Bookmark Monday

This meme is hosted by Guiltless Reading. In the beginning of September I was in London and visited one of my favourite museums; Tate Britain. Mainly to visit the Pre-Raphaelites again. This time I had an audio guide, and I am glad to have discovered two beautiful paintings of other artists. I ended up with four bookmarks.

Millais' Ophelia is a favourite of mine. It is just so beautiful and seems so real. Well, maybe it should be after all the dramatical events during its production.

"Millais produced Ophelia in two separate stages: He first painted the landscape, and secondly the figure of Ophelia. Having found a suitable setting for the picture, Millais remained on the banks of the Hogsmill River in Ewell...for up to 11 hours a day, six days a week, over a five-month period in 1851.
This allowed him to accurately depict the natural scene before him. Millais encountered various difficulties during the painting process. He wrote in a letter to a friend, "The flies of Surrey are more muscular, and have a still greater propensity for probing human flesh. I am threatened with a notice to appear before a magistrate for trespassing in a field and destroying the hay ... and am also in danger of being blown by the wind into the water. Certainly the painting of a picture under such circumstances would be greater punishment to a murderer than hanging."
Ophelia was modelled by artist and muse Elizabeth Siddal, then 19 years old. Millais had Siddal lie fully clothed in a full bathtub in his studio at 7 Gower Street in London. As it was now winter, he placed oil lamps under the tub to warm the water, but was so intent on his work that he allowed them to go out. As a result, Siddal caught a severe cold, and her father later sent Millais a letter demanding £50 for medical expenses. According to Millais' son, he eventually accepted a lower sum." (Wikipedia)

Dante Gabriel Rosetti is also a favourite of mine. Here is his Proserpine, painted with model Jane Morris.  "She was an embroiderer and English artists' model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to William Morris (1834–1896), the English textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and socialist activist, whom she later married, and to Dante Gabriel Rossetti."

John Singer Sargent and John William Waterhouse are the two new painters I discovered. These two paintings are absolutely beautiful. On the bookmarks you only see parts of the painting. While looking at the paintings, it feels you are a part of it. Like you can just step into it.