Nicholas Tromans – författare

Richard Dadd (1817–1886) constructed fairytale worlds and other highly original works of art. After making his name as an exceptional student at the Royal Academy in the late 1830s, he travelled to the Eastern Mediterranean, where he developed a psychotic illness that led to the killing of his father. Dadd spent the rest of his life in London’s Bethlem Royal Hospital and then Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire, in both of which he was encouraged to paint.Dadd’s output encompasses much more than the fairy paintings for which he is renowned. There are also highly detailed sketches evocative of his Eastern Mediterranean travels, remarkable characterisations of the human passions, and perceptive portraits of his doctors. Profusely illustrated throughout, this new account of his life and art by Nicholas Tromans and other leading scholars re-examines the legacy of one of the most fascinating figures in the visual arts of the Victorian era.

The first art book to explore Rossetti's art and poetry together, including her own artworks, illustrations to her writing, and art inspired by herChristina Rossetti (1830–1894) is among the greatest of English Victorian poets. The intensity of her vision, her colloquial style, and the lyrical quality of her verse still speak powerfully to us today, while her striking imagery has always inspired artists. Rossetti lived in an exceptionally visual environment: her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was the leading member of the avant-garde Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and she became a favorite model for the group. She sat for the face of Christ in William Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World, while both John Everett Millais and Frederick Sandys illustrated her poetry. Later on, the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and the great Belgian Symbolist Fernand Khnopff were inspired by Rossetti’s enigmatic verses. This engaging book explores the full artistic context of Rossetti’s life and poetry: her own complicated attitude to pictures; the many portraits of her by artists, including her brother, John Brett, and Lewis Carroll; her own intriguing and virtually unknown drawings; and the wealth of visual images inspired by her words.Published in association with Watts GalleryExhibition Schedule:Watts Gallery, Guildford, Surrey(11/13/18–03/17/19)

The Private Lives of Pictures offers a new history of British art, seen from the perspective of the home. Focusing on the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century, the book takes the reader on a tour of an imaginary Victorian or Edwardian house, stopping in each room to look at the pictures on the walls. The book opens up the intimate history of art in everyday life, and examines many issues including how pictures were chosen for each room, how they were displayed, and what role they played in interior design. Superbly illustrated, The Private Lives of Pictures appeals to readers interested in both art and social history, and the history of interiors.