J.W. Waterhouse

Thanks for the link Cathy

It is interesting to read the reviews of the exhibitions. I'm particularly perplexed by the attitude of the English newspaper reviews, that were so negative. Are the English engaging in cultural cringing or do they actually believe that Victorian art is poor art?

I'll discount the Telegraph review which seems to have been more of a reflection on the journalists days in school toilets, I doubt that fellow actually went to the exhibition. Others however seem to have been trapped in old fashioned rejection of representational art, unless it is limited to three colours and reduces the subject to the basest level possible.

 I'm very interested to read about the Montreal exhibition. I visited the Waterhouse exhibition at the Royal Academy on the last day of it's London run. I didn't know an awful lot about Waterhouse before going, but have been captivated ever since. At the London exhibition, the paintings were displayed in quite a small space which made viewing difficult as it got crowded. 
As there may not be another major Waterhouse exhibition on this scale in my lifetime, I felt I had to see it again. So in January I'll be setting off to Montreal with my wife to see the exhibition again. (Actually, I'm sure I'll be visiting it more than once while we're there). We're also looking forward to a break in Montreal, but I can't wait to see the paintings again in a new setting.

I had to just ignor the majority of reviews from British papers, Neil.

At the ArtMagick Facebook page, a link was given to an article in a Canadian paper (it seems you have to subscribe to it to be able to read the article now, though).

This was written in the intro to the link:
"Is Pre-Raphaelite art really reviled that much?" - "To confess a passion for Pre-Raphaelite painting in the art world these days is to reveal a love that dare not speak its name. Our generation has been trained to scorn these works as decorative, sentimental, retrograde."
In a comment, Qahira Lynn responded:
"somehow, pre-raph art has long been considered to be "artistically incorrect".
i do think that the operative word in the quotation above is: "trained"..."

Very sad, but ... so many will continue enjoying it’s beauty!

You probably saw the very positive review shared from The Art Tribune.

I just returned from seeing the exhibition. It is open till 9pm on some nights … and there were times I had one of the galleries of the exhibition all to myself! Quite a moving experience.

This is from a person named Meghan at her Montreal Museum Mission blog posting:
"Stylistically, the show is beautifully done. Everything is black, including the velvet room dividers and the pots of plants. Waterhouse’s paintings pop against the dramatic backdrop. The lighting could have been better, it was either too dark or too bright and not always easy to see the paintings clearly. I was impressed with the extended labels. The texts explain the history and mythology in the paintings without telling the viewer exactly how to interpret them. Waterhouse is an interesting and intelligent artist and the show is definitely worth experiencing."

The lighting was a problem ... I found if you stood to the left or right of a painting it helped.

But, to be so close to the paintings ... was an experience I'll always treasure.

I know you'll be glad you're making the trip, James. Enjoy!

Hi Cathy

I did see the Art Tribune article and was impressed by the authors mention of Merson as a possible inspiration. Having seen both artists work it is something I had thought of, JW is definitely a more skilled painter but the concepts are at times similar. Perhaps I could say Meerson used religion as the base of his concepts where JW used myth (and therefore placed his paintings in the modern secular world).

It is good to have Diogenese back in Sydney, I missed it badly during the exhibition tour. It was temporarily replaced by probably the worst painting Edward Poynter ever did (in a room with one of his best, ... an interesting comparison).

Hi Neil ... thanks for your comments about Meerson and JW. Interesting!

It was hard to walk out the door of the exhibit in Montreal for the last time knowing I wouldn't be able to see the paintings again. (except for the ones in museums). I know it must be great to be able to visit Diogenese when you are able. :) ... All the best.

James, I read in another thread you are on your way to the Montreal exhibit today. Happy for you. Looking forward to hearing about your visit if you have a chance to post something. Enjoy!