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Upper: Steel-plate engraving of Ruskin as a young man, made circa 1845, scanned from print made circa 1895. Middle: Ruskin in middle-age, as Slade Professor of Art at Oxford (1869-1879). Scanned from 1879 book. Bottom: John Ruskin in old age, 1894, by photographer Frederick Hollyer. 1894 print. All public domain.
Upper: Steel-plate engraving of Ruskin as a young man, made circa 1845, scanned from print made circa 1895.
Middle: Ruskin in middle-age, as Slade Professor of Art at Oxford (1869-1879). Scanned from 1879 book.
Bottom: John Ruskin in old age, 1894, by photographer Frederick Hollyer. 1894 print. All public domain.

John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) is best known for his work as an art critic, sage writer, and social critic, but is remembered as an author, poet and artist as well. Events 421 - Constantius III becomes co- Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Year 1819 ( MDCCCXIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar in the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Events 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating Art. Their written critiques or reviews are published in newspapers magazines books and on web sites Sage writing is a Genre of Creative nonfiction popular in the Victorian era. Social criticism analyzes Social structures which are seen as flawed and aims at practical solutions by specific measures radical Reform or even Revolutionary An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of Activities to do with creating Art, practicing the Arts and/or demonstrating Ruskin's essays on art and architecture were extremely influential in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities Class and society Socially the Edwardian era was a period during which the British Class system was very rigid

Contents

Life

Ruskin was born in London, and raised in south London, the son of a wine importer who was one of the founders of the company that became Allied Domecq. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, UK that operated spirits, Wine, and Quick service restaurant He was educated at home, and went on to study at King's College London and Christ Church, Oxford. King's College London is a British Higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the federal University of London. Not to be confused with Christchurch, a city in New Zealand. Christ Church (Ædes Christi the temple or house of Christ and thus sometimes known as At Oxford was enrolled as a "gentleman-commoner", a group of students who were not expected to pursue a full course of study. His own studies were erratic and he was often absent. However, he impressed the scholars of Christ Church after he won the Newdigate prize for poetry, his earliest interest. Not to be confused with Christchurch, a city in New Zealand. Christ Church (Ædes Christi the temple or house of Christ and thus sometimes known as Sir Roger Newdigate's Prize is awarded to students of the University of Oxford for Best Composition in English verse by an undergraduate who has been admitted to Oxford In consequence, and despite a protracted period of serious illness, he was awarded an honorary fourth class degree.

His first work, serialised in Loudon's Architecture Magazine in 1836-7, under the pen name "Kata Phusin" (Greek for "according to Nature") was The Poetry of Architecture, a study of cottages, villas, and other dwellings which centred around a Wordsworthian argument that buildings should be sympathetic to their local environments, and should use local materials. A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a Pseudonym adopted by an Author or their publishers to conceal their identity Soon afterwards, in 1839, he published, in Transactions of the Meteorological Society (pages 56-59), his "Remarks on the present state of meteorological science". He went on to publish the first volume of one of his major works, Modern Painters, in 1843, under the anonymous identity "An Oxford Graduate". This work argued that modern landscape painters — and in particular J.M.W. Turner — were superior to the so-called "Old Masters" of the post Renaissance period. Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 &ndash 19 December 1851 was an English Romantic landscape painter, Watercolourist and " Old Master " (or " old master " is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Such a claim was controversial, especially as Turner's semi-abstract late works were being denounced by some critics as meaningless daubs. The degree to which Ruskin reversed an anti-Turnerian tide may have been overemphasised in the past, as Turner was a renowned and major figure in the early Victorian art world and a prominent member of the Royal Academy. Ruskin's criticisms of Old Masters like Gaspard Dughet (Gaspar Poussin), Claude Lorrain, and Salvator Rosa, was much more controversial, given the immense respect in which they were held at the time. Gaspard Dughet (also known as Gaspard Poussin; 1613 - 27 May 1675) was a French painter. Claude Lorrain (also Claude Gellée or Le Lorrain) ( Lorraine, c Salvator Rosa ( 1615 - March 15, 1673) was an Italian Baroque painter poet and Printmaker, active in Naples Rome The attack on the old masters centred on what Ruskin perceived as their lack of attention to natural truth. Rather than 'going to nature', as Turner did, the old masters, 'composed' or invented their landscapes in their studios. For Ruskin, modern painters like Turner and James Duffield Harding (Ruskin's art tutor) showed a much more profound understanding of nature, observing the 'truths' of water, air, clouds, stones, and vegetation. James Duffield Harding ( 1798 - December 4, 1863) English landscape painter, was the son of an artist and took to the same

Ruskin considered some Renaissance masters, notably Titian and Dürer, to have shown similar devotion to nature, but he attacked even Michelangelo as a corrupting influence on art. Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c 1485 &ndash August 27 1576 better known as Titian, was the leading painter of the 16th-century Venetian Albrecht Dürer (ˈalbʀɛçt ˈdyʀɐ ( May 21, 1471 &ndash April 6, 1528) was a German painter, Printmaker Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all The second half of Modern Painters I consists of detailed observations by Ruskin of exactly how clouds move, how seas appear at different times of day, or how trees grow, followed by examples of error or truth from various artists.

