Founded in 1848 as a secret society, the Pre-Raphaelites rejected classical ideals and the dominant artistic genre painting of their era for what they saw as a more spiritual, sincere, and naturalistic approach. Founded by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, they evolved into a seven-member "brotherhood" that included poets and critics as well as painters. Moving away from the classical compositions exemplified by Raphael (hence the group's name), the Pre-Raphaelites rather turned to medieval culture and the jewel-like colors of Quattrocento art for inspiration. Their principal themes were initially religious, but also included subjects from literature and poetry, as exemplified by Sir John Everett Millais's famous Ophelia, drawn from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Inspired by the theories of John Ruskin, they were also committed to the close study of nature. This book presents key works from the Pre-Raphaelite group to introduce their reactionary principles, their dazzling colors, their interest in love, death, and nature, and their extensive influence on latter-day Symbolism and beyond. About the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art History series features: approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions a detailed, illustrated introduction a selection of the most important works of the epoch, each presented on a two-page spread with a full-page image and accompanying interpretation, as well as a portrait and brief biography of the artist

With its unprecedented focus on the history of Orientalism in British art, this handsome book places the British within the story of how the genre was established in the 19th century--a story heretofore dominated by the French. Featuring both well-known and rarely seen paintings, together with sketches and photographs, this volume examines the work of British artists who engaged with Middle Eastern themes over three centuries, from the 1620s to the eclipse of the Ottoman Empire in 1922. Included are works by Joshua Reynolds, J. F. Lewis, W. H. Hunt, David Wilkie, John Singer Sargent, William Holman Hunt, J.M.W. Turner, Roger Fenton, Andrew Geddes, and Edward Lear. Many of their images are, or purport to be, the result of direct observation of actual places in the Middle East. The book spotlights numerous topics of timely cultural interest, including the cross-pollination of British and Islamic artistic traditions, as well as Western myths about the Islamic world in relation to artists' actual experiences.