Magnificent Dreams: Burne-Jones and the Late Victorians - Hardcover

Dust jacket notes: "The paintings of the later Pre-Raphaelites, in particular those of Burne-Jones and Rossetti, are often considered to be isolated phenomena in Victorian painting, strikingly different from the works to be found in the annual Royal Academy summer exhibitions. There is some truth in this: both Burne-Jones and Rossetti kept themselves apart from the Academy and although Burne-Jones was briefly an associate member, he only exhibited there once. But this book shows that their work was, in fact, in close sympathy with High Victorian classicism, as epitomized by the work of the president of the royal Academy, Lord Leighton. A glance through the illustrations will show how close these paintings are in feeling, how they share an interest in mythology and freely borrow from the art of the past, particularly from classical and Renaissance sources, to give lustre and magnificence to their dreams. The similarities between these paintings are not coincidental. Almost all the artists knew each other well, frequented the same social gatherings and enjoyed similar successes. The Grosvenor Gallery was the great meeting-ground for these artists. In this book, which will be of great appeal to all who are interested in nineteenth-century art and thought, Sir Coutts Lindsay's grandiose plans for the gallery, the splendid opening exhibition and the subsequent impact on the London art world, are described in vivid detail...." Sixty-eight illustrations, 27 in colour.