Ruskin had already met and befriended Turner, and eventually became one of the executors of his will. It is often stated that as an executor, Ruskin took it upon himself in 1858 to destroy a large number of Turner's sketches because of their 'pornographic' subject matter, although this has now been cast into doubt (see below).

Ruskin followed this book with a second volume, developing his ideas about symbolism in art. He then turned to architecture, writing The Seven Lamps of Architecture and The Stones of Venice, both of which argued that architecture cannot be separated from morality, and that the "Decorated Gothic" style was the highest form of architecture yet achieved. English Gothic is the name of the Architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520 [1]

By this time Ruskin was writing in his own name, and had become the most famous cultural theorist of his day. In 1848, he married Effie Gray, for whom he wrote the early fantasy novel The King of the Golden River. Year 1848 ( MDCCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Euphemia ('Effie' Chalmers Gray (1828 - 1897 was the wife of the critic John Ruskin, but later left her husband to marry his protege the Pre-Raphaelite painter The King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers A Legend of Stiria by John Ruskin was originally written for the twelve year old Effie (Euphemia Gray Their marriage was notoriously unhappy, eventually being annulled in 1854 on grounds of his "incurable impotency,"[2] a charge Ruskin later disputed. Annulment in the Catholic Church See also Annulment (Catholic Church In the Roman Catholic Church, a marriage is considered to be a valid contract Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Effie later married the artist John Everett Millais, who had been Ruskin's protegé. Sir John Everett Millais 1st Baronet, PRA ( June 8, 1829 &ndash August 13, 1896) was an English painter

Ruskin had come into contact with Millais following the controversy over his painting Christ in the House of his Parents, which was considered blasphemous at the time. Christ in the House of His Parents (1850 is a painting by John Everett Millais depicting the Holy Family in Saint Joseph 's carpentry workshop Millais, with his colleagues William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, had established the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. William Holman Hunt (b 2 April 1827 in Cheapside, London &ndash d Dante Gabriel Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882 was an English poet Illustrator, painter and Translator. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (also known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters Poets, and critics founded in 1848 by The Pre-Raphaelites were influenced by Ruskin's theories. As a result, the critic wrote letters to The Times defending their work, later meeting them. Initially he favoured Millais, who travelled to Scotland with Ruskin and Effie to paint Ruskin's portrait. Effie's increasing attachment to Millais created a crisis in the marriage, leading Effie to leave Ruskin, causing a major public scandal. Millais abandoned the Pre-Raphaelite style after his marriage, and his later works were often savagely attacked by Ruskin. Ruskin continued to support Hunt and Rossetti. He also provided independent funds to encourage the art of Rossetti's wife Elizabeth Siddal. Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal ( 25 July 1829 – 11 February 1862) was a British artists' model, Poet and Other artists influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites also received both written and financial support from him, including John Brett, Burne-Jones and John William Inchbold. John Brett (1831-1902 was a Pre-Raphaelite painter mainly notable for his highly detailed landscapes Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones 1st Baronet (28 August 1833 &ndash 17 June 1898 was an English Artist and Designer closely associated with the later John William Inchbold ( August 29 1830 &ndash January 23 1888) was an English painter born in Leeds, Yorkshire In 1858 he also opened the School of Art in Sidney Street, Cambridge, laying the foundation for what is now Anglia Ruskin University. Anglia Ruskin University, formerly Anglia Polytechnic, is a University in England, with campuses in Cambridge and Chelmsford.

During this period Ruskin wrote regular reviews of the annual exhibitions at the Royal Academy under the title Academy Notes. This article refers to an art institution in London For other meanings of Royal Academy see Royal Academy (disambiguation. His reviews were so influential and so judgemental that he alienated many artists, leading to much comment. For example Punch published a comic poem about a victim of the critic containing the lines "I paints and paints, hears no complaints. Punch was a British weekly Magazine of Humour and Satire published from 1841 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2002 . . then savage Ruskin sticks his tusk in and nobody will buy". Ruskin also sought to encourage the creation of architecture based on his theories. He was friendly with Sir Henry Acland, who supported his attempts to get the new Oxford University Museum of Natural History built as a model of modern Gothic. The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a Museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's Ruskin also inspired other architects to adapt the Gothic style for modern culture. These buildings created what has been called a distinctive "Ruskinian Gothic" style. [3]

