Millais Ophelia
Ophelia by Millais is a key painting from the Pre-Raphaelites who dominated British art in the mid to late 19th century. Ophelia itself became a classic painting which even became respected by notable artists from the 20th century like Salvador Dali who immediately saw it's beauty and felt it summed up the Pre-Raphaelite art movement well, with it's concentration on a single, alluring women with carefully crafted background scene behind her. This website looks into the secrets behind Ophelia which make this Millais' most respected oil painting.
Ophelia is a character from Shakespeare's Hamlet and this painting captures her drowning slowly in a river having sung as she slipped deeper into the water. The detail of the painting on both the women plus the natural landscape which surrounds her is what makes the work appeal to the mainstream art fan that may not be aware of the meaning behind the painting.
Ophelia is a painting which took many years to complete because Millais was determined to create something exactly to his requirement and for this reason spent a long time planning every detail of this art work. The model herself was subjected to considerable numbers of study sketches and there were also hours on end that she would be lying within the river as the artist set about creating his masterpiece. This attention to detail has ensured that every area of the canvas is well looked after and no part of the painting is left barren or incomplete.
Ophelia has been discussed so much by academics that even elements which used to be in the work but were later removed are also well known, such as a small animal that it was decided was not adding much after the artist sought early feedback on his painting whilst it was still as yet unfinished. Millais had a strong group of friends whom he trusted both for honesty and artistic taste and was happy in most cases to try out works that were important to him with them to get frank feedback.
We can conclude that Ophelia is Millais' most impressive oil painting and comfortably stands as his most influential painting with it now taking a prominent position within the Tate in London having grown in popularity over the centuries since it was first painted by Millais. It is this feminine look which makes the whole Pre-Raphaelite movement so popular, and Lady of Shalott by JW Waterhouse.
Ophelia is a character from Shakespeare's Hamlet and this painting captures her drowning slowly in a river having sung as she slipped deeper into the water. The detail of the painting on both the women plus the natural landscape which surrounds her is what makes the work appeal to the mainstream art fan that may not be aware of the meaning behind the painting.
Ophelia is a painting which took many years to complete because Millais was determined to create something exactly to his requirement and for this reason spent a long time planning every detail of this art work. The model herself was subjected to considerable numbers of study sketches and there were also hours on end that she would be lying within the river as the artist set about creating his masterpiece. This attention to detail has ensured that every area of the canvas is well looked after and no part of the painting is left barren or incomplete.
Ophelia has been discussed so much by academics that even elements which used to be in the work but were later removed are also well known, such as a small animal that it was decided was not adding much after the artist sought early feedback on his painting whilst it was still as yet unfinished. Millais had a strong group of friends whom he trusted both for honesty and artistic taste and was happy in most cases to try out works that were important to him with them to get frank feedback.
We can conclude that Ophelia is Millais' most impressive oil painting and comfortably stands as his most influential painting with it now taking a prominent position within the Tate in London having grown in popularity over the centuries since it was first painted by Millais. It is this feminine look which makes the whole Pre-Raphaelite movement so popular, and Lady of Shalott by JW Waterhouse.
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