Arthur Hughes was born in London on January 27, 1832, he was an English painter and illustrator. He was a very successful artist in 1846 he attended Somerset house and his first painting master was Alfred Stevens who helped him later enter the Royal Academy. His first painting was called Musidora, which shows a pale woman getting dressed after a swim. At just 17 years old this picture was featured at the Royal Academy.
Something else that was brought to my attention was the fact that Arthur‘s painting Ophelia was hung right next to the famous version Millais had painted under the same name. Amazingly, this led two a friendship, and Hughes ended up being the model for the male figures in the painting “The Prescribed Royalist”. This is interesting to me because I figured there would be more competition in the art world and oh I would have thought Millais would become envious of Arthur Hughes re-creating his work.
Although he was never a member, he was also associated with the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets and critics founded by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederick George Stephens, and Thomas Woolner, in 1848. The seven-member brotherhood believed that a new style of art should be created. The goal was to focus art back to late Italian art, before Raphael. They believed in the need for details, bold colours, and religious subjects.
Arthur Hughes married Tryphena Foord in 1855, she was his model for the painting “April Love”, which shows a woman in a purple dress and scarf standing near some bright green vines. This painting reflects feelings of love and beauty. He was inspired by Millais’s “couples” collection but focused on making them feel more youthful and refreshing. Arthur and Tryphena had five kids and one of them actually became a painter and his name was Arthur Foord Hughes. Hughes died in 1915 and he left 700 paintings and 750 illustrations.
Another famous painting by Arthur Hughes was called “The Long Engagement” but was originally called ” Orlando”. This painting had a similar theme to “April Love” because it represents middle-class conventions. The painting has a story behind it and the woman is seen looking at her name carved into the tree with a look of love. This painting is more engaging to me because it shows symbolism and great detail.
https://www.artrenewal.org/artists/arthur-hughes/909
https://www.wikiart.org/en/arthur-hughes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Hughes_(artist)
Amelia,
Nice work on this lesser known Pre-Raphaelite painter. As always I really appreciate it when students dig deep in art history to unearth these artists. Thanks for the introduction. Your research is solid and you bring your own personal thoughts and insights to the works in question. I like you drawing the comparison with Mallais’ Ophelia as well. Good job! I give you a 2/2 on this post.
Also you scored 36/50 on your mid term quiz which is a B- so not bad!
Jeff