Following a crisis of religious belief Ruskin abandoned art criticism at the end of the 1850s, moving towards commentary on politics, under the influence of his great friend Thomas Carlyle. Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881 was a Scottish essayist satirist and historian whose work was highly influential during the Victorian era. In Unto This Last he expounded his theories about social justice, which influenced the development of the British Labour party and of Christian socialism. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and Socialist and who see these two philosophies as Upon the death of his father, Ruskin declared that it was not possible to be a rich socialist and gave away most of his inheritance. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution "Heir" and "Heiress" redirect here For the men and women fragrances endorsed by Paris Hilton see Heiress (fragrance. He founded the charity known as the Guild of St George in the 1870s and endowed it with large sums of money as well as a remarkable collection of art. The Guild of St George is charitable trust founded by John Ruskin in England in the 1870s as a vehicle to implement his ideas about how society should be He also gave the money to enable Octavia Hill to begin her practical campaign of housing reform. Octavia Hill ( 3 December 1838 – 13 August 1912) was an English social reformer particularly concerned with the welfare of He attempted to reach a wide readership with his pamphlets Fors Clavigera, aimed at the "working men of England". He also taught at the Working Men's College, London and was the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford, from 1869 to 1879, he also served a second term. The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the senior professorship of Art at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1879 ( MDCCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Ruskin College, Oxford is named after him. Ruskin College is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England.

While at Oxford Ruskin became friendly with Lewis Carroll, another don, and was photographed by him. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (ˈdɒdsən (27 January 1832 &ndash 14 January 1898 better known by the Pen name Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/ was an English After the parting of Carroll and Alice Liddell, she and her sisters pursued a similar relationship with Ruskin, as detailed in Ruskin's autobiography Praeterita. Alice Pleasance Liddell (May 4 1852 &ndash November 16 1934 was the inspiration for the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Rose la Touche, as sketched by Ruskin
Rose la Touche, as sketched by Ruskin

During this period Ruskin became enamoured of Rose la Touche, an intensely religious young girl. Rose La Touche (1848-1875 was the major love in the life of John Ruskin. He met her in 1858, when she was only ten years old, proposed to her eight years later, and was finally rejected in 1872. Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year She died soon afterward. These events plunged Ruskin into despair and led to bouts of mental illness. He suffered from a number of breakdowns as well as delirious visions.

In 1878, he published a scathing review of paintings by James McNeill Whistler exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery. Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Grosvenor Gallery was an Art gallery founded in Bond Street, London in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay and his wife Blanche He found particular fault with Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, and accused Whistler of "ask[ing] two hundred guineas for throwing a pot of paint in the public's face. " [4] Whistler filed a libel suit against Ruskin. Whistler won the case, but the jury awarded him only one farthing for damages; it split court costs between Ruskin and Whistler. A farthing (meaning fourth part) was a British coin worth one quarter of a penny and 1/960 of a Pound sterling, slightly over a "mill" The episode tarnished Ruskin's reputation, and may have accelerated his mental decline.

The emergence of the Aesthetic movement and Impressionism alienated Ruskin from the art world, and his later writings were increasingly seen as irrelevant, especially as he seemed to be more interested in book illustrators such as Kate Greenaway than in modern art. This article is about aestheticism a term with a root meaning of sensuous Not to be confused with the religious practice of Asceticism: an abstinence from the sensual Impressionism was a 19th-century Art movement that began as a loose association of Paris -based Artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s Kate Greenaway (Catherine Greenaway (London 17 March 1846 – 6 November 1901 was a Children's book Illustrator and writer He continued to support philanthropic movements such as the Home Arts and Industries Association

Much of his later life was spent at a house called Brantwood, on the shores of Coniston Water located in the Lake District of England. The Home Arts and Industries Association was an organisation that functioned as a precursor to the Art Workers Guild in the development of the Arts and Crafts Movement This article is about the house in Cumbria for the Belfast football club see Brantwood F Coniston Water (usually simply called Coniston locally in Cumbria, England is the third largest lake in the English Lake District. The Lake District, also known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a rural area in North West England. His assistant W. G. Collingwood, the author, artist and antiquarian lived nearby. William Gershom Collingwood, ( 6 August 1854, Liverpool - 1 October 1932) was an author artist antiquary and was also Professor

Work

Ruskin's range was vast. He wrote over 250 works which started from art history, but expanded to cover topics ranging over science, geology, ornithology, literary criticism, the environmental effects of pollution, and mythology. After his death Ruskin's works were collected together in a massive "library edition", completed in 1912 by his friends Edward Cook and Alexander Wedderburn. Its index is famously elaborate, attempting to articulate the complex interconnectedness of his thought.

Art and design criticism

Ruskin's early work in defence of Turner was based on his belief that art was essentially concerned to communicate an understanding of nature, and that authentic artists should reject inherited conventions in order to appreciate and study effects of form and colour by direct observation. His most famous dictum was "go to nature in all singleness of heart, rejecting nothing and selecting nothing. Singleness of heart (also called singleheartedness) is the ideal of having sole devotion to a task or endeavour " He later believed that the Pre-Raphaelites formed "a new and noble school" of art that would provide the basis for a thoroughgoing reform of the art world. For Ruskin, art should communicate truth above all things. However, he believed that this was not revealed by mere display of skill, but the expression of the artist's whole moral outlook. Ruskin rejected the work of Whistler because he considered it to epitomise a reductive mechanisation of art.

