The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood heralded an exciting new direction in British art, and the works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt and their contemporaries remain some of the most popular, evocative and recognisable Victorian art. Liverpool patrons and artists encouraged the group when London critics were hostile, and the city became home to its own Pre-Raphaelite school. Artists such as William Windus, John Lee, James Campbell and William Davis adopted Pre-Raphaelite principles whilst developing their own unique style and identity. The Walker Art Gallery, Lady Lever Art Gallery and Sudley House hold some of the finest works by both London-based and Liverpool Pre-Raphaelite artists, 71 of which are featured in this book.

This book coincides with an increase in the programming of live art elements in many galleries and museums. Traditional art history has, however, been wary of live art's interdisciplinarity and its tendency to encourage increased formal and conceptual risk taking. Time-based performances have challenged the conventions of documentation and the viewer's access to the art experience. This book questions the canon of art history by exploring participation, liveness, interactivity, digital and process-based performative practices and performance for the camera, as presented in gallery spaces. The essays present both academic research as well as case studies of curatorial projects that have pushed the boundaries of the art historical practice. The authors come from a wide range of backgrounds, ranging from curators and art producers to academics and practising artists. They ask what it means to present, curate and create interdisciplinary performative work for gallery spaces and offer cutting-edge research that explores the intricate relationship between art history, live and performing arts, and museum and gallery space.

"Ford Madox Brown: The Unofficial Pre-Raphaelite" - the third in a series of publications on Birmingham's unique collection of 19th-century drawings - reassesses the work of this important artist, and reveals his achievements. Older than his contemporaries Holman Hunt, Millais, and pupil Rossetti, and never officially a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Ford Madox Brown was nonetheless a central figure within this major art movement. The creator of "Work" and "The Last of England," whose art was marked by an unmistakable originality in the face of critical rejection and market failure, Madox Brown has until now remained a neglected presence in art history.
In this volume Angela Thirlwell, deals with the broader aspects of the artist's developments, setting his works in the context of his life, Tim Barringer, studies the difficulty of categorizing Madox Brown's work, and his refusal to be defined by a particular artistic movement, and Laura MacCulloch, looks specifically at Madox Brown's illustrations, including his undervalued drawings for Shakespeare's "King Lear" and Byron's "The Prisoner of Chillon." Ther is a complete catalogue listing of all 174 drawings, watercolours, designs and archive material by Madox Brown in the BMAG collection.