The Contemporary Pre-Raphaelite
ASOS Maxi Dress, ASOS Heels, Warehouse Bag
Photographer: Cyrus Cumming
I asked all of you on Instagram (@thestrangerblog) what you thought this look was inspired by, and got a variety of interesting and creative responses. The most popular guesses were “greek goddess” and “cleopatra”. Strangely, I had never thought of the resemblance when I was going through the photos myself.
Some of you may have noticed that I am crazy about the art that spans the 18th to 20th century. The shoot was in fact inspired by two beautiful Pre-Raphaelite paintings from the late 19th century: John William Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shallot and Mariamne Leaving the Judgement Seat of Herod. It makes much sense that you guessed “goddess”, because Waterhouse (along with other Pre-Raphaelite painters) occasionally looked back to greek and roman mythology for artistic inspiration. Strangely it’s hard for me to find a middle ground when it comes to attitudes towards Pre-Raphaelite art. My art-lover friends either love or hate them. Sometimes the latter sentiment is grounded on the allegedly misogynistic nature of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, but this is not an art history blog so I’ll spare the rambling. Personally I find Pre-Raphaelite paintings strikingly beautiful. Their motivations found parallels with the Romantics: both sought art not only as a method of escape (as Nietzsche said, “we have art in order not to die of the truth”), but also as an expression of a freedom inseparable from personal responsibility… Not to mention, Pre-Raphaelite women are gorgeous and very finely dressed.
John William Waterhouse, Mariamne Leaving the Judgement Seat of Herod, 1887.
John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shallot, 1888.
Walter Crane, Spring.
(Unfortunately the grass was too soggy to recreate anything similar to these two paintings.)
John William Waterhouse, Ophelia, 1889.
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