Room 7 Ruskin's Pre-Raphaelitism A new and noble school in England William Holman Hunt 1827-1910 Our English Coasts, 1852 ('Strayed Sheep') 1852 © Tate Gallery

Ruskin reviewed most of the pictures in this room in his role as a contemporary art critic and active supporter of the Pre-Raphaelites.

Ruskin first defended the Pre-Raphaelites against their critics in 1851 because he saw them as the embodiment of his own aims for the future of English art. He believed they had been inspired by his famous injunction to artists to imitate Turner's example by seeking inspiration directly from nature. Consequently, in his defence of the new movement, he claimed they were on the verge of generating a new national style (no.189).

Though the degree to which the early work of the Pre-Raphaelites was directly influenced by Ruskin is open to question, his public expression of support in 1851 led to close links with individual artists whom he sought to influence, even dominate. Millais was the first to benefit from his praise, but the connection ultimately proved unfortunate when Ruskin's wife (no. 190) left him to marry the artist. In spite of the scandal, Ruskin continued to work closely with Holman Hunt (nos.192,193) and Rossetti. But Ruskin did not automatically endorse works by members of the wider Pre-Raphaelite circle. The work of Ford Madox Brown, for example, failed to win his support. In 1855, as a direct intervention in the shaping of contemporary taste and as a means of encouraging his idea of what the Pre-Raphaelite style should be, Ruskin launched the first of his annual Academy Notes: trenchant and selective criticisms of the Royal Academy and other London exhibitions. Unlike most other contemporary criticism, these pamphlets carried Ruskin's name on the title page. His unrestrained comments proved controversial but highly influential, particularly when they damned an artist's work.

The range of Ruskin's commentary shows that he looked for good work in a far wider number of artists than the immediate Pre-Raphaelite circle. In particular, he sought to encourage a Pre-Raphaelite approach to landscape painting (nos.194, 197, 202). The effect of his campaign was to make acceptable by 1859 what had been controversial a decade earlier, when the Pre-Raphaelite movement was launched. In later years, even an adversary like Madox Brown acknowledged the contribution Ruskin made to gaining recognition for the Pre-Raphaelite School.