Tucked away in gallery 16 of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a new exhibition - a treasure trove of book illustrations by the Victorian artist, Sir John Everett Millais.
Millais, best known as a founder member of the Pre-Raphaelite movement and for his sober portraiture, is re-examined in this exhibition for his exceptional skills as a draughtsman and narrator.
The show crams in more than fifty drawings, watercolours, printed illustrations and books, drawn largely from Birmingham Museum’s own treasure trove of Pre-Raphaelite works.
Unlike his contemporaries, Millais relished the discipline of drawing for engravings and throughout his lifetime he forged close creative relationships with his engravers.
Paul Goldman, curator and expert in Victorian illustrations, said: “The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to examine Millais’ preparatory drawings alongside his wood engravings and watercolours.”
One highlight of the exhibition is Tennyson’s book of Poems (1857) which is illustrated by a number of Pre-Raphaelite artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and of course John Everett Millais, who contributed 18 illustrations for the publication.
The images are considered a landmark in the illustration of poetry and demonstrate Millais' skill as a draughtsman for illustration.
To see the pieces in this exhibition in one room is a rare treat. Normally tucked away in the Museum’s print room, the watercolours especially suffer from exposure to light. Although they are available for study, this is the first public exhibition of Millais’ watercolours since 1979.
The image that has become synonymous with the show is Sister Anna’s Probation (1862) – included are both the wood engraving and the watercolour versions, displayed side by side.
During the Victorian era it was common for watercolour versions of prints to be created for sale and it is especially interesting to see the print and painted versions together.
Paul Goldman commented that the artist’s watercolours are not particularly well known but they show a side to Millais that has not previously been considered.
He said: “What comes over to me is his sincerity. Millais is often written off as a dull portraitist but what this collection displays is that he’s a very sincere and serious artist.”
Included in the exhibition are editions of The Parables of Our Lord (1864). The book includes 20 illustrations.
Millais took that task of illustrating the parables very seriously and for this reason the work took many years to complete.
While Millais was working on the book he was living in Scotland, consequently many of his biblical landscapes bear a greater resemblance to Perthshire than to the Holy Land.
The show was officially opened on Friday, October 15, by Sir Geoffrey Millais, great grandson of Sir John Everett Millais.
Sir Geoffrey paid special tribute to the additional contributors to the exhibition, which include the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
The collection is located among the galleries displaying Birmingham Museum’s exceptional collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings.
Among the gallery’s permanent collection is one of Millais’ best known works, The Blind Girl, set in Sir Geoffrey Millais’ home town of Winchelsea in East Sussex.
The exhibition will be on display in gallery 16 of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until January 16 when it will move to Leighton House Museum in Kensington, London.
