This publication is issued in conjunction with the 1998 exhibition of the same name held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and scheduled for venues in England and France. Burnes-Jones (1833-1898) created a style that had widespread influence on both British and European art--a narrative style derived from medieval legend and fused with the influence of Italian Renaissance masters, a style that ceded popularity to a growing taste for abstraction at the end of the 19th century. Now Burne-Jones's star has risen again, and this catalogue contains full discussion of his life and work and representation of his prodigious output of drawings and paintings. 9.5x12.5"Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This volume studies some of Edward Burne-Jones’s paintings, focusing specifically on his approach to nature, both through his observations about the real, physical world and through his symbolic interpretations of earthly and celestial realms. Burne-Jones’s appreciation for natural formations grew from his interests in astronomy and geography, and was expanded by his aesthetic sensibility for physical and metaphysical beauty. His drawings and watercolors carefully recorded the physical world he saw around him. These studies provided the background for a collection of paintings about landscapes with flora and fauna, and ignited an artistic furor that inspired the imagery he used in his allegorical, fantasy, and dream cycles about forests, winding paths, and sweet briar roses. This study focuses on two main ideas: Burne-Jones’s concept of ideal and artificial or magical nature expressed and represented in his drawings and paintings, and the way in which he fused his scientific knowledge about nature with some of the symbolism in his paintings.

Covering the period between the late 16th century through to the third quarter of the 19th century, this book features paintings by English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish artists which are part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.