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| 1847 Self-Portrait oil on board 27.3 x 22.2 cm Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK |
Sir John Everett Millais was born in Southampton, the son of John William Millais, a wealthy gentleman from an old Jersey family. His mother's family were prosperous saddlers. Considered a child prodigy, he came to London in 1838. He was sent to Sass's Art School, and won a silver medal at the Society of Arts at the age of nine. In 1840 he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools as their youngest ever student, winning a silver medal in 1843 for drawing from the antique, and a gold medal in 1847 for his painting "THe Tribe of Benjamin Seizing the daughters of Shiloh." He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1846, with "Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru."
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| 1846 Pizarro Seizing the Inca of Peru oil on canvas 128.3 x 171.7 cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
At the Royal Academy he became friendly with fellow student William Holman Hunt, and contributed with Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti to the Cyclographic Society. In 1848 the three helped form the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His first Pre-Raphaelite painting was “Isabella” aka “Lorenzo and Isabella” (1848-9, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), which he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1849. His entry for the following year, “Christ in the House of His Parents” (“The Carpenter's Shop”) was received unfavourably.
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| 1848-49 Lorenzo and Isabella oil on canvas 103 x 142.8 cm © National Museums, Liverpool, UK |
In 1855 he married Effie Chalmers, Ruskin's former wife, with whom he had fallen in love while he was holidaying with the Ruskins in Scotland. The couple settled in Perth, where he painted "Autumn Leaves."
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| 1856 Autumn Leaves oil on canvas 104.3 x 74 cm Manchester Art Gallery, UK |
Between 1855 and 1864 Millais made illustrations for numerous publications, including the Moxon edition of Tennyson's poems (1857), the magazine "Once a Week" (1859 onwards) and several novels by Trollope. He moved back to London in 1861, where he achieved popular success as a painter of child subjects such as "Bubbles" (1886, A. & F. Pears Ltd.), which became famous as an advertisement for Pears soap. Also popular were his paintings of beautiful young women, such as "Stella" (1868, Manchester City Art Gallery). He built up a practice as a portrait artist from the early 1870s, his sitters including Thomas Carlyle (1877), Lillie Langtry (1878), Gladstone (1879 and 1885), Disraeli (1881) and Tennyson (1881).
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| 1886 Bubbles oil on canvas Lady Lever Art Gallery, Wirral, UK |
Millais was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1853, and a full member in 1863. In 1885 he was created a baronet and in 1896 was elected President of the Royal Academy, but died shortly thereafter in London. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.
biography from Tate, London
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| 1838-39 Three Sword Hilts oil on canvas Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1840-41c The Wrestlers watercolour on paper 36.2 x 54 cm Tate, London |
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| 1841-42c Othello and Desdemona oil on panel 33 x 22.5 cm National Trust, Wightwick Manor, Woverhampton, UK |
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| 1842c Study of a Pottery Jug watercolour over graphite on wove paper 9.2 x 14.9 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1843 Aeneas Shown the Body of Pallas from Virgil's "Aeneid" pen and black ink 36.1 x 48.7 cm The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
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| 1843 Hurdy Gurdy Boy oil on canvas 61 x 51 cm Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1843 Pope Gregory and the Slaves from Britain 20.7 x 30.6 cm © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London |
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| 1843 Study for Elgiva Seized by Order of Archbishop Odo pen and ink on paper 20.4 x 30.3 cm © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1843-47 Elgiva seized by order of Archbishop Odo oil sketch for painting © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1843c A Spanish Gentleman ( after John Jackson’s ‘Shylock’ ) oil on canvas 53.3 x 43.2 cm Tate, London |
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| 1846 Original Historical Painting oil on board 30 x 40.5 cm Royal Society of Arts, London |
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| 1847 Master Currie graphite on paper 20.3 x 15.2 cm Tate, London |
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| 1847 Miss Currie graphite on paper 20.3 x 15.2 cm Tate, London |
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| 1847 Mrs Currie graphite on paper 20.3 x 15.2 cm Tate, London |
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| 1847 The Tribe of Benjamin Seizing the Daughters of Shiloh |
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| 1847-48 Cymon and Iphigenia oil on canvas 114.3 x 147.3 cm Lady Lever Art Gallery, Wirral, UK |
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| 1847-48 Cymon and Iphigenia study |
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| 1847c Infancy oil on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm Leeds Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1847c Manhood oil on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm Tate, London |
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| 1847c Music oil on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm Leeds Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1847c Old Age oil on canvas 38.6 x 129.5 cm Leeds Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1847c The Artist Attending the Mourning of a Young Girl oil on panel 18.7 x 25.7 cm Tate, London |
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| 1847c The Conjuror oil on canvas 35.2 x 45.5 cm Norfolk Museums Service, UK |
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| 1848 My Beautiful Lady pen and ink Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1848 Serjeant Ralph Thomas oil on panel 40.7 x 30.3 cm Tate, London |
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| 1848 Study for Lorenzo and Isabella indian ink on paper 23.6 x 31.4 cm The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK |
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| 1848c Study for Lorenzo and Isabella graphite on paper 22.5 x 31 cm The British Museum, London |
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| 1848c Landscape, Hampstead oil on panel 23.1 x 33.6 cm Sudley House, Liverpool |
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| 1848c The Death of Romeo and Juliet oil on millboard 16.1 x 26.9 cm Manchester Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1849 A Maid Offering a Basket of Fruit to a Cavalier oil on panel 15.2 x 11.4 cm Tate, London |
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| 1849 Charles I and his Son in the Studio of Van Dyck oil on panel 15.9 x 11.4 cm Tate, London |
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| 1849 Ferdinand Lured By Ariel study graphite on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper 17.5 x 13 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |
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| 1849-50 Ferdinand Lured By Ariel oil on panel 64.8 x 50.8 cm Private Collection |
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| 1849c Ferdinand Lured by Ariel oil on board 14.6 x 10.9 cm Sudley House, Liverpool, UK |
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| 1849 James Wyatt and His Granddaughter Mary oil on panel Private Collection |
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| 1849 The Disentombment of Queen Matilda ink on paper 22.9 x 42.9 cm Tate, London |
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| 1849 The Woodman's Daughter study pen and gray ink, pen and black ink, grey wash, graphite and scraping on moderately thick, slightly textured, beige wove paper 17.8 x 12.7 cm Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven, CT |