John Ruskin

Author: Andrew Ballantyne Series: Critical Lives

A new critical biography of prominent 19th-century art and architecture critic John Ruskin, which shows how Ruskin's ideas gave a clear moral character to art, architecture and the picturesque and reveals why and how his reputation still endures today.

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Summary

Description

John Ruskin (1819-1900) was the most prominent art and architecture critic of his day. His books, pamphlets and letters to the press had an influence on all classes of society, from road-menders to royalty, and he still maintains a popular reputation today, though he is remembered less for his views than for his failed marriage to Effie Gray, who left him for the Pre-Raphaelite artist John EverettMillais. Frequently imagined as a Victorian prude, there was far more to Ruskin than this derisory description suggests.

Critic Reviews

“"It is good to have a new book about John Ruskin (1819-1900) that is short, informative, and accessible. . . . Architectural historian Ballantyne sets out the essentials of Ruskin's life--the early years with his adoring parents, the notoriety of Modern Painters , the disastrous marriage to Effie Gray, the commitment to museums and workers' education, the Whistler suit, and the final mental collapse--while providing authoritative analysis of his connection to picturesque theory, Turner's genius, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the Gothic Revival. . . . Overall, an attractive, well-written introduction to the life and thought of one of the great Victorians. . . . Recommended."”

"It is good to have a new book about John Ruskin (1819-1900) that is short, informative, and accessible. . . . Architectural historian Ballantyne sets out the essentials of Ruskin's life--the early years with his adoring parents, the notoriety of Modern Painters, the disastrous marriage to Effie Gray, the commitment to museums and workers' education, the Whistler suit, and the final mental collapse--while providing authoritative analysis of his connection to picturesque theory, Turner's genius, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the Gothic Revival. . . . Overall, an attractive, well-written introduction to the life and thought of one of the great Victorians. . . . Recommended." -- "Choice"

About the Author

Andrew Ballantyne is Professor of Architecture at Newcastle University and the author of Architecture: A Very Short Introduction(2002) and Tudoresque: In Pursuit of the Ideal Home (with Andrew Law, Reaktion, 2011).