Ruskin's famous diatribe rejecting the Classical tradition in The Stones of Venice, one of the nineteenth century's most influential books, embodies the inextricable mix of aesthetics and morality in his thought:

"Pagan in its origin, proud and unholy in its revival, paralysed in its old age. For the works or study of works from classical antiquity see Classics Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to . . an architecture invented, as it seems, to make plagiarists of its architects, slaves of its workmen, and sybarites of its inhabitants; an architecture in which intellect is idle, invention impossible, but in which all luxury is gratified and all insolence fortified. "[5]

The Oxford Museum of Natural History, a building designed with Ruskin's collaboration as an experiment in modern Gothic
The Oxford Museum of Natural History, a building designed with Ruskin's collaboration as an experiment in modern Gothic

Rejection of mechanisation and standardization also informed Ruskin's theories of architecture, informing his emphasis on the importance of the Medieval Gothic style: its reverence for nature and for natural forms; the supposedly free and unfettered expression of the artisans working on the construction and lavish decoration of buildings; and the organic relationship Ruskin posited between the worker and his guild, the worker and his community, between the worker and his natural environment, and between the worker and his God. Attempts in the nineteenth century to reproduce the form of gothic (its pointed arches etc) was not enough to make these buildings expressions of what Ruskin (however erroneously) saw as true gothic feeling, faith, and organicism.

Sage Hall at Cornell, an example of the "faux-Gothic" adaptation of Ruskinian principles of architecture
Sage Hall at Cornell, an example of the "faux-Gothic" adaptation of Ruskinian principles of architecture

For Ruskin the Gothic style embodied the same moral truths that he sought in great art. Sage Residential College, Sage College or Sage Hall was built in 1875 at Cornell University's Ithaca, New York campus It expressed the meaning of architecture — as a combination of the values of strength, solidity and aspiration; all written, as it were, in stone. For Ruskin, true Gothic architecture involved the whole community in its creation, and expressed the full range of human emotions, from the sublime effects of soaring spires to the comically ridiculous carved grotesques and gargoyles. When used in conversation grotesque commonly means strange fantastic ugly or bizarre and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween In Architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone Grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building Even its crude and "savage" aspects were proof of "the liberty of every workman who struck the stone; a freedom of thought, and rank in scale of being, such as no laws, no charters, no charities can secure. "[6] Classical architecture, in contrast, expressed a morally vacuous repressive standardisation. Ruskin associated Classical values with modern developments, in particular with the demoralising consequences of the industrial revolution, resulting in buildings such as The Crystal Palace, which he despised as an oversized greenhouse. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and Glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Although Ruskin wrote about architecture in many works over the course of his career, his much-anthologized essay "The Nature of Gothic" from the second volume of The Stones of Venice (1853) is widely considered to be one of his most important and evocative discussions of his central argument.

Ruskin's arguments encouraged a revival of Gothic styles, but Ruskin himself was often dissatisfied with the results, objecting that forms of mass-produced faux-gothic did not exemplify his own principles, but showed a disregard for the true meaning of the style. Even the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, a building designed with Ruskin's collaboration, met with his disapproval. The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a Museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's The O'Shea brothers, freehand stone carvers chosen to revive the creative "freedom of thought" of Gothic craftsmen, disappointed him by their lack of reverence for the task. O'Shea and Whelan was an Irish family practice of stonemasons and sculptors from Ballyhooly in County Cork.

Ruskin's distaste for oppressive standardisation led to his later works attacking laissez faire capitalism, which influenced many trade union leaders of the Victorian era. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities He was also the inspiration for the Arts and Crafts Movement, the founding of the National Trust, the National Art Collections Fund and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, and American Aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organization in England, Wales The Art Fund (originally known as The National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings ( SPAB) (sometimes known as Anti-Scrape) was founded by William Morris and Philip Webb in

John Ruskin's Study of Gneiss Rock, Glenfinlas, 1853. Pen and ink and wash with Chinese ink on paper, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England
John Ruskin's Study of Gneiss Rock, Glenfinlas, 1853. Pen and ink and wash with Chinese ink on paper, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England

Ruskin's views on art, wrote Kenneth Clark, "cannot be made to form a logical system, and perhaps owe to this fact a part of their value. Kenneth McKenzie Clark Baron Clark, OM, CH, KCB, FBA ( July 13, 1903 &ndash May 21, 1983) was an In formal logic, a formal system (also called a logical system, a logistic system, or simply a logic Formal systems in mathematics consist " Ruskin's accounts of art are descriptions of a superior type that conjur images vividly in the mind's eye. [7] Certain principles, however, remain consistent throughout his work and have been summarized in Clark's own words as the following:

