Ophelia

John Everett Millais, 1851–1852

Oil on canvas

76. Sir John Everett Millais 1st Baronet, PRA ( June 8, 1829 &ndash August 13, 1896) was an English painter Oil painting is the process of painting with Pigments that are bound with a medium of Drying oil — especially in early modern Europe Linseed oil 2 × 111. 8 cm

Tate Britain, London

Ophelia is a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais, completed in 1852. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located 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 Sir John Everett Millais 1st Baronet, PRA ( June 8, 1829 &ndash August 13, 1896) was an English painter Currently held in the Tate Britain in London, it depicts Ophelia, a character from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in Denmark. Tate Britain is a part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. Ophelia is a Fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare ( baptised Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Although it was not universally acclaimed when it was first exhibited at the Royal Academy, the painting has since come to be admired for its beauty and its accurate depiction of a natural landscape. This article refers to an art institution in London For other meanings of Royal Academy see Royal Academy (disambiguation. Ophelia has been estimated by experts to be worth at least £30 million.

Theme and elements

The painting depicts Ophelia, a character from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing while floating in a river just before she drowns. Ophelia is a Fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare ( baptised Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 The scene is described in Act IV, Scene VII of the play in a speech by Queen Gertrude:

Ophelia's pose—her open arms and upwards gaze—resembles traditional portrayals of saints or martyrs, but has also been interpreted as erotic.

Photograph of John Everett Millais

The painting is known for its depiction of the detailed flora of the river and the riverbank, stressing the patterns of growth and decay in a natural ecosystem. Sir John Everett Millais 1st Baronet, PRA ( June 8, 1829 &ndash August 13, 1896) was an English painter In Botany, flora ( Plural: floras or florae has two meanings The first meaning flora of an area or of time period, refers to all An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( Despite its nominal Danish setting, the landscape has come to be seen as quintessentially English. "Ophelia" was painted along the banks of the Hogsmill River in Surrey, near Tolworth, Greater London. The Hogsmill River is one of the tributaries of the River Thames, 6 miles (9 Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. Tolworth is a mostly residential Suburb of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, located south west of Charing Cross. Barbara Webb, a resident of nearby Old Malden, devoted much time to finding the exact placement of the picture, and according to her research, the scene is located at Six Acre Meadow, alongside Church Road, Old Malden. Old Malden is a ward of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames south west of Charing Cross. ^[2] Millais' close colleague William Holman Hunt was at the time working on his The Hireling Shepherd. William Holman Hunt (b 2 April 1827 in Cheapside, London &ndash d The Hireling Shepherd (1851 is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt. ^[3]

The flowers shown floating on the river were chosen to correspond with Shakespeare's description of Ophelia's garland, however they also reflect the Victorian interest in the "language of flowers", according to which each flower carries a symbolic meaning. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, was a Victorian-era means of Communication in which various Flowers and floral arrangements The prominent red poppy—not mentioned by Shakespeare's description of the scene—represents sleep and death. A poppy is any of a number of showy Flowers typically withone per stem, belonging to the poppy family. ^[4]

At an early stage in the paintings creation, Millais painted a water vole—which an assistant had fished out of the Hogsmill—paddling next to Ophelia. This article deals with the European Water Vole For the article concerning the American species known as Water Vole see Water Vole (North America The In December 1851, he showed the unfinished painting to Holman Hunt's relatives. He recorded in his diary, "Hunt's uncle and aunt came, both of whom understood most gratifyingly every object except my water rat. The male relation, when invited to guess at it, eagerly pronounced it to be a hare. Hares and jackrabbits are Leporids belonging to the Genus Lepus. Perceiving by our smiles that he had made a mistake, a rabbit was then hazarded. After which I have a faint recollection of a dog or a cat being mentioned. " Millais painted the water vole out of the final picture, although a rough sketch of it still exists in an upper corner of the canvas hidden by its frame. ^[3]

Painting process

An 1854 self-portrait by Elizabeth Siddal, who acted as Millais' model for Ophelia. Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal ( 25 July 1829 – 11 February 1862) was a British artists' model, Poet and ^[5]

Millais produced Ophelia in two separate stages: he first painted the landscape, and secondly the figure of Ophelia. Having found a suitable setting for the picture, Millais remained on the banks of the Hogsmill River in Ewell– within a literal stone's throw of where fellow Pre-Raphaelite William Holman Hunt painted The Light of the World–for up to 11 hours a day, six days a week, over a five-month period in 1851. The Hogsmill River is one of the tributaries of the River Thames, 6 miles (9 Ewell is a village in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, close to the southern boundary of Greater London. William Holman Hunt (b 2 April 1827 in Cheapside, London &ndash d For the film see The Light of the World (film. For the Oratorio, see The Light of the World (Sullivan. This allowed him to accurately depict the natural scene before him. Millais encountered various difficulties during the painting process. He wrote in a letter to a friend, "The flies of Surrey are more muscular, and have a still greater propensity for probing human flesh. I am threatened with a notice to appear before a magistrate for trespassing in a field and destroying the hay. . . and am also in danger of being blown by the wind into the water. Certainly the painting of a picture under such circumstances would be greater punishment to a murderer than hanging. " By November 1851, the weather had turned windy and snowy. Millais oversaw the building of a hut "made of four hurdles,^[6] like a sentry-box, covered outside with straw". According to Millais, sitting inside the hut made him feel like Robinson Crusoe. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (of York Mariner Who lived Eight and Twenty Years all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America near the Mouth William Holman Hunt was so impressed by the hut that he had an identical one built for himself. ^[3]

