both the life and art of one of the Victorian period's major artists, and is a magnificent achievement on the part of J.B. Bullen...’If it is not quite a’catalogue raisonee of absolutely every work Rossetti drew or painted,’it is the next best thing. The chronological presentation of Rossetti's art interwoven with an account of his life has never been done before so extensively or so well. By the end you will understand both differently.'

A richly illustrated and an enjoyable, fluent read, revealing poignantly Rossetti's mission to transcend the division between body and soul and, through the visionary power of art, reconcile what he saw as elements fundamental to human experience. This is an important new contribution to Rossetti scholarship.

'Rossetti is a hugely enjoyable, readable and informative account of both the life and art of one of the Victorian period's major artists, and is a magnificent achievement on the part of J.B. Bullen... If it is not quite a catalogue raisonee of absolutely every work Rossetti drew or painted, it is the next best thing. The chronological presentation of Rossetti's art interwoven with an account of his life has never been done before so extensively or so well. By the end you will understand both differently.'

About this edition

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0711232253
• ISBN 13: 9780711232259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272