![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/1e\/John_William_Waterhouse_-_The_Lady_of_Shalott_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg\")
The Lady of Shalott (1888) – One of my personal favourite paintings, period<\/p><\/div>\n
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Roman born and Victorian-raised, John William Waterhouse is one of my favourite artists of the Pre-Raphaelite tradition.<\/p>\n
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Waterhouse’s artwork has a certain quality to it that has always captured my imagination. Moving into this era during lecture, I wasn’t sure what to expect; I wasn’t familiar with any of the academic fine art terms for these works, so I was pleasantly surprised when we started on Pre-Raphaelite material. I’ve loved the subjects of mythology and legend since childhood, and this was really his realm when it came to his famed oil paintings. I find that many of his paintings have a potent morose, tragic quality to them that is immediately compelling, pulling me in. I’m a sucker for depictions of Arthurian legend as well, so that’s pretty much all my boxes checked off, there was no way I could pass this guy up.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/0\/04\/WATERHOUSE_-_Ulises_y_las_Sirenas_%28National_Gallery_of_Victoria%2C_Melbourne%2C_1891._%C3%93leo_sobre_lienzo%2C_100.6_x_202_cm%29.jpg\")
Ulysses and the Sirens (1891)<\/p><\/div>\n
This painting in particular I find absolutely gorgeous. I love<\/em> beasts of mythology, and the ancient depictions of sirens are so wide ranged. The way he’s rendered them in this painting is wonderfully unsettling; the sirens on the left have beautifully emotive faces, while the two in the centre look more pensive, but not at all lifeless. His skin tones are absolutely gorgeous as well, the level of realism he achieves in his depictions completely at odds with the subject matter but no less immersive for it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pandora (1896)<\/p><\/div>\n So many of these paintings look like they’re from some manner of beautiful book of English fairy tales, the backgrounds reminding me of Arthur Rackham’s watercolours.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Circe Invidiosa (1892)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Another great example of the powerful, brooding expressions Waterhouse imbued his figures with. This is a painting I’d love to try doing some studies of, just to learn to capture a bit of that same quality one day. The composition is simple, but the subject is stark and powerful, standing on the surface of the water as serpents roil beneath.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Mermaid (1901)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Hylas and the Nymphs (1896)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Waterhouse’s work was at the core of some controversy this January in Manchester when the Manchester Art Gallery took down this painting of his,\u00a0Hylas and the Nymphs\u00a0<\/em>to try and force a conversation on how we perceive beauty in art and the move caused an\u00a0enormous<\/em> backlash. The painting was back up within days. It was a move criticized as puritanical in its moralizing, with comparisons being drawn with the prudish Nazi art purges earlier in the 20th century. Perhaps a bit of an extreme reach, but also a bit of a stupid stunt on the part of the gallery, I think. There’s better ways to raise that conversation without inviting so much public vitriol.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Magic Circle (1886)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sourcing:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.johnwilliamwaterhouse.net\/biography.html<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.tate.org.uk\/art\/artists\/john-william-waterhouse-583<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image Sourcing:<\/p>\n https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Lady_of_Shalott#\/media\/File:John_William_Waterhouse_-_The_Lady_of_Shalott_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg<\/p>\n https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_William_Waterhouse#\/media\/File:WATERHOUSE_-_Ulises_y_las_Sirenas_(National_Gallery_of_Victoria,_Melbourne,_1891._%C3%93leo_sobre_lienzo,_100.6_x_202_cm).jpg<\/p>\n https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_William_Waterhouse#\/media\/File:John_William_Waterhouse_A_Mermaid.jpg<\/p>\n https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_William_Waterhouse#\/media\/File:Pandora_-_John_William_Waterhouse.jpg<\/p>\n https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_William_Waterhouse#\/media\/File:Circe_Invidiosa_-_John_William_Waterhouse.jpg<\/p>\n https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f8\/John_William_Waterhouse_-_Magic_Circle.JPG<\/p>\n https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hylas_and_the_Nymphs_(painting)#\/media\/File:Waterhouse_Hylas_and_the_Nymphs_Manchester_Art_Gallery_1896.15.jpg<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Roman born and Victorian-raised, John William Waterhouse is one of my favourite artists of the Pre-Raphaelite tradition. Waterhouse’s artwork has a certain quality to it that has always captured my imagination. 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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/63\/Circe_Invidiosa_-_John_William_Waterhouse.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/5\/55\/John_William_Waterhouse_A_Mermaid.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/b\/bd\/Waterhouse_Hylas_and_the_Nymphs_Manchester_Art_Gallery_1896.15.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f8\/John_William_Waterhouse_-_Magic_Circle.JPG\")