National Gallery of Art opens 1st survey of Pre-Raphaelites, Britain's 1st modern art movement
WASHINGTON - The National Gallery of Art is presenting the first major U.S. survey of Britain's first avant-garde art movement.
The new exhibition, "Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design," recalls the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood that shocked Britain from 1848 to 1900. The show features 130 paintings, sculptures and other works. It's on view through May 19.
Curators say the Pre-Raphaelites rejected rigid rules for painting and sought inspiration from before Italian artist Raphael, looking to medieval and early Renaissance art. They painted subjects from Shakespeare and the Bible and took on social issues and gender roles, changing how women were portrayed.
The leading painters were John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. They may not be the most famous artists, but curators say their images are familiar for many.
