Integrating New Ideas: Pre-Raphaelite

As I walked into Baterbys Art Gallery to start a 5-week internship I was curious to see what this opportunity would teach me and if it would help me to make a decision about what I would like to do after college. I knew I was interested in art and art history but did not know how it could be combined with some other skills to potentially make it a career. While waiting for the office manager to orient me, I chanced upon this artwork by Pino, His work is reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites...

The Pre-Raphaelite artists first appeared in the middle of the 19th century in England. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was essentially composed of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais. They all believed in rejecting the new teaching styles of art Academies in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, which to their mind where artificial, unimaginative and corrupted artistic compositions. Like them, I wanted to detach myself from my formal academic formation and education to get into a different type of learning and a different type of work, which can be a challenge.

Their wish was to come back to the style of the Italian Quattrocento, before Raphael’s influence, and rediscover techniques of portraying the natural world using bright and sharp focus and reviving colors. They wanted to return to abundant details, complex compositions, and to dedicate to romantic ideals while trying to pursue the true principles of art.

Not only Romanticism influenced them but also medieval culture and realism. The Brotherhood additionally wanted to express sincerity and moral seriousness in their work. By rejecting the principles of their time, the Pre Raphaelite were at first a controversial and limited group, but they slowly grew into a very influential movement that still influences the art world today. They have come to be fully accepted and recognized, and have managed to transmit their enthusiasm about reviving the old ways and principles.

Similarly, in my learning of the art world and running an art business, I will also undergo a process of slow and steady integration and maybe develop my own ways of doing things while incorporating advices, lessons, and the guidance I have received. I see this process not as particularly rejecting anything from the present but rather integrating new ideas and skills and developing my own opinion about it. I believe this experience as a whole will have a long lasting influence on me and change my approach to arts and potentially orient me towards my future plans or career.