  1. That art is not a matter of taste, but involves the whole man. Whether in making or perceiving a work of art, we bring to bear on it feeling, intellect, morals, knowledge, memory, and every other human capacity, all focused in a flash on a single point. Aesthetic man is a concept as false and dehumanizing as economic man.
  2. That even the most superior mind and the most powerful imagination must found itself on facts, which must be recognized for what they are. The imagination will often reshape them in a way which the prosaic mind cannot understand; but this recreation will be based on facts, not on formulas or illusions.
  3. That these facts must be perceived by the senses, or felt; not learnt.
  4. That the greatest artists and schools of art have believed it their duty to impart vital truths, not only about the facts of vision, but about religion and the conduct of life.
  5. That beauty of form is revealed in organisms which have developed perfectly according to their laws of growth, and so give, in his own words, 'the appearance of felicitous fulfilment of function. '
  6. That this fulfilment of function depends on all parts of an organism cohering and cooperating. This was what he called the 'Law of Help,' one of Ruskin's fundamental beliefs, extending from nature and art to society.
  7. That good art is done with enjoyment. The artist must feel that, within certain reasonable limits, he is free, that he is wanted by society, and that the ideas he is asked to express are true and important.
  8. That great art is the expression of epochs where people are united by a common faith and a common purpose, accept their laws, believe in their leaders, and take a serious view of human destiny. [8]

Historic preservation

Ruskin's beliefs in the preservation of ancient buildings had a significant influence on later thinking about the distinction between the conservation and the restoration of old buildings. Ruskin was a strong proponent of the former, while his contemporary, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, advocated for the latter. Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc ( January 27 1814 &ndash September 17, 1879) was a French Architect and theorist famous for his "restorations" In The Seven Lamps of Architecture, Ruskin writes:

Neither by the public, nor by those who have the care of public monuments, is the true meaning of the word restoration understood. It means the most total destruction which a building can suffer: a destruction out of which no remnants can be gathered: a destruction accompanied with false description of the thing destroyed. Do not let us deceive ourselves in this important matter; it is impossible, as impossible as to raise the dead, to restore anything that has ever been great or beautiful in architecture. [9]

This abhorrence for restoration is in marked contrast to Viollet-le-Duc who wrote that restoration is a "means to reestablish [a building] to a finished state, which may in fact never have actually existed at any given time. "[10]

Ruskin had a deep respect for Gothic architecture and old buildings in general. To him, the building's age was the most important aspect of its preservation: "For, indeed, the greatest glory of a building is not in its stones, not in its gold. Its glory is in its Age, and in that deep sense of voicefulness, of stern watching, of mysterious sympathy, nay, even of approval or condemnation, which we feel in walls that have long been washed by the passing waves of humanity. ” [11]

Social theory

Ruskin's pioneering of the ideas that led to the Arts and Crafts movement was related to the growth of Christian socialism, an ideology that he helped to formulate in his book Unto This Last, in which he attacked laissez faire economics because it failed to acknowledge the complexities of human desires and motivations. The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, and American Aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and Socialist and who see these two philosophies as Unto This Last is an essay on Economy by John Ruskin, first published in December 1860 in the monthly journal Cornhill Magazine in He argued that the State should intervene to regulate the economy in the service of such higher values. These ideas were closely related to those of Thomas Carlyle, but whereas Carlyle emphasised the need for strong leadership, Ruskin emphasised what later evolved into the concept of "social economy" - networks of charitable, co-operative and other non-governmental organisations. Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881 was a Scottish essayist satirist and historian whose work was highly influential during the Victorian era. Social economy refers to a third sector in economies between the private sector and business or the public sector and government

In the Stones of Venice, the previously mentioned chapter The Nature of Gothic attacked the division of labour, which Adam Smith advocated in the early books of The Wealth of Nations. Division of labour or specialization is the specialization of cooperative labour in specific circumscribed tasks and roles intended to increase the Productivity Adam Smith ( baptised 16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of Political economy. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the Magnum opus of the Scottish economist Adam Smith. Ruskin believed the division of labour to be the main cause of the unhappiness of the poor. Ruskin believed that the rich had never been so generous in the past, but the poor's hatred of the rich was at its greatest point; this was because the poor now were unsatisfied by their monotonous work, which used them as a tool, instead of a man. These ideas would later influence William Morris. William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896 was an English Architect, Furniture and Textile designer artist writer and socialist associated

Art

Though he never exhibited his paintings, Ruskin's own work was very distinctive. He created many careful studies of natural forms, adapting the style of Turner to detailed botanical, geological and architectural observation. He also painted a decorative floral border in the central room of Wallington Hall in Northumberland, home of his friend Pauline Trevelyan. Wallington ( is a Country house and Gardens located 188km (11 The stained glass window in the Little Church of St Francis Fontley, Fareham, Hampshire is reputed to have been designed by him. The Market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly Originally placed in the St. Peter's Church Duntisbourne Abbots, near Cirencester, the window depicts the Ascension and the Nativity. Cirencester is a Market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles (150 km west northwest of London [12]

