I’ve slightly changed my writing style from one that was quite direct to what I feel is now a bit more of a thoughtful and methodical process (at least I hope). From research to writing in my journals, to writing onto my laptop, It will hopefully allow things to feel a little healthier. I abstained from copious amounts of hand-writing for a while after gaining a think piece of skin on one of my fingers from continuous drawing as an undergraduate student. I love the traditional media, but it did quite make me feel a little self-conscious of my ring finger (drawing to see). I’m much happier with this process now.

I’m not a big fan of the quick publication of text and images nowadays. I feel as though it only really captures a fleeting moment, which can change within a moment or two, and I’m not surprised that many people feel very low after witnessing the photos of other people’s lives in this parallel world of the image on a screen. It’s rather scary. As someone who enjoys every day and tries to spend as little time interacting with social media, I felt that a new method was needed to write. I’ll also upload small scans if of my writing and thought layouts. I find it funny seeing my notes looking so hurried and scrawly. I edit the pages writing after my notes, especially if I haven’t the image or feel it doesn’t quite make sense!

Anyways, after that introduction, I shall begin by talking about the Pre-Raphaelite Sisters exhibition I attended with my class at the National Portrait Gallery in October this year. The show, titled ‘Pre-Raphaelite Sisters’ showcased the lives, portraits and artwork of the female artists, models and muses of the Pre-Raphaelite sisters, not to mention the wives, Mothers and Siblings too.

It is not uncommon, I feel, for female artists of art movements to appear somewhat undermined in comparison to their male counterparts. As a student who is still very much new to the world of Art History, it’s hard to tell whether I have not done enough research to comment or to guess that they hadn’t been as represented as their males. In any case, It felt liberating, mainly to see an exhibition features on the females of the art ring that was the Pre-Raphaelites, even if some contributions had been made by their male counterparts, making it a show with art from both sexes.

I felt the show was laid out and curated in a constructive and informative way, for those who are interested in art history and creatives alike those purely curious of the past of this particular topic of female art. Divided into sections that showcased work by each female member, alongside portraits, photos and drawing of them by various other PR members, I felt it evoked a worldly, rounded view of each ‘Sister’.

On the subject of male contributors, I wanted to draw in on a couple of pieces I saw and wanted to write about.

A little portrait that struck me was that of Sophy Gray, Effie Gray’s younger sister. Effie Gray and John Everett Millais married after Gray’s separation from influential art critic John Ruskin, a story that may have raised eyebrows during the time. Their marriage was annulled on the basis that it had not been consummated, with suggestions that Ruskin’s attitude towards the female form may have been the culprit towards this. As an art critic, he may have studied the classic nudes which depict smooth, hairless bodies, which in reality, is quite different compared to a healthy, female body in all its naturalness.

Gray and Millais married shortly after her separation, then proceeded on to have a whopping eight children! If that does not speak for itself as making up for lost time, I’m not quite sure what is.

I felt particularly drawn to the segment of Jane Morris in the exhibition and felt very excited after seeing her designs in the form of embroidery.

Jane, along with her daughter May, played vital roles in the Arts and Crafts and Pre-Raphelite movement, Jane, as a model and muse, and May as an embroiderer. Jane’s eye for design is evident in these embroideries. Funnily, It was May Morris who ended up taking off as an embroiderer, taught by her Mother and Aunt Bessie at what I guess must have been an early age. She then studied and went on to become head of the embroidery department at her Father’s establishment, Morris & Co.

Other female members who were already somewhat linked to the Pre-Raphelite circle include Georgiana Burne-Jones and Evelyn de Morgan. I would not have known about these female counterparts if it has not been for this exhibition, I feel, and I enjoyed researching them a bit more thoroughly for a presentation in class.

Other female members who were already somewhat linked to the Pre-Raphelite circle include Georgiana Burne-Jones and Evelyn de Morgan. I would not have known about these female counterparts if it has not been for this exhibition, I feel, and I enjoyed researching them a bit more thoroughly for a presentation in class.

Georgiana’s Dead Bird (of which I only took a photo of the label), shows a keen interest in art from a young age. I find it fascinating how driven these women were not only to prove themselves as artists, but to refine their skills up to such a high standard.

Whether married to, friends with or model to the male counterparts of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, I don’t feel that the movement would have had quite so much popularity and success if it had not been for these women. It was beauty and idealism that movement wanted to capture, so I think, and without the influence or involvement of these females, the works would have been model-less and fabricated.

I’m happy that light has come down onto these female artists, and I hope that galleries will continue to celebrate female work and involvement more in future exhibitions.