Victorian Radicals:
From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement

March 7, 2021 - May 30, 2021

John Hawley Olds LaGatta Gallery | Floor 3
Robert Z. Hawkins Gallery | Floor 3

In the second half of the nineteenth century, a group of iconoclastic creators pushed against industrialization to enlighten humanity with their revolutionary take on beauty. Drawn from the collection of the city of Birmingham, United Kingdom, Victorian Radicals brings together more than 145 paintings, works on paper, and decorative objects—many of which have never been exhibited outside the U.K.—to illuminate this dynamic period of British art.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the champions of the Arts & Crafts Movement offered a radical vision of art and society inspired by pre-Renaissance culture. Works by pioneering artists Ford Madox Brown, Kate Elizabeth Bunce, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and others, represent the response of Britain’s first modern art movement to the industrialization of the period.

Artists and designers explored vital concerns of their time—the relationship between art and nature, religious themes, questions of class and gender identity, the value of the handmade versus machine production, and the search for beauty in an age of industry.

This is the final opportunity to see this unparalleled exhibition before it leaves the West Coast.

Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts and Crafts Movement is organized by the American Federation of Arts and Birmingham Museums Trust. The national tour is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding provided by Clare McKeon and the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation.

Lead Sponsors

Wayne and Rachelle Prim
The Six Talents Foundation

Major Sponsors

Carole K. Anderson
The Deborah and T.J. Day Foundation

Supporting Sponsors

Haynie & Company
Dinah O’Brien
Pat and Marshall Postman

Additional Support

Kathie Bartlett

Promotional Partner

Reno-Tahoe International Airport

Book

This generously illustrated and exciting new study of the Victorian era features rarely seen works, provocative essays, and a striking, period-inspired design.

IMAGE 1: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Proserpine, 1881–82 Oil on canvas 39 9/16 x 24 3/16 in. Presented by the Trustees of the Public Picture Gallery Fund, 1927 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 2: Kate Elizabeth Bunce Musica , ca. 1895–97 Oil on canvas in original frame 40 3/16 x 30 3/16 x 1 3/4 in. Presented by Sir John Holder, Bart., 1897 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 3: Designed and made by George Frampton The Christabel Necklace, 1893 Silver gilt, champlevé enamel, pearls, and opals Diameter of largest pendant 2 15/16 in. Presented by Mrs. Anne Hull Grundy, 1981 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 4: Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, with coworkers at the Kelmscott Press (London) The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer Now Newly Imprinted (the socalled ‘Kelmscott Chaucer’), 1896 Bound book with 87 woodcut illustrations on handmade Perch paper 17 1/8 x 11 13/16 x 3 7/16 in. Presented by Colonel Harold Wilkinson, 1934 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 5: Designed by William Morris, printed by Thomas Wardle & Co. and sold by Morris & Co. "Kennet", design registered 1883 Indigo-discharge block-printed cotton 24 5/8 x 37 15/16 in. Presented by the Friends of Birmingham Museums Trust, 1941 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 6: Frederick Sandys Morgan le Fay, 1864 Oil on composite wood 24 13/16 x 17 5/16 in. Presented by the Trustees of the Feeney Charitable Trust, 1925 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 7: Designed by William Frend De Morgan, manufactured by Merton Abbey Pottery Peacock vase, ca. 1885 Earthenware, thrown and painted in colors over white slip 13 9/16 x 4 1/2 in. Presented by Miss Bridget D’Oyly Carte © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 8: Day dress, ca. 1865 Woven silk, machine- and hand stitched 52 3/8 in. back height Presented by Mrs. Bridget Doreen Bruce © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 9: Joseph Southall Sigismonda (or Gismonda ) , 1897 Tempera on linen 23 x 16 15/16 in. Bequeathed by the artist’s wife, Anna Elizabeth Southall, in memory of her husband, 1948 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts. IMAGE 10: Henry Wallis Chatterton (The Death of Chatterton) , 1856–58 Oil on mahogany 6 13/16 x 9 15/16 in. Presented by the Rt. Hon. William Kendrick, 1918 © Birmingham Museums Trust Courtesy American Federation of Arts