Gillett, Paula — The Victorian Painter's World

Gloucester, Alan Sutton, 1990. Hardbound. Red cloth with red illustrated dustjacket. 299 pp. with 8 color and 35 bw plates. From dj: The book begins with an examination of the English artist's classic insecurity about his status and the social pressures for the rise of professionalism among artists, including such important figures in the Victorian art world as Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones, Lawrence Alma-Tadema and William Powell Frith. The changing status of the artist during Victoria's reign, bringing with it social elevation for some of the most successful, and how artists dealt with their improved status, is then discussed. In particular the author studies the careers of Frith and Hubert von Herkomer, Frank Holl and Luke Fildes - how they were educated, where they exhibited, how they sold their paintings and how they chose their subjects. Important questions are raised on the ethics of the high prices paid for paintings, the decisions of artists to adapt their work to suit the taste of the paying public in order to achieve outward fame and success, and professional practices such as the copying of works and granting of copyright. VG .