Where to See Sir John Everett Millais

Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896) was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; he painted, illustrated, and occasionally etched. In 1837, Millais moved to London and attended the Royal Academy Schools in 1840. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1846 to 1896 and was elected RA in 1863. Millais was in demand among print dealers, and his works were engraved in large numbers. He produced designs for books and magazines, including Trollope novels in *The Cornhill* (1860-3) and works by Tennyson. By the 1860s, he concentrated on gallery paintings, portraits, and sentimental genre works, which brought him popularity and wealth. He was made a baronet in 1885. Prints after Millais attracted a diverse audience. His *Cherry Ripe* was found in a Tartar peasant's hut, while *Cinderella* was framed in a Samoan chieftain's home. *The North-West-Passage* was found in a South African shepherd's hut. Millais produced only thirteen etchings, but they secured his reputation, especially among Etching Club members. His first etching, *The Young Mother*, appeared in *Etchings for the Art Union of London* (1857) and was praised by print historian P. J. Hamerton.

Sir John Everett Millais was a child prodigy who gained fame as a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. This group of artists, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, rejected the Royal Academy's promotion of post-Renaissance art. They favoured the detailed realism and bright colours of earlier Italian and Flemish painting. Millais's early Pre-Raphaelite works, such as "Ophelia" (1851-52), are celebrated for their precise detail and symbolic content. "Ophelia" is particularly well known; it depicts a character from Shakespeare's Hamlet drowning in a stream. The painting's naturalism and the model Elizabeth Siddal's tragic story have contributed to its continued appeal. Later in his career, Millais moved away from Pre-Raphaelite ideals. He adopted a broader, more conventional style, achieving great commercial success with portraits and sentimental genre scenes. His painting "Bubbles" (1886) became famous through its use in advertising for Pears soap. While his later works were popular, some critics have viewed them as a decline from the artistic innovation of his Pre-Raphaelite period. Millais's importance lies in his contribution to this significant art movement and the technical skill displayed in his early paintings.

Sir John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia depicts the character from Shakespeare's Hamlet, partially submerged in a stream. She is shown having fallen into the water while picking flowers, driven mad by her father's murder at the hands of her lover, Hamlet.

Sir John Everett Millais was a co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and president of the Royal Academy in 1896. His portrait of his grandson blowing soap bubbles, entitled Bubbles, was used in an advertisement for Pears soap.

Sir John Everett Millais's Ophelia is based on the character in Shakespeare's Hamlet. The painting depicts the tragic figure partially submerged in a stream after falling in while picking flowers, driven mad by Hamlet's murder of her father.

Bubbles is a portrait by Sir John Everett Millais of his grandson blowing soap bubbles. It was later used in an advertisement for Pears soap.

Millais is best known as a painter, and he worked primarily in oils. He was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and their aesthetic demanded close observation and detail. Early in his career, Millais prepared his canvases with a wet white ground. This was an attempt to achieve a jewel-like quality of colour, and it was based on the methods of the early Italian painters. He and his fellow Pre-Raphaelites William Holman Hunt and Ford Madox Brown each experimented with techniques described in a book about medieval painting methods. Millais used translucent paint glazes over this white ground. Later, his painting technique changed. He began to use a drier brushstroke and a more open style. Some critics complained that his later work was too loosely painted. Millais was also an accomplished watercolourist and draughtsman, and he produced many illustrations for books and magazines.

Millais's impact is complex, with both direct followers and those who reacted against his style. Within the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, his shift away from detailed realism towards a looser, more painterly style influenced some members. Artists such as Frank Dicksee adopted Millais's later aesthetic, characterised by sentimental themes and bravura brushwork. Outside the Pre-Raphaelite circle, Millais's commercial success and popular appeal had an effect on the broader art world. His paintings, reproduced as prints, reached a wide audience and shaped Victorian taste. Illustrators, in particular, drew inspiration from his compositions and figure types. However, Millais also faced criticism for what some saw as a decline in artistic integrity. Later generations of artists, seeking to move beyond Victorian sentimentality, reacted against his work. Despite this, his technical skill and innovative approach to subject matter continue to be recognised, securing his place in art history.