Ophelia was modelled by artist and muse Elizabeth Siddal, then 19 years old. Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal ( 25 July 1829 – 11 February 1862) was a British artists' model, Poet and Millais had Siddal lie fully clothed in a full bathtub in his studio at 7 Gower Street in London. Gower Street is a street in Bloomsbury, Central London, England, running between Euston Road to the north and Montague Place ^[7] As it was now winter, he placed oil lamps under the tub to warm the water, but was so intent on his work that he allowed them to go out. As a result, Siddal caught a severe cold, and later sent Millais a £50 doctor's bill. ^[3]

Reception

When Ophelia was first publicly exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1852, it was not universally acclaimed. This article refers to an art institution in London For other meanings of Royal Academy see Royal Academy (disambiguation. A critic in The Times wrote that "there must be something strangely perverse in the imagination which sources Ophelia in a weedy ditch, and robs the drowning struggle of that lovelorn maiden of all pathos and beauty", while another newspaper said that "Mr. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. Millais's Ophelia in her pool. . . makes us think of a dairymaid in a frolic". ^[3] Even the great art critic John Ruskin, an avid supporter of Millais, while finding the technique of the painting "exquisite", expressed doubts about the decision to set it in a Surrey landscape and asked, "Why the mischief should you not paint pure nature, and not that rascally wirefenced garden-rolled-nursery-maid's paradise?"^[8]

In the 20th century, the painting was championed by surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. John Ruskin (8 February 1819 &ndash 20 January 1900 is best known for his work as an Art critic, sage writer, and Social critic, but is remembered Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early-1920s and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11 1904 &ndash January 23 1989 was a Spanish Catalan Surrealist In an article published in a 1936 journal, he wrote, "How could Salvador Dalí fail to be dazzled by the flagrant surrealism of English Pre-Raphaelitism. The Pre-Raphaelite painters bring us radiant women who are, at the same time, the most desirable and most frightening that exist. " In 1906, Japanese novelist Natsume Sōseki called the painting "a thing of considerable beauty" in one of his novels; since then, the painting has been highly popular in Japan. was the Pen name of, who is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji Era (1868-1912 It was exhibited in Tokyo in 1998 and will travel there again in 2008. However, an image of the painting will not be used on posters for fear that its romantic power will inspire young women to take their own lives. ^[3]

Influence

The painting has been widely referenced and pastiched in art, film and photography. Laurence Olivier's film Hamlet (1948) based its portrayal of Ophelia's death on the painting. Laurence Kerr Olivier Baron Hamlet is a British film adaptation of William Shakespeare 's play Hamlet, directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. The video of Nick Cave's song "Where the Wild Roses Grow" depicted Kylie Minogue mimicking the pose of the image. Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957 in Warracknabeal, Victoria) is an Australian Musician, Songwriter, Author " Where the Wild Roses Grow " is an alternative - rock song written by Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave for Nick Cave and the Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE, born 28 May 1968 is an Australian pop Singer - Songwriter and occasional Actress. The latter was included in the Van Gogh Museum's 2008 exhibition of Millais's work. The Van Gogh Museum is a Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries The museum also created the exhibition Ik, Ophelia (Me, Ophelia) which explored re-creations and explorations of the composition by photographers. It included work by Sam Taylor-Wood, Rineke Dijkstra and Hellen van Meene. Sam Taylor-Wood (born 4 March 1967) is a contemporary artist working in Video, Photography, and Film. Rineke Dijkstra ( Sittard, 1959 is a Dutch Photographer. Rineke Dijkstra attended the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam from 1981 ^[9] Recently the painting was directly referenced in episode 14 of the anime "Ergo Proxy. is a Science fiction suspense Anime television series produced by Manglobe, which premiered across Japan on 25 February 2006 on the " The episode is titled "Someone Like You/ophelia," and has many similarities to the poem Ophelia sings. The main character even assumes the pose in the painting.

Provenance and value

Ophelia was purchased from Millais on 10 December 1851, by the art dealer Henry Farrer for 300 guineas. Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year The guinea coin of 1663 was the first English machine-struck Gold coin. Farrer sold the painting to B. G. Windus, an avid collector of Pre-Raphaelite art, who sold it on in 1862 for 748 guineas. The painting is presently held at Tate Britain, London, and is valued by experts at at least £30 million. Tate Britain is a part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. ^[3]

Citations

Sources

• Secher, Benjamin. "Ten things you never knew about Ophelia". The Daily Telegraph, 22 September 2007. For "The Daily Telegraph" in Australia see The Daily Telegraph (Australia. Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Retrieved on 16 January 2008. Events 27 BC - The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

Further reading

• Painters took to local colour. This is Local London (2004-05-06). "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.

External links

• Millais Ophelia – a website about the painting
• LizzieSiddal.com – a weblog researching and discussing the life of Elizabeth Siddal
• smARThistory: Ophelia – a short video podcast about the painting