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Tate Britain Exhibition

Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde

12 September 2012 – 13 January 2013

Sir John Everett Millais, Bt
Ophelia (1851–2)
Tate

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Lady Lilith 1866–8

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Lady Lilith 1866–8

Edward Coley Burne-Jones Laus Veneris 1873-1878

Edward Coley Burne-Jones Laus Veneris 1873-1878

Peacock and bird carpet c.1800s

Peacock and bird carpet c.1800s

Combining rebellion, beauty, scientific precision and imaginative grandeur, the Pre-Raphaelites constitute Britain’s first modern art movement. This exhibition brings together over 150 works in different media, including painting, sculpture, photography and the applied arts, revealing the Pre-Raphaelites to be advanced in their approach to every genre. Led by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) rebelled against the art establishment of the mid-nineteenth century, taking inspiration from early Renaissance painting.

The exhibition establishes the PRB as an early example of the avant-garde: painters who self-consciously overturned orthodoxy and established a new benchmark for modern painting and design. It will include many famous Pre-Raphaelite works, and will also re-introduce some rarely seen masterpieces including Ford Madox Brown’s polemical Work 1852–65 and the 1858 wardrobe designed by Philip Webb and painted by Edward Burne-Jones on the theme of The Prioress’s Tale.

You’ll also see John Everett Millais’s first painting ‘en plein air’ entitled: Ferdinand Lured by Ariel 1849-50 and the politically charged: A Huguenot, on St Bartholomew’s Day, refusing to shield himself from danger by wearing the Roman Catholic Badge 1851-2.

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Pre-Raphaelites: Curator's choice – Ford Madox Brown's 'Work'

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Pre-Raphaelites: Curator's choice - Millais's 'Isabella'

The exhibition shows that the Pre-Raphaelite environment was widely encompassing in its reach across the fine and decorative arts, in response to a fast-changing religious and political backdrop, and in its relationship to women practitioners.

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Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde

By far the best exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite art I have seen
Jonathan Jones, Guardian

The Pre-Raphaelites are revealed as the cutting edge of art
Rachel Campbell-Johnston, Times

Public comments from Tate's Facebook page and Twitter

I went...highly recommend it....cried my eyes out too...love Rossetti....The Beloved took my breath away! 

It is amazing! Anyone who hasn't seen #PreRaphs must go check it out. Beauty, extraordinary beauty & skill. For of the best hours of my life! 

Visited the Pre-Raphs at Tate in 2012. Awesome!

Join in the conversation on Twitter #preraph

Tate Britain

Millbank
London SW1P 4RG
Plan your visit

Dates

12 September 2012 – 13 January 2013

Related events

Find out more

  • Sugar, Salt and Curdled Milk: Millais and the Synthetic Subject

    Carol Jacobi

    This article examines the sexual imagery of particular paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. It argues that criticism has overlooked the sophisticated poetry of the body in Millais’s art, its synthetic approach to gender, and its precocious place in a wider Aesthetic and symbolist visual and literary tradition.

  • Moving Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones’ The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon from Puerto Rico to London

    The last and greatest work by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon 1881–98 returned to the UK from Puerto Rico for the first time in 40 years in April 2008.

  • Millais

    John Everett Millais, Tate Britain

  • John Everett Millais's Hearts are Trumps 1872

    Prior to display at Tate Britain, John Millais’s Hearts are Trumps 1872 underwent major painting and frame conservation

  • A family affair

    Edward Platt

    Millais’s early career was closely linked to his friendship with the Lemprière family. The teenage artist’s desire for one of the daughters encouraged him to write a series of illustrated letters, pages of which are shown here for the first time.

  • Centenary Exhibition of Works by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

    Centenary Exhibition of Works by Sir Edward Burne-Jones: past Tate Britain exhibition

  • Artist

    Dante Gabriel Rossetti

    1828–1882
  • Artist

    William Holman Hunt

    1827–1910
  • Artist

    Sir John Everett Millais, Bt

    1829–1896
  • Artist

    Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt

    1833–1898
  • Artist

    Ford Madox Brown

    1821–1893
  • Pre-Raphaelites Pinterest board

  • Watch the Pre-Raphaelites video series

  • Read the Pre-Raphaelites blog

  • Artwork

    The Beloved (‘The Bride’)

    Dante Gabriel Rossetti
    1865–6
    On display at Tate Britain Part of Historic and Modern British Art
Artwork
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