The fantasy novel

Ruskin's fantasy novelette The King of the Golden River (1841) prepared the ground for the major fantasy novels of his close friend George MacDonald, who in 1858 wrote what is considered the first fantasy novel for adults, Phantastes. The King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers A Legend of Stiria by John Ruskin was originally written for the twelve year old Effie (Euphemia Gray George MacDonald ( 10 December 1824 &mdash 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author poet and Christian minister Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Phantastes A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a Fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858 The manner in which The King of the Golden River was written - as a gift to the twelve year old Effie Grey - also became a template for Lewis Carroll's fantasy manuscript Alice's Adventures Under Ground, which was written for Alice Liddell and later revised and published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (ˈdɒdsən (27 January 1832 &ndash 14 January 1898 better known by the Pen name Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/ was an English Ruskin also contributed to the scholarship on this newly emerging genre later in his life, defining the aims of fantasy literature in his lecture "Fairy Land" (in The Art of England, 1884).

Legacy

Ruskin's influence extends far beyond the field of art history. The author Leo Tolstoy described him as "one of those rare men who think with their heart. Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy ( –) (Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й, was a Russian Writer widely regarded " Marcel Proust was a Ruskin enthusiast and translated his works into French. Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (maʁsɛl pʁust (10 July 1871 &ndash 18 November 1922 was a French Novelist Essayist and Critic Mahatma Gandhi quoted Ruskin's Unto this last frequently, and spoke often of the influence Ruskin had on his philosophy. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January Unto This Last is an essay on Economy by John Ruskin, first published in December 1860 in the monthly journal Cornhill Magazine in [13] Ruskin's views also attracted Oscar Wilde's imagination in the late 19th century. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900 was an Irish Playwright, Novelist, poet and Author of

A number of utopian socialist "Ruskin Colonies" were created in attempts to put his political ideals into practice. The Ruskin Colony (or Ruskin Commonwealth Association) was a utopian socialist colony which existed near Tennessee City in Dickson County Tennessee from These included the founders of Ruskin, Nebraska; Ruskin, Florida; Ruskin, British Columbia; and the Ruskin Commonwealth Association, a colony which existed in Dickson County, Tennessee from 1894 to 1899. Ruskin is a village in Nuckolls County, Nebraska, United States. Ruskin is an unincorporated Census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. Ruskin is a rural and industrial area about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver BC straddling the border between the suburban municipalities of Maple Ridge and Mission The Ruskin Colony (or Ruskin Commonwealth Association) was a utopian socialist colony which existed near Tennessee City in Dickson County Tennessee from Dickson County is a County located in the US state of Tennessee. Ruskin's ideas also influenced the development of the British Labour Party. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the In Britain, many streets, places and colleges are named after Ruskin.

Today, Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge bears his name. Anglia Ruskin University, formerly Anglia Polytechnic, is a University in England, with campuses in Cambridge and Chelmsford. The city of Cambridge (ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England The university traces its origins to the Cambridge School of Art, which Ruskin founded in 1858.

Biographies

The defining work on Ruskin for the 20th century was "The Darkening Glass" (Columbia UP, 1960) by Columbia professor John D. Rosenberg, backed by his ubiquitous paperback anthology, "The Genius of John Ruskin"(1963). Neither book has ever been out of print. Rosenberg, who began teaching at Columbia in 1963, and is still teaching in 2006, produced countless Ruskinians who are now the Victorianists at various American universities. A definitive two-volume biography by Tim Hilton appeared as John Ruskin: The Early Years (Yale University Press, 1985) and John Ruskin: The Later Years (Yale University Press, 2000).

Controversies

Turner erotic drawings

Until 2005, biographies of both J. M. W. Turner and Ruskin had claimed that in 1858 Ruskin burned bundles of erotic paintings and drawings by Turner, in order to protect Turner's posthumous reputation. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 &ndash 19 December 1851 was an English Romantic landscape painter, Watercolourist and Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common In 2005, these same works by Turner were discovered in a neglected British archive, proving that Ruskin did not destroy them. [14]

Sexuality

Ruskin's sexuality has led to much speculation and critical comment. His one marriage, to Effie Gray, was annulled after six years because of non-consummation. Euphemia ('Effie' Chalmers Gray (1828 - 1897 was the wife of the critic John Ruskin, but later left her husband to marry his protege the Pre-Raphaelite painter His wife, in a letter to her parents, claimed that he found her "person" (meaning her body) repugnant. "He alleged various reasons, hatred to children, religious motives, a desire to preserve my beauty, and finally this last year he told me his true reason. . . that he had imagined women were quite different to what he saw I was, and that the reason he did not make me his Wife was because he was disgusted with my person the first evening 10th April. " Ruskin confirmed this in his statement to his lawyer during the annulment proceedings. "It may be thought strange that I could abstain from a woman who to most people was so attractive. But though her face was beautiful, her person was not formed to excite passion. On the contrary, there were certain circumstances in her person which completely checked it. "[15]

