Burne-Jones, Edward Coley

PAINTER, GRAPHICAL ARTIST (ENGLAND)
BORN 22 Aug 1833, Birmingham: 11 Bennetts Hill - DIED 17 Jun 1898, Fulham
GRAVE LOCATION Rottingdean, Sussex: St. Margaret's Churchyard ((ashes))

English symbolist. He spent the first twenty years of his life in Birmingham, an industrial town. In 1853 he went to Exeter College, Oxford, where he met William Morris, who became a lifelong friend. Both men wanted to enter the church, but after travelling in France Burne-Jones decided to become a painter in 1855.

He met Gabriel Dante Rossetti in 1856 and the latter gave him some informal lessons and influenced his style. Burne-Jones became a member of the Preraphaelite Brotherhood and travelled through Italy with Rossetti. In 1860 he married Georgia MacDonald, the sister of an old school friend.

In 1862 he visited Italy once more, this time with his wife and his patron John Ruskin. In 1870 he had an affair with his model Maria Zambaco, but he ended it because he felt remorse towards his wife, who was possibly in love with William Morris herself.

His paintings made Burne-Jones very famous and in 1894 he was created baronet. The largest collection of his work can be found at the Birmingham Art Gallery. Burne-Jones died in 1898 and was buried in Rottingdon (near Brighton), where he had a country home.

After the death of his daughter Margart in 1953 some of his work was sold for very low prices. In later years his work was rediscovered and valued much higher.

Works:
The "Perseus" series (Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart);
"The Beguiling of Merlin" (1874, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool);
"The Wheel of Fortune" (1875-1883, Musée d'Orsay, Paris).

Related persons
 • was a friend of Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent
• used as a model Blunt-Lytton, Judith Anne Dorothea, Baroness
• knew Khnopff, Fernand
• influenced Klimt, Gustav
• designed grave monument of Leyland, Frederick
• influenced Morgan, Evelyn de
• was teacher to Rooke, Thomas
• was influenced by Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
• has a connection with Ruskin, John
• used as a model Spartali Stillman, Marie
• was a friend of Spencer-Stanhope, John Roddam
• painted Zambaco, Maria
• had a relationship with Zambaco, Maria

Events
 1877/5/1: Opening of Grosvenor Gallery, London
It was located at 135-137 New Bond Street and it was founded by Sir Coutts Lindsay, who wanted to exhibit paintings that weren't fit for the nearby located Royal Academy. Burne-Jones, Whistler, Watts, Legros, Moore, Hubert von Herkomer, James Tissot, Millais and Holman Hunt were among those who exhibited. Rossetti refused to cooperate because work by members of the Royal Academy was also exhibited.

Sources
 • Schilderkunst van A tot Z, REBO, Lisse, 1990
• Barilli, Renato, Die Präraffaeliten, Manfred Pawlak, Herrsching, 1988
• Birmingham City Council

Images

Plaque at Bennetts Hill in Birmingham on the location of the house where Edward Burne-Jones was born.
Picture by Androom (11 Aug 2011)
 
Plaques for Edward Burne-Jones and his wife Georgina at St. Margaret's Church, Rottingdean. There ashes were buried here.
Picture by Androom (07 Feb 2012)
 
Plaques for Edward Burne-Jones and his wife Georgina at St. Margaret's Church, Rottingdean. There ashes were buried here.
Picture by Androom (07 Feb 2012)
 

"The Garden of the Hesperides".
   (1869-1873, Hamburg: Kunsthalle)
 
'Portrait of Maria Zambacco'.
   (1870, Neuss: Clemens-Sels-Museum)
 
"The Beguiling of Merlin".
   (1874, Port Sunlight: Lady Lever Art Gallery)
 

'Girl with sloping head'.
   (1874, [Sammlung Hegewisch])
 
"Pygmalion IV: The Soul Attains:".
   (1875-1878, Birmingham: City Museum and Art Gallery)
 
"The Princess Tied to the Tree".
   (1875-1878, New York: The Forbes Collection)
 

"The Annunciation".
   (1879, Port Sunlight: Lady Lever Art Gallery)
 
"The Tree of Forgiveness".
   (1881-1882, Port Sunlight: Lady Lever Art Gallery)
 
'The Wheel of Fortune'.
   (1882, Cardiff, Wales: National Museums and Galleries of Wales)
 

"The Rock of Doom".
   (1885-1888, Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie)
 
'The Baleful Head'.
   (1886-1887, Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie)
 
"The Doom Fulfilled".
   (1888, Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie)
 

"The Earthly Paradise (Sir Lancelot at the Chapel of the Holy Grail)".
   (1890, [private collection])
 
"Perseus and the Graces".
   (1892, Stuttgart: Staatsgalerie)
 


Burton, Decimus

Published: 1 Jan 2006
Last update: 1 Apr 2012