Description

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We mostly know the women of the Pre-Raphaelite movement through their appearances in paintings: long-haired beauties with sad eyes who simultaneously seem historical and contemporary. But women played a much bigger role in the movement than that, as Pre-Raphaelite Girl Gang shows.
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            Telling the stories of fifty women—duchesses to laundresses—who were involved with the Pre-Raphaelites, this book brings together stunning illustrations and little known stories to rewrite the history of an artistic movement that has held its popularity for more than a century. From models to artists, these women all contributed something personal and incredible towards the most beautiful and imaginative art movement in the world. Redefining what it meant to be attractive and influential in a male-dominated world, they broke new ground in art, business, and women’s rights. In these pages we learn more about faces long familiar from classic paintings, but we also meet women who worked behind the scenes. Together, these portraits recast our understanding of the Pre-Raphaelites and reveal an enchanting, revolutionary band of women who remain unlikely and compelling role models today.

About the Author

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Kirsty Stonell Walker is the author of Stunner: The Fall and Rise of Fanny Cornforth. Since 2011, she has written a blog, The Kissed Mouth, where she publishes original research on the many models of the Pre-Raphaelites. She has also written two novels about Victorian artists. Kingsley Nebechi is an Italian-born, British-raised illustrator, currently based in London. Buzzfeed named him to a list of “34 British Young Black Artists You Should Pay Attention To” last year.

Praise For…

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"Telling the stories of 50 women--duchesses to laundresses--who were involved with the Pre-Raphaelites, this book brings together stunning illustrations and little-known stories to rewrite the history of an artistic movement that has held its popularity for more than a century. From models to artists, these women redefined what it meant to be attractive and influential in a male-dominated world; they broke new ground in art, business, and women’s rights. This enchanting, revolutionary band of women remain unlikely and compelling role models today."
— Publishers Weekly

"This lavishly illustrated book honours 50 unconventional women of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. . . . It is an excellent, inspirational read."
— The Lady

"This brightly coloured hardback contains a confection of research, playfulness and theatre. The lives of fifty women are described and examined and offered to the reader sometimes with a valuation and frequently in a way that encourages one. These are like theatrical vignettes. . . . This is a book that you can read all the way through or dip into. . . . It is also a book that you can confidently give as a gift. It can appeal to anyone with imagination and a sense of humour and an interest in art, whatever their prior knowledge. It is thoroughly illustrated with the relevant portraits of the characters and the other paintings in which they appear: as the muse, the principal character, the adored one, or a player in the scene. Alongside of these are interesting contemporary portraits of each of the women by the artist Kingsley Nebechi. This book is a celebratory claim for the spotlight that has so lit up the 'Brotherhood' to be shared by the sisters: models, muses, wives, lovers, and in many cases, though often downplayed or hidden, fine artists."
— Talisman Fine Art