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Owl Wallpaper, c. 1898 by Charles F.A. Voysey.
Voysey began designing wallpaper and fabric and later moved on to architecture, as well. His simple style appealed to tastes that were becoming increasingly influenced by the British Arts & Crafts movement.
Stonehenge, c.2950 BC, Salisbury Plain, England.
An ancient series of monoliths set in a circular pattern has enchanted and intrigued people for centuries because the original purpose has been lost - there are many theories that attempt to explain the site. Also, recent discoveries of other sites have brought about new scholarship.
Salisbury Cathedral From the Bishop’s Grounds 1826 by John Constable, The Frick Collection.
This version also includes a figure of the Bishop pointing out the cathedral's spire and the young lady with the parasol is assumed to be one of his daughters.
Salisbury Cathedral from The River, 1820 by John Constable, National Gallery, London.
Constable painted this work for his friend the Dr. John Fisher, the Bishop of Salisbury and his nephew Archdeacon John Fisher after the Archdeacon was granted the house in the foreground for life.
Blue and White, 1896 by Louise Jopling,
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, England.
During the Victorian period it became quite fashionable to collect blue and white porcelain from China, The Netherlands and eventually from England when the potteries there began to produce it. People would have entire rooms devoted to displaying their large collections.
“Dark Prison (Cacrere Oscura),” c.1790 by Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Turner is the most famous and prolific British painter of the 19th Century. His watercolors and oils record the buildings an events of his world. He also traveled throughout Europe and the British isles where he recorded what he saw. The work was inspired by the Italian artist Piranesi.
The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, Tate Gallery, London.
The subject is from Tennyson's poem of the same name. Waterhouse was a follower of the Pre-Raphaelites and this can be seen in the style and subject matter of the painting. All around her is the tapestry she has woven of knights and Camelot.
Flora, 1894 by Evelyn De Morgan , The De Morgan Foundation, London.
Married to William De Morgan who was associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, Evelyn has also become part of the group of artists who have come to be included in that genre. On the scroll at the bottom right hand corner of the painting is written in Italian:
I am Flora who came from Florence
The City which takes its name from flowers
Amongst the flowers I was born and now changing
home
I have my dwelling in the mountainous north
Welcome and amid the northern mists
Let my treasure be dear to you.
Ophelia ("And he will not come back again") by Arthur Hughes, The Toledo Museum of Art.
This version of Ophelia is about 12 years after the first version where she looks like a little girl. It is a different interpretation of the character of Ophelia and seems to have more to do with the model, than the play.
Ophelia, c. 1851-53 by Arthur Hughes, Manchester City Art Galleries.
Hughes was influenced by Pre-Raphaelite Group after reading their publication The Germ. His painting of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet represents a much younger woman then most other artists, even as Hughes himself would later portray her.
Ophelia by John Everett Millais, 1851-2, The Tate Gallery, London
Millais’ painting of Ophelia done very early in his career is one of the finest works created by the short-lived Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their movement. The legend of the candles, sickness and the model herself would become the PRB’s most often re-told tale. However, it pales in comparison to the work itself when it stopped me in my tracks at the National Gallery in London (on loan from the Tate at the time) and set me on a whole new path for my Master’s thesis.
Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds, ca. 1825 by John Constable, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This one is a favorite of mine by Constable because the cathedral is so clear and detailed.
Peacock tiles by William De Morgan and Co., c. 1888-97, The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, UK.
William De Morgan was closely associated with William Morris the British Arts and Crafts movement, like Morris, De Morgan believed that looking to the skilled crafts of the past would greater enrich the lives of the people of Victorian Britain, as the hand-made work was both fulfilling and beautiful. His work was influenced by the ornate and colorful ceramics of the Middle East.