I reviewed The Rossettis at the Tate Britain for WhyNow Media: a major exhibition featuring the work of artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti; his sister, poet Christina Rossetti; and the model who later became his collaborating artist and wife, Elizabeth Rossetti née Siddal.
Pre-Raphaelite paintings, despite having wide appeal, are not universally liked. Some people find them to be overwrought; some find the colours garish; others tire of seeing the same faces again and again. In my article, I chose to focus on the lives of the Pre-Raphaelite models, and interviewed curator Dr James Finch who spoke at length about recent research that had come to light.
The Rossettis exhibition is no candied assortment of knights and blessed damozels in citadels: instead we are shown the real, careworn faces of suffering rendered all the more poignant by their having been framed by the pageantry of Arthurian fantasy
Frances Forbes-Carbines, WhyNow Media
Read article: The Timeless Allure of the Pre-Raphaelites: A Model’s Insight into The Rossettis Exhibition
Frances Forbes-Carbines 