Screen LibraryJohn Ruskin /
"John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most prominent art and architecture critic of his day. His books, pamphlets and letters to the press had an influence on all classes of society, from road-menders to royalty, and he still maintains a popular reputation today, though he is remembered less for his...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Published: |
Reaktion Books Ltd,
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| Publisher Address: | London, UK : |
| Publication Dates: | 2015. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Series: |
Critical lives
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| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most prominent art and architecture critic of his day. His books, pamphlets and letters to the press had an influence on all classes of society, from road-menders to royalty, and he still maintains a popular reputation today, though he is remembered less for his views than for his failed marriage to Effie Gray, who left him for the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais. Frequently imagined as a Victorian prude, there was far more to Ruskin than this derisory description suggests. John Ruskin shows us how Ruskin's ideas gave a moral character to art, architecture and the Picturesque and reveals how and why his reputation endures. Ruskin's devoted parents were convinced that their son was a genius and encouraged him to write about the moral and spiritual value of art rather than his other major passion, geology. While his parents lived Ruskin wrote his best works: Modern Painters, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, The Stones of Venice and Unto This Last. After they died Ruskin seemed lost until he put himself in the hands of a younger cousin, Joan Severn, who guarded his reputation while his mental capacities declined, beyond the public gaze, in the Lake District. This book weaves Ruskin's life and work into a fascinating narrative about Victorian society: Ruskin understood art, its beauty and wonder, as a solution to the miseries of the urban poor and the key to living a worthwhile life. Offering fresh readings of Ruskin's major texts, this is an engaging biography of the artist's life and times."--Readings website. |
| Carrier Form: | 252 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-248). |
| ISBN: |
9781780234298 1780234295 |
| Index Number: | PR5263 |
| CLC: | K835.615.7 |
| Call Number: | K835.615.7/R956B |
| Contents: | Introduction -- A start in life -- Turner and the picturesque -- The Pre-Raphaelites -- The seven lamps of architecture -- Lapping waves, living stones -- Reform -- Influence. |