J.W. Waterhouse – the Modern Pre-Raphaelite
25 August, 2009
I nipped into the Royal Academy in Burlington House at lunch time to get my quick fix of J.W. Waterhouse. They have on a retrospective with quite a large number of his paintings brought together from all over the world. Of course included were my favourites The Lady of Shallot, A Mermaid and St. Eulalia (see above). Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
I’ve always felt that there is a melancholic air pervading most of Waterhouse’s paintings. His use of muted, dusky colours coupled with flashes of peacock blue, pink and white pulls you into the cold, dark, snow-filled and windswept landscapes in which his paintings are often set. Although Waterhouse appeared many years after the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood was established, his romantic subject matter and natural settings place him firmly within their aesthetic.
I left the exhibition, walking through the courtyard of Burlington House and peering into the windows of the Royal Astronomical Society to try and catch a glimpse of their gorgeous library, feeling uplifted especially since I bagged myself an exhibition catalogue, some postcards and a fridge magnet. Well, what was I supposed to do? Come away empty handed?
chasing bawa 
27 August, 2009 at 11:01 am
New blog, omedetou!
I haven’t been reading for such a long time that I really miss it. (I think the last book I read was “What to Eat” by Marion Nestle….and that was last year!)
“A Mermaid” is so natsukashii!! Remember I used to have a poster of that in my room(when we lived together!). Also the lady of Shallot and Ophelia.
btw, do you have a function in your blog that can display “Recent comments”? Perhaps you can consider enabling it because it’s interesting to see what comments other visitors have made.
27 August, 2009 at 11:18 am
Hello!
I’ve put the recent comments up as you suggested. Thanks for reading. I always enjoying reading your food blog. Keep it up. If I have any questions regarding blogging, I’ll come to you!
You’ve been busy with your studies so no surprise regarding your reading. But you used to read a good eclectic mix of books. I still have all of your manga (I’ll be posting about manga later) and also Agota Kristof’s ‘The Notebook; The Proof; The Third Lie’ which really blew my mind.