The Victorians: British Painting, 1837-1901

by Malcolm Warner, Anne Helmreich, Charles Brock

From the medieval tendencies of Dante Gabriel Rossetti to the classicism of Frederick Leighton, Victorian painting is seen to have encompassed a broad range of subjects and styles. This elegant volume showcases the work of a great many Victorian painters, including J.M.W. Turner, John Everett Millais, and James Tissot. Publication to coincide with an exhibition opening at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in February. 225 illustrations, 75 in color.

Genres: Art

255 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is published in 1997 in association with an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition and the book made an important contribution to promoting understanding and appreciation of Victorian art as a whole, however some aspects of the book and the publication of excellent monographs on Victorian painting by Wood and Lambourne in 1999 made this book rather obsolete.

While the exhibition provided a reasonable coverage of the key Victorian painters and genres, it was relatively small, the catalog offers just 68 plates. Moreover, while all plates are in color, good for a book from 1997, the color is too dark; and paintings, while shown one per page, make poor use of space leaving large white margins. The book has an energetic and brief introduction reviewing the fall and the rise of Victorian art appreciation in 20 century and a mid-size essay by Malcolm Warner, which is not easy to digest since it is not structured and rather discusses Victorian art than introduces it systematically to an interested newbie. Following the essays, the book is essentially a catalog where sets of color plates are interleaved with provenance and information about each painting and artist. This information is quite detailed and useful. The book also offers brief biographies of key Victorian painters presented in the catalog. These two parts are most useful and informative but still provide just a glimpse into Victorian art. An interesting feature of the book are thumbnails of paintings not presented in the exhibition, but mentioned in the narration. It is a good idea since it extends the coverage, but the thumbnails are shown in BW and are way too small to be useful to those who have not seen these paintings. In brief, if you want to learn about Victorian art, get Lambourne or Wood – much better coverage, color, and organization.

[Rebecca Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the last show I saw at the National Gallery before I moved to California.