The cause of this mysterious "disgust" has led to much speculation. Ruskin's biographer, Mary Lutyens, suggested that he rejected Effie because he was horrified by the sight of her pubic hair. Edith Mary Lutyens (1908&ndash 9 April 1999) was a British author who wrote an authoritative biography of the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. Pubic hair is Hair in the frontal Genital area the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs these areas form the pubic region Lutyens argued that Ruskin must have known the female form only through Greek statues and paintings of the nude lacking pubic hair and found the reality shocking. [16] This speculation has been repeated by later biographers and essayists and it is now something that "everyone knows" about Ruskin. [17] However, there is no proof for this, and some disagree. Peter Fuller in his book Theoria: Art and the Absence of Grace writes, "It has been said that he was frightened on the wedding night by the sight of his wife's pubic hair; more probably, he was perturbed by her menstrual blood. Peter Michael Fuller (born 31st August 1947 in Damascus, Syria &mdash 1990 was a British art critic and magazine editor who was educated at Epsom College " Ruskin's biographers Tim Hilton and John Batchelor also take the view that menstruation is the more likely explanation, though Batchelor also suggests that body-odour may have been the problem.

Ruskin's later relationship with Rose la Touche has also led to claims that he was a paedophile, on the grounds that he stated that he fell in love with her when he met her at the age of nine. Rose La Touche (1848-1875 was the major love in the life of John Ruskin. The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in Psychology, law enforcement and the popular vernacular [18] In fact he did not approach her as a suitor until she was seventeen, and he repeatedly proposed to her for as long as she lived. Ruskin is not known to have had any other romantic liaisons or sexual intimacies. However, during an episode of mental derangement after Rose died he wrote a letter in which he insisted that Rose's spirit had instructed him to marry a girl who was visiting him at the time. [19] Letters from Ruskin to Kate Greenaway also exist, in which he repeatedly asks her to draw her "girlies" (as he called her child figures) without clothing:

Will you – (it’s all for your own good – !) make her stand up and then draw her for me without a cap – and, without her shoes, – (because of the heels) and without her mittens, and without her – frock and frills? And let me see exactly how tall she is – and – how – round. Kate Greenaway (Catherine Greenaway (London 17 March 1846 – 6 November 1901 was a Children's book Illustrator and writer It will be so good of and for you – And to and for me. [20]

Ruskin's biographers disagree about the allegation of paedophilia. Hilton, in his two-volume biography, baldly asserts that "he was a paedophile", while Batchelor argues that the term is inappropriate because his behaviour does not "fit the profile"[21], despite the fact that a diagnosis of paedophilia does not require any form of action or behaviour.

Definitions

Coloured engraving of Ruskin
Coloured engraving of Ruskin

Ruskin coined quite a few distinctive terms, some of which were collected by the Nuttall Encyclopedia. The Nuttall Encyclopædia: Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge is an early-20th-century Encyclopedia, edited by Some include:

Pathetic Fallacy
a term he invented to describe the ascription of human emotions to impersonal natural forces, as in phrases like "the wind sighed". The pathetic fallacy or anthropomorphic fallacy is the treatment of inanimate objects as if they had human feelings thoughts or sensations
Fors Clavigera
the name given by Ruskin to a series of letters to workmen, written during the 1870s. Fors Clavigera was the name given by John Ruskin to a series of letters addressed to British workmen during the 1870s The phrase was intended to designate three great powers which go to fashion human destiny. These were: Force, symbolised by the club (clava) of Hercules; Fortitude, symbolised by the key (clavis) of Ulysses; and Fortune, symbolised by the nail (clavus) of Lycurgus. Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Lycurgus ( Greek:, Lukoûrgos; 700 BC?&ndash630 BC was the legendary lawgiver of Sparta, who established the military-oriented reformation of These three powers (the "fors") together represent human talents and abilities to choose the right moment and then to strike with energy. The concept is derived from Shakespeare's phrase "There is a tide in the affairs of men/ Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune". William Shakespeare ( baptised Ruskin believed that the letters were inspired by the Third Fors: striking out at the right moment.
Modern Atheism
ascribed by Ruskin to the unfortunate persistence of the clergy in teaching children what they cannot understand, and in employing young consecrate persons to assert in pulpits what they do not know.
The Want of England
"England needs," says Ruskin, "examples of people who, leaving Heaven to decide whether they are to rise in the world, decide for themselves that they will be happy in it, and have resolved to seek, not greater wealth, but simpler pleasures; not higher fortune, but deeper felicity; making the first of possessions self-possession, and honouring themselves in the harmless pride and calm pursuits of peace. "
Illth
Used by and after Ruskin as the reverse of wealth in the sense of ‘well-being’: Ill-being. Illth, a term and concept used by John Ruskin as the reverse of wealth in the sense of ‘well-being’ (Oxford English Dictionary)

