John Ruskin / Andrew Ballantyne.

By:

Ballantyne, Andrew

Series: Critical lives (London, England)Publisher: London : Reaktion Books, 2015Description: 252 pages : illustrations ; 20 cmContent type:

text

Media type:

unmediated

Carrier type:

volume

ISBN:

9781780234298
1780234295

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Biography.

DDC classification:

828.809 23

LOC classification:

PR5263 .B295 2015
PR5263 .B295 2015

Contents:

A start in life -- Turner and the picturesque -- The Pre-Raphaelites -- The seven lamps of architecture -- Lapping waves, living stones -- Reform -- Influence.

Summary: "John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most prominent art and architecture critic of his day. His books, pamphlets and letters to the press had an influence on all classes of society, from road-menders to royalty, and he still maintains a popular reputation today, though he is remembered less for his views than for his failed marriage to Effie Gray, who left him for the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais. Frequently imagined as a Victorian prude, there was far more to Ruskin than this derisory description suggests. John Ruskin shows us how Ruskin's ideas gave a moral character to art, architecture and the Picturesque and reveals how and why his reputation endures. Ruskin's devoted parents were convinced that their son was a genius and encouraged him to write about the moral and spiritual value of art rather than his other major passion, geology. While his parents lived Ruskin wrote his best works: Modern Painters, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, The Stones of Venice and Unto This Last. After they died Ruskin seemed lost until he put himself in the hands of a younger cousin, Joan Severn, who guarded his reputation while his mental capacities declined, beyond the public gaze, in the Lake District. This book weaves Ruskin's life and work into a fascinating narrative about Victorian society: Ruskin understood art, its beauty and wonder, as a solution to the miseries of the urban poor and the key to living a worthwhile life. Offering fresh readings of Ruskin's major texts, this is an engaging biography of the artist's life and times."--Readings website.

Holdings ( 1 )
Title notes ( 3 )

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Shelving location	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Book	NMC Library	Stacks	PR5263 .B295 2015	1	Available		33039001386761

Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-248).

A start in life -- Turner and the picturesque -- The Pre-Raphaelites -- The seven lamps of architecture -- Lapping waves, living stones -- Reform -- Influence.

"John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most prominent art and architecture critic of his day. His books, pamphlets and letters to the press had an influence on all classes of society, from road-menders to royalty, and he still maintains a popular reputation today, though he is remembered less for his views than for his failed marriage to Effie Gray, who left him for the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais. Frequently imagined as a Victorian prude, there was far more to Ruskin than this derisory description suggests. John Ruskin shows us how Ruskin's ideas gave a moral character to art, architecture and the Picturesque and reveals how and why his reputation endures. Ruskin's devoted parents were convinced that their son was a genius and encouraged him to write about the moral and spiritual value of art rather than his other major passion, geology. While his parents lived Ruskin wrote his best works: Modern Painters, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, The Stones of Venice and Unto This Last. After they died Ruskin seemed lost until he put himself in the hands of a younger cousin, Joan Severn, who guarded his reputation while his mental capacities declined, beyond the public gaze, in the Lake District. This book weaves Ruskin's life and work into a fascinating narrative about Victorian society: Ruskin understood art, its beauty and wonder, as a solution to the miseries of the urban poor and the key to living a worthwhile life. Offering fresh readings of Ruskin's major texts, this is an engaging biography of the artist's life and times."--Readings website.