| 565. Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Italian/British, 1828-1882), "Mother and Child", c.1855, charcoal drawing/paper, 15" x 11",
signed with monogram. Highly important pre-Raphaelite painter. Rossetti was the son of an Italian refugee living in England.
He was taught drawing by Cotman, and later worked with Brown and Hunt. Together with William Holman Hunt and Sir
John Everett Millais, he formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848, and was responsible for their first exhibited work.
He was intrigued by the secrecy and romanticism of the group, but shared little interests with the other two members. In
1850, he met Elizabeth Siddal, a "stunner", and model for the group, whom he later married in 1860. He grew increasingly
apart from the PRB, living more in isolation with Siddal. He abandoned work in oil, choosing watercolor as his primary
medium, and executed many works inspired by the poet Dante, but after Siddal's death in 1862, he returned to the use of oil,
and painted mostly images of women. 20,000-30,000 |
