''Rossetti and His Circle'' is a book of twenty-three

caricatures A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

by English

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Al ...

, essayist and parodist

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic ...

. Published in 1922 by

William Heinemann William Henry Heinemann (18 May 1863 – 5 October 1920) was an English publisher of Jewish descent and the founder of the Heinemann publishing house in London. Early life On 18 May 1863, Heinemann was born in Surbiton, Surrey, England. Heine ...

, the drawings were Beerbohm's humorous imaginings concerning the life of

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

and his fellow

Pre-Raphaelites The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jame ...

, the period, as he put it, "just before oneself."Max Beerbohm, ''Rossetti and His Circle'', London: William Heinemann, 1922 The book is now considered one of Beerbohm's masterpieces.Link
Beerbohm on the

New York Society Library The New York Society Library (NYSL) is the oldest cultural institution in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the New York Society as a subscription library. During the time when New York was the capital of the United States, it was the de ...

website

Beerbohm and Rossetti

Beerbohm returned to England from his home in

Rapallo Rapallo ( , , ) is a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, located in the Liguria region of northern Italy. As of 2017 it had 29,778 inhabitants. It lies on the Ligurian Sea coast, on the Tigullio Gulf, between Portofino and Chiav ...

in Italy so that he could study photographs of the subjects he depicted in his caricatures. During the winter of 1917 he rented a cottage in the English countryside near the home of his friend

William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...

so that he could work on his Rossetti drawings. Every day, carrying his portfolio of drawings with him, Beerbohm walked across the snow to visit Rothenstein. "No wonder Max was nervous of leaving his Rossetti caricatures in an empty cottage... What a remarkable reconstruction of a period!" Rothenstein later wrote. Rossetti and the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jame ...

had captured Beerbohm's imagination. "In London, in the great days of a deep, smug, thick, rich, drab, industrial complacency," he wrote, "Rossetti shone, for the men and women who knew him, with the ambiguous light of a red torch somewhere in a dense fog. And so he still shines for me." Beerbohm's caricatures include

with his sister Christina,

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as '' Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism ...

John Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

and

George Meredith George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but he gradually established a reputation as a novelist. '' The Ord ...

. In plate 22,

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, on his 1882 lecture tour in America, describes the delights of the

Aesthetic Movement Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be pro ...

to a fascinated audience. This tour had been organised by Richard D'Oyly Carte to publicise the new

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

opera ''

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when face ...

''. Sir

Hugh Walpole Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (13 March 18841 June 1941) was an English novelist. He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing. Among th ...

bequeathed Beerbohm's original watercolour artwork for ''Rossetti and His Circle'' to the

Tate Collection Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the ...

in London in 1941.Link
The Beerbohm Collection at the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

A special limited edition of 380 numbered copies bound in white cloth was also published in 1922. These were signed by Beerbohm.

* Note (Beerbohm's Introduction to the Caricatures) * Frontispiece: Rossetti in Childhood. * 1. British Stock and Alien Inspiration. * 2. Rossetti's Courtship. * 3. A Momentary Vision that once Befell Young Millais. * 4. A Remark by Benjamin Jowett. * 5. Coventry Patmore at Spring Cottage. * 6. Ned Jones and Topsy. * 7. John Ruskin meets Miss Cornforth. * 8. Blue China. * 9. Woolner at Farringford. * 10. Ford Madox Brown patronised by Holman Hunt. * 11. The Small Hours in the Sixties at 16, Cheyne Walk. * 12. Gabriel and Christina. * 13. George Meredith's Hortation. * 14. William Bell Scott Wondering. * 15. Robert Browning introduces a Great Lady. * 16. George Augustus Sala with Rossetti. * 17. Swinburne and Mr. Gosse. * 18. Mr. Morley brings Mr. Mill. * 19. Mr. Leighton suggests Candidature. * 20. Mr. Watts, Mr. Shields, and Mr. Caine. * 21. The Touch of a Vanished Hand. * 22. Rossetti's Name is heard in America.

The Plates

References

External links

''Rossetti and His Circle'' on Victorianweb.orgThe Beerbohm Collection at the TateTurning the pages of ''Rossetti and His Circle''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossetti and His Circle 1922 books Works by Max Beerbohm Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Caricature Heinemann (publisher) books Books about artists Parodies of paintings

Beerbohm and Rossetti

Contents

The Plates

See also

References

External links