Dante Gabriel Rossetti: an Artistic Revolutionary with Hattie Bennett

In 1848 Dante Gabriel Rossetti (born into a family of aristocratic and literary Italian exiles), his brother Michael and six friends established The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an artistic movement that rejected the conventions of the British Royal Academy in painting style, technique and subject and took inspiration from John Ruskin's admiration of the arts of the Italian 15th century dismissed by the British art establishment as "Primitive". Originally well received by the critics, the following year they were heavily criticized.  Stung by criticism, Dante Gabriel, withdrew from publicly exhibiting his work, painting intense watercolors and gouaches of romantic subjects, usually drawn from Dante.  From 1859 onwards, he would explore the lush colors of Venetian art, producing a series of female heads in which beauty and atmosphere was the focus and that would later develop into the Aesthetic Movement.

Against his families wishes, Rossetti married the low-born but beautiful Elizabeth Sidal who would die after just two years.  He enoyed countless affairs, most enduring that with Jane,  wife of his own friend William Morris. Rossetti retained a warm friendship with many of his models and friends, including Whistler, Ruskin and Swinburne, and his home at Cheyne Row was a hub of artistic discussion and development.
Led by an expert on Art History, Hattie Bennet, this Conversation will discuss the biography of Rossetti, his family and influence on British Art. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased understanding of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.