And set against this, the rise of a group of artists prizing craft beyond all else, and a collector of curiosities who longs to have a museum named after him, who makes the obscure and morbid curiosities which the artists include in their paintings. Ten years ago, I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on clutter in 1850s literature, and I was struck by the ambition of London - its Great Exhibition, the move towards mass manufacture, the construction of factories, and an emphasis on productivity and invention. How would it feel to be plucked from the obscurity of a milliner’s shop, to be transported into a bohemian world of precocious and talented young artists, to be a muse and model while also yearning to become an artist, to fall in love with Rossetti and to learn to paint from him? Her tragic end moved me - a suspected overdose of laudanum, with Rossetti exhuming her years later to retrieve the only copy of the poems he had buried with her - but I was also interested in her first years as a model and artist. I have always been fascinated by the life of Lizzie Siddal. Tap the icons above to scroll through more images which inspired me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |