One of the great English pencil artists, I would argue, is Sir Edward Burne-Jones. His technique is instantly recognisable, which some might argue is not necessarily a good thing, but I am really drawn to his style because it’s quite similar to my own in a way. He manages to draw with great delicacy and softens rather strong facial features. His models tend to have quite rugged jaws and noses, and deep set eyes, but are drawn with such delicacy that they become irrelevant.
I could quite happily look at Burne-Jones’ sketches all day, and have probably done so, having accumulated so many hours of viewing pleasure over the years! I mentioned before, the incredible collection housed at BMAG (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), which is admittedly, probably my favourite room in the building. Every time I visit, I drag my boyfriend through a memorised route and stand in awe at the pencil work, large scale paintings, and sketches for the stained glass work that Burne-Jones is also famous for.
The Edward Burne-Jones Collection at BMAG.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Main Entrance.
Burne-Jones is famous for painting scenes of Greek Mythology as well as Christian scenes. One such example being his series on Pygmalian, where a sculptor creates a perfect female (Galatea) out of ivory and falls in love with its image. He makes offerings to the goddess Aphrodite, wishing that his future bride might look like his sculpture, and when he returns home finds Galatea has come alive and they live happily ever after (to simplify the story!). It’s very typical of his time that Burne-Jones would look to classic literature and engage with the Romantic appeal of mythology, as seen in his contemporaries. (See my previous post on Poetry and Art)
Pygmalion and the Image- Edward Burne Jones (1875-78).
As I mentioned earlier, Burne-Jones is also well known for his stained glass art, planning sketches of which hang in the BMAG collection, and some of his stained glass (The Last Judgement) art can be found at St Philip’s Cathedral in Birmingham.
St Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham City Centre.
That’s all for my Edward Burne-Jones appreciation post right now, but I’ll surely be posting more of him in the future as he’s one of my favourite Pre-Raphaelites!
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