Product Description

John William Waterhouse is among the most popular Victorian artists, and many of his paintings, such as The Lady of Shalott, Hylas and the Nymphs and Ophelia, have become icons of femininity recognized the world over. With their compelling composition, glowing colour and Impressionist-inflected technique, these paintings are admired for their beauty, yet at the same time they have the power to transport the viewer into a romantic world of myth and legend.

Waterhouse’s depictions of female beauty reflect his age’s complex and ambivalent attitudes towards women, in which Victorian ideals of sentiment and duty commingled with less noble undercurrents of erotic desire and misogyny. In this fresh and innovative study of the artist, Peter Trippi presents a new analysis of Waterhouse’s seductresses, martyrs and nymphs, together with a lively discussion of the cultural and historical circumstances in which these images were painted.

This authoritative volume utilizes new research to provide an accessible biography of the artist and to assess his place in the late Victorian art world. Themes explored include Waterhouse’s passion for Italy, literature and the classical world, his participation in England’s Royal Academy, his stylistic influences and studio practices, and the collectors, dealers, critics and curators who helped make him famous in his day.

Like other Victorian artists, Waterhouse was neglected through much of the twentieth century, but as critical inhibitions have fallen away the revival of his fortune has been dramatic. Today he is again acknowledged as a master painter. Peter Trippi’s monograph provides a timely re-evaluation that combines a close reading of Waterhouse’s imagery with a candid appraisal of his unique talent.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71473 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
'The book is beautifully designed, sumptuously illustrated and reasonably priced... Trippi has produced a book which will appeal to a wide variety of readers.'

About the Author
Peter Trippi studied at New York University and at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Before moving to the Brooklyn Museum of Art (New York City) in 1998, he helped organize and wrote catalogue essays for the Baltimore Museum of Art's international touring exhibition A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum. He has prepared the first entry on J.W. Waterhouse for the New Dictionary of National Biography and is the founding Executive Editor of Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, an electronic journal produced by the Association of Historians of Nineteenth-Century Art.

Customer Reviews

A book fullfills the art.
This has to be the best book yet on the works of Waterhouse. Its got historic facts and stories about his young life to a successful artist in Britain. The author goes in depth about concepts and theories of how Waterhouse think in terms of painting and storytelling. It also talks about the other Pre-Raphealists that lived at the same time as Waterhouse; their influence and relationship to him. What I love about the most is the high quality of the prints. The book is big in scale and the prints are marvelous in fullfilling the space.
If you like Waterhouse or Pre-Rapheal artworks this is one book that you won't want to miss.

Unsurpassed!
This book is a detailed chronicle of Waterhouse's life and many of his important works. The paintings are lavishly reproduced in large formats. It will satisfy the most demanding reader.

I loaned out this book from a library with the intention of scanning a few good pictures to learn from. I ended up marking up for scanning dozens of them that were too good to pass up. So I decide to purchase my own copy of the book instead.

If you are artistically oriented, this book will give you hours and hours of enjoyment, and if you spend time to read the text, which is well researched, well written and prodigiously informative, you will as soon become an authority of sorts on J. W. Waterhouse.

VISUAL INTOXICATION
This is the best book on the works of John William Waterhouse to date. From Waterhouse's early works to his decline in popularity after World War 1 to his rediscovery, everything you wanted to know about his works and the man himself. Also his master works like Saint Cecilia, Hylas and the Nymphs and many others are presented in wonderful color to take your breath away. If that wasn't enough some addition works from Rossetti, Burn-Jones and Millais and other Victorian era artists are also featured here. This the ultimate book for lovers of Waterhouse's art works.