Description

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-98) emerged from a solitary, motherless childhood to form close friendships with William Morris and such other luminaries of the Victorian art world as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin. A second generation Pre-Raphaelite and founder member of the Morris firm, he was influential in many areas, from painting, stained glass and tapestry design to book illustration. His later work, including such iconic paintings as The Wheel of Fortune, The Golden Stairs (which caused a sensation when exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery) and The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, influenced and exemplified the Aesthetic Movement, and inspired the European Symbolists. His wife, Georgiana Burne-Jones (1840-1920), published this engaging two-volume biography in 1904. Volume 2 hints at the emotional turmoil behind paintings like Love Among the Ruins, reveals the impact of his visits to Italy, and usefully contextualises the haunting masterpieces of his later years.