Partial Bibliography


Fictional portrayals of Ruskin

Aspects of Ruskin's life have been dramatised or incorporated into works of fiction on several occasions. Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1873 ( MDCCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1877 ( MDCCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1883 ( MDCCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1883 ( MDCCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Most of these concentrate on his marriage. Examples include:

See also

John Ruskin
John Ruskin

Notes

  1. ^ Jonathan Smith, Architecture and Induction: Whewell and Ruskin on Gothic A talk presented at "Science and British Culture in the 1830s," Trinity College, Cambridge, July 1994.
  2. ^ Sir William James, The Order of Release, the story of John Ruskin, Effie Gray and John Everett Millais, 1946, p. Anglia Ruskin University, formerly Anglia Polytechnic, is a University in England, with campuses in Cambridge and Chelmsford. The Common Law of Business Balance is a meditation on price attributed to John Ruskin. John Ruskin College is a Further education college and former school in the London Borough of Croydon, which started life in 1920 as the John Ruskin Boys' Ruskin is a rural and industrial area about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver BC straddling the border between the suburban municipalities of Maple Ridge and Mission Ruskin College is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. For the re-generation plan for the centre of Croydon see Ruskin Square Ruskin House, situated in its own grounds on Coombe Road Croydon, South The Ruskin Library is a library on the campus of Lancaster University which houses material related to the English poet author and artist John Ruskin The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, known as The Ruskin, is an experimental Art school and Research institute at the University of Oxford Trenton is a city in Grundy County, Missouri, United States. The population was 6216 at the 2000 census 237
  3. ^ See Crook, J. Mordaunt. "Ruskinian Gothic. " The Ruskin Polygon: Essays on the Imagination of John Ruskin. Ed. John Dixon Hunt and Faith M. Holland. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1982. 65-93.
  4. ^ Linda Merrill, A Pot of Paint: Aesthetics on Trial in Whistler v. Ruskin. - book review, Art in America, Jan, 1993 by Wendy Steiner
  5. ^ Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, iii, ch. iv,§35.
  6. ^ John Unrau, Ruskin, the Workman and the Savageness of Gothic, in New Approaches to Ruskin, ed Robert Hewison, 1981,pp. 33-50
  7. ^ Fowler, Alastair (1989). The History of English Literature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p. 245. ISBN 0-674-39664-2.  
  8. ^ Kenneth Clark, "A Note on Ruskin's Writings on Art and Architecture," from Ruskin Today 1964
  9. ^ John Ruskin. ([1880] 1989). The seven lamps of architecture. New York: Dover Publications. P. 194
  10. ^ Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. ([1854] 1990). The foundations of architecture. New York: George Braziller. P. 195. (Translated by Kenneth D. Whitehead from the original French. )
  11. ^ John Ruskin. ([1880] 1989). The seven lamps of architecture. New York: Dover Publications. P. 186
  12. ^ Malcolm Low & Julie Graham, The stained glass window of the Little Church of St. Francis, private publication Aug 2002 & April 2006, for viewing Fareham Library reference Section or the Westbury Manor Museum Ref: section Fareham, hants; The stained glass window of the Church of St. Francis. Funtley, Fareham, Hampshire
  13. ^ Gandhi's Human Touch
  14. ^ The Guardian report on the discovery of Turner's drawings
  15. ^ Lutyens, M. , Millais and the Ruskins, p. 191
  16. ^ Lutyens, M. , Millais and the Ruskins, p. 156
  17. ^ For example Gene Weingarten comments on the marriage in his book I'm with Stupid (2004) "Ruskin had it annulled [sic] because he was horrified to behold upon his bride a thatch of hair, rough and wild, similar to a man's. Gene Weingarten (born on October 2 1951 in New York) is a humor writer and Pulitzer Prize He thought her a monster. " p. 150-1
  18. ^ Current evidence suggests that she was ten when they met, but Ruskin states in his autobiography that she was only nine. Hewison, R, John Ruskin, the Argument of the Eye, p. 160; The Guardian, review of Batchelor, J., John Ruskin: No Wealth but Life, 2000
  19. ^ Hilton, T. John Ruskin: The Later Years, p. 553, "absolutely under her [Rose's] orders I have asked Tenny Watson to marry me and come abroad with her father. "
  20. ^ Lurie, Alison Don't Tell the Grown-Ups: The Subversive Power of Children's Literature
  21. ^ Hilton, T, John Ruskin: A Life, vol. 1, p. 253-4; Batchelor, J, John Ruskin: No Wealth but Life. p. 202.

External links

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