Sir Edward Burne Jones

In this, the first monograph on the artist in twenty years, Russell Ash analyzes the remarkable life and work of this enormously influential painter. He traces Burne-Jones's progress from his early years in Brimingham, England, through his university career at Oxford, where he first met William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle, and into his life as a member of London's artistic milieu. The artist's sources of inspiration in medieval legend and literature are examined, as are his travels, major commission, and decorative and other works in a variety of mediums including stained glass, tapestries, and book illustrations. Exhibitions of Burne-Jones's work are surveyed, together with the critical acclaim - and occasional derision and scandal - they generated. The artist's complex personality and his troubled personal relationships, particulary his tempestous liaison with Maria Aambaco, are also considered.