- John Brett
.
In 1858 Brett exhibited "The Stonebreaker", the painting that made his reputation. This depicted a youth smashing stones to create a road-surface, sitting in a brightly lit and brilliantly detailed landscape. The precision of the geological and botanical detail greatly impressed Ruskin, who praised the painting highly, predicting that Brett would be able to paint a masterpiece if he were to visit the Val d'Aosta in Italy. Partly funded by Ruskin, Brett made the trip to paint the location, exhibiting it in 1859, again to high praise from Ruskin, who bought the painting. Other critics were less effusive, one describing it as a "gravestone for post-Ruskinism". [The Critic, XVIII, 1859, p.544, quoted in Tate Gallery, "The Pre-Raphaelites", 1984, p. 175]
Brett continued to paint carefully detailed landscape views, staying in Italy on many occasions in the 1860s. He was always keen to stress the scientific precision of his rendering of nature, but often infused it with moral and religious significance, as recommended by Ruskin. In his later years he painted more coastal subjects and seascapes, subjects he came to know well due to his ownership of a 210 ton schooner, Viking (which had a crew of twelve), on which he travelled the
Mediterranean . [cite web
url=http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid=53&page=1&sole=y&collab=y&attr=y&sort=default&tabview=bio
title=Tate Collection – John Brett
publisher=Tate Online
accessdate=2008-04-09]During summers in the 1880's Brett rented the castle at
Newport, Pembrokeshire to use as a base for his large family while he painted, sketched and photographed the south and west costs of Wales. An exhibition in 2001 at theNational Museum of Wales ,Cardiff , entitled "John Brett - a Pre-Raphaelite on the Shores of Wales" brought together many of the major works from this period of his career.Brett was also a keen astronomer, having studied the subject from childhood. He was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Astronomical Society in 1871.References
ee also
*
List of Pre-Raphaelite paintings - including the works of John Brett.
*"The Stonebreaker " -Henry Wallis ' painting on the same theme as Brett's.External links
* [http://www.phryne.com/artists/64-96-09.HTM Phryne's list of pictures in public galleries in the UK]
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