The Pre-Raphaelites, the first avant-garde group in history of British art, were bent on introducing bold new ideas, encouraging change in art and challenging the broader culture. They rebelled against academic art of the day and produced novel explorations of subjects from literature, poetry and the Bible. The principal members of the group, William Holman Hunt, John Everett, Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, created such seminal and well-loved paintings as 'The Awakening Conscience', 'Ophelia' and 'Beata Beatrix'.
Jason Rosenfeld, an acknowledged expert on the Pre-Raphaelites, explores the origins and influence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in this concise and beautifully illustrated book. He is Distinguished Chair and Professor of Art History at Marymount Manhattan College and co-author of the Tate Britain catalouges 'Millais' and 'Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde'.