The Topeka state journal., 1897-04-09
eonversant with her interesting sub

ject.
Rossetti stands as the one man
who was the magnetic center of those
feelings which are vibrating around US
now. He held a unique position as he
acted as the great inspiration for many
of the men of his day He drew out
beautiful feeling he brought many to
the position they held.
The Pre- Raphaelite movement is
often mis- Judged. No one can estimate
the value of this great movement. 1t
was not only an art movement but was
one of thought as we'll
No single Individual is more faSci-
mating than Rossetti. He was born in
1928 in England of a remarkable family.
His father was a poet eXiled from Italy
for freedom of thought and he went di-
rectly to England.
Rusl1in was also in this circle and
his thought was so in sympathy with
Rossetti that the two made one great
spirit.
Rossetti was only 19 years of age
when he wrote the beautiful poem of
the blessed DamozeL' This poem
touched the key note of his great ma
ture for it is vibrating with brotherly
love and is not the outcome of a love
affair only embodying the ideal, the
spiritual thought.
about him were spiritists, and under
stood many of the mysteries of that
other world which are not revealed to
US. London looked at the new thought
with suspicion. Rossetti was the head
of a band of seven young men who
formed themselves into union to be
called later the Pre- e-RaphaeIite Broth
erhOod. They were so convinced of the
power to uplift the world. so enthusias-
tic in their work that nothing seemed
impOSsib BILE. They Swore an oath to
give up the world, never to marry and
never to use art for materiahstic pur-
poses.
The first exhibition was held in 1S49
and Rossetti's first two paintings the
of A
citation" comes to US out of this broth
erhoOd. The moment was to institute
a change in the art and the desire was
to create a peculiar style for England
which should be national and noble and
not initiative as it had hitherto been.
A sincere independence, a realism and
a study of real life was instituted.
1.-The Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood
with their receptive minds, keeping
their hearts and minds pure and noble,
painted as naturally the angel as the
flower.
..Rossetti's first work contained the
same element of spiritisn as his later
yet it also contained more OF the per
feet work in detail of material than the
later. The Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood
dissolved after few years yet their in
f1uence went on.
Soon after this Rossetti fell in love
with Elizabeth Sidden and after seven
years of engagement they We're mar
ried. She was very delicate and died
within two years. Rossetti never en-
tirely recovered from the shock and
was almost useless to the world for
seven years. At the time of her death
his first volume of poems were ready
for publication and he buried the man
uscript with her, not caring to have
them published. At the end of seven
years by the urging of his friends they
were taken from her tomb and given
to the world through the influence of
Ruskin and his fame was made.
"Rossetti was a great artist and
great poet. Critics have tried to decide
IN h ipo q
ing was easy for him and he painted
from inspiration, never able to give an
account of why he did it.
''At the end of the seven years after
his wife's death he decided to recreate
her in the visable world and he painted
her beauty in his great picture of the
Blessed Beatrice"
He was the most brilliant co1orist of
English paintings, his favorite color
being crimson, which he called the color
of love.
ferent from any of his other pictures as
the brides face bore no resemblance TO
his wife, as all the other faces did-
His wife's delicate, spiritual beauty
and beautiful coloring appears in all
the pictures of the Pre-Raphaente
movement.
environments. met RosSetti while at
oxford and came within the powerful
circle of his inspiration. He gave up
STUDYING for the church and threw him
self into art under Rossetti's instruc-
ton and long before Rossetti's death,
in 1897 he was a famous painter.
There is no personality in English
literature where so many surround it,
for he had a wonderful gift of friend
ship. One of the nearest friends was G.
f. Watts born in 1918 and coming in to
the Pre- -Raphaelite circle among the
later artists. He was a philosopher of
the spiritual world and profound
thinker. He has given his pictures to
the British museum. His marvellous
conception of his greatest work, ~''The
Death Angel marks a period in the
history of modern art. The feeling of
the day is reflected in the art of the
day. An artist is not individual but
gives to the world the best thoughts
and conception of his day"
After the lecture the ladies were Civ
en- an opportunity to meet Mrs. Ford