Customer Reviews

Pre-Raphaelites at Home

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I really enjoyed this book. I have read a few books on this art period and this author does her job by "wonderfully" recreating the Pre-Raphaelite world through her words.

I especially liked the way she wrote about the relationships between the artists and their wives and models.

She has done her historical research and she gives the reader interesting facts and engaging antecdotes.

Excellent color print reproductions.

As a fan of both the work of the PreRaphaelites and of the Arts and Crafts era, and as someone who has read a fair number of books on both topics, I thought I really wouldn't enjoy another book on the same old stuff. But I was intrigued by the photos in this book of art-work I hadn't seen in my other books on the same topic and bought it anyway. I was delighted to find that the book reads more like a novel than a history book. It presents the lives and accomplishments of the members of the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood, which includes Arts and Crafts luminary William Morris, in a vivid and readable way. And most of the artists featured here had truly dramatic personal lives -- filled with love, infidelity, and betrayal -- in addition to their artistic acomplishments. Additionally, some interesting lesser-known artists, including women artists, are discussed in detail. I felt the book gave me a comprehensive view of the era and the artists I hadn't had before, in addition to the gossip. It was an utterly delightful read!

This book isn't an introductory or comprehensive tome on the PreRaphaelites but I agree with the other reviewers -- it's a delightful, engaging read that fills in lots of blanks. The more you know about the PRB, the more you'll appreciate this book. Without being too dry or too gossipy, it provides fascinating insights into the daily lives of the PreRaphaelites: where they lived, why they moved, how they related to each other, what they thought of each other, which friendships endured, how they aged, and how they died. The book is full of rare photographs and paintings of the PreRaphaelites' homes and gardens, as well as quotes from letters and diaries. My favorite part was the description of William Morris' two boat trips down the Thames -- utterly delightful. Thank you, Pamela Todd, for all the revealing, well-researched details that show us the PreRaphaelites as real people. This is a must-have book for any PreRaphaelite book collection.

I bought this book yesterday and enjoyed it so much.It has very detailed biographies of the artists of this movement,not the sort of factual boring biographies but real actual histories and gives you a much clearer concept of their work and life and how they 'felt' about their work .
The pictures were all pre raphaelite paintings I had'nt seen before and Todd has picked out all the best quotes and facts that make the whole thing read like an interesting novel.