Laura MacCulloch

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood heralded an exciting new direction in British art, and the works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt and their contemporaries remain some of the most popular, evocative and recognisable Victorian art. Liverpool patrons and artists encouraged the group when London critics were hostile, and the city became home to its own Pre-Raphaelite school. Artists such as William Windus, John Lee, James Campbell and William Davis adopted Pre-Raphaelite principles whilst developing their own unique style and identity. The Walker Art Gallery, Lady Lever Art Gallery and Sudley House hold some of the finest works by both London-based and Liverpool Pre-Raphaelite artists, 71 of which are featured in this book.

"Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite" is a major volume which throws new light on this important artist, who though never officially a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, was however a central figure within it. The Madox Brown collection at Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery ranges in date from the early 1840s to the 1890s and includes sketch and study drawings, watercolours, stained glass designs, wood engravings as well as paintings and archive material. This volume includes three essays by leading Madox Brown specialists. The first, by Angela Thirlwell, sets his works in the context of his life. The second, by Tim Barringer, studies the difficulty of categorising Madox Brown's work, and the final essay, by Laura MacCulloch, looks specifically at Madox Brown's illustrations. This volume illustrates 42 selected drawings and works on paper, accompanied by an entry, including full specifications, provenance, inscriptions and an extended caption.