La Belle Dame Sans Merci, 1855-6 - a photo on Flickriver

            Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Graphite and ink on paper

‘I set her on my pacing steed
And nothing else saw all day long
For sideways would she lean & sing
A fairies’ song’

Elizabeth and Gabriel planned watercolours of John Keats’ (1795–1821) poem about a supernatural, fairy enchantress, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ (The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy). Both artists showed the knight enchanted by the Lady’s long hair. In Gabriel’s drawing of the same subject, his most extreme variation, he kisses her hand as it pulls a strand around his neck like a rope.*

Poetic Portraits
By the time they reached their 30s and 40s, the Rossettis’ work had won them financial security and growing fame. Christina became a celebrity after publishing Goblin Market and Other Poems in 1862, and William worked as a leading critic and editor alongside his civil service career. Gabriel found success away from the mainstream, displaying his work in alternative exhibition spaces and selling to private enthusiasts. He went on to lead a new avant-garde group even more influential than the Pre-Raphaelites: the aesthetic movement. This would change ideas, art and design around the world.
Gabriel’s portraits reflected the aesthetic movement’s ideals of ‘art for art’s sake’ and a new modern beauty. He adapted the likenesses of working-class women of unconventional appearance, notably model Alexa Wilding, into fantasies of enchanting femininity. Inspired by Renaissance portraiture and mythological texts, these sensual portraits suggested touch, sound and scent as well as vision. They emphasised the pleasure of form and colour, looking ahead to the abstract art of the following century.
The portraits were paired with poems, ‘double works of art’ where words question images and images question words. They reflected Gabriel’s complex thoughts around ‘Body’s Beauty’ and ‘Soul’s Beauty’.*

From the exhibition


The Rossettis: Radical Romantics
(April – September 2023)

A major exhibition devoted to the radical Rossetti generation
This exhibition follows the romance and radicalism of the Rossetti generation, through and beyond the Pre-Raphaelite years: Dante Gabriel, Christina and Elizabeth (née Siddal). Visitors will get to experience world-renowned works from their boundary-pushing careers.
The Rossettis’ approach to art, love and lifestyles are considered revolutionary, and this will be thoroughly explored in an immersive show, using spoken poetry, drawings, paintings, photography, design and more.
This is the first retrospective of Dante Gabriel Rossetti at Tate and the largest exhibition of his iconic pictures in two decades.
It will also be the most comprehensive exhibition of Elizabeth Siddal’s work for 30 years, featuring rare surviving watercolours and important drawings.
The Rossettis will take a fresh look at the fascinating myths surrounding the unconventional relationships between Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, Fanny Cornforth and Jane Morris.
[*Tate Britain]

   

Some rights reserved

Taken on: September 15, 2023

Tags:

15.09.23

London

Tate

Tate Britain

#TheRossettis

The Rossettis: Radical Romantics

Radical Romantics

radical

romance

Pre-Raphaelite

Dante Gabriel

Christina

Christina Rossetti

Elizabeth

Siddal

poetry

drawings

paintings

photography

design

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Elizabeth Siddal

watercolours

Fanny Cornforth

Jane Morris

Poetic Portraits

Goblin Market and Other Poems

Pre-Raphaelites

aesthetic movement

Alexa Wilding

double works of art

Body’s Beauty

Soul’s Beauty

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Graphite

ink

paper

A fairies’ song

John Keats

fairy enchantress

The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy « less

Sets appears in: • City of Westminster • Tate more » • Artworks • Galleries & Museums « less

Stats: 73 views