Millais, Sir John Everett


Millais, Sir John Everett

(mĭlā`), 1829–96, English painter. A prodigy, he began studying at the Royal Academy at the age of 11. In 1848, together with William Holman HuntHunt, William Holman,
1827–1910, English painter. Hunt was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and one of its most conscientious exponents. His paintings are often crude in color and laborious in technique, but are completely sincere in their devotion to
..... Click the link for more information.  and Dante Gabriel RossettiRossetti, Dante Gabriel
, 1828–82, English poet and painter; son of Gabriele Rossetti and brother of Christina Rossetti. He attended the Royal Academy and studied painting briefly with Ford Madox Brown. In 1848 he became acquainted with W.
..... Click the link for more information. , he initiated the Pre-RaphaelitePre-Raphaelites
, brotherhood of English painters and poets formed in 1848 in protest against what they saw as the low standards and decadence of British art. The principal founders were D. G. Rossetti, W.
..... Click the link for more information.  movement. His early work shows a painstaking rendering of minute detail and great clarity. His Christ in the Carpenter's Shop (1850; Tate Gall., London) was attacked because of its realism, but his reputation was soon established. He was created a baronet in 1885, and in 1896 he became president of the Royal Academy. John RuskinRuskin, John,
1819–1900, English critic and social theorist. During the mid-19th cent. Ruskin was the virtual dictator of artistic opinion in England, but Ruskin's reputation declined after his death, and he has been treated harshly by 20th-century critics.
..... Click the link for more information.  was a close friend and champion of his work until 1855 when Millais married Mrs. Ruskin, after the nullification of her marriage. His work is well represented in many British galleries. His Portia is in the Metropolitan Museum.

Bibliography

See biographies by J. G. Millais (1899), M. H. Spielmann (1899), A. L. Baldry (1902), and A. Fisk (1923); S. F. Cooper, Effie: The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin, and John Everett Millais (2011).