The Magazine of Art was an illustrated monthly British journal devoted to the visual arts, published from May 1878 [1] to July 1904 in London and New York City by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. It included reviews of exhibitions, articles about artists and all branches of the visual arts, as well as some poetry, and was lavishly illustrated by leading wood-engravers of the period such as William Biscombe Gardner. [2] [3] [4]
Its origins can be traced back to May 1851, when the House of Cassell started publication of a journal devoted to The Great Exhibition of that year. It evolved, in 1852, into The Illustrated Exhibitor and Magazine of Art, a weekly devoted to the arts, educational in purpose and offering "culture for the little cultured". It changed name in February 1853 to The Illustrated Magazine of Art but never achieved great popularity and ceased publication in 1854. [3] The magazine was revived for a while during the 1862 International Exhibition but then lay dormant until 1878. [5]
The Magazine of Art itself started publication on 25 April 1878, the same year as the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and was edited initially by Arthur J. R. Trendell until 1880. Editorship then passed in turn to Eric Robertson (1880–81), William Ernest Henley (1881–86), Sidney Galpin (1886) and Marion Harry Spielmann (1886–1904), who also edited The Pall Mall Gazette . [2] [4] Within three years of starting publication, the magazine had become firmly established and now included art reviews. Artist Hubert Herkomer was persuaded to design a poster for the magazine which depicted the goddess of art on the steps of a temple with the great masters of art looking on in approval (see image above). [5]
No expense was spared in producing the journal which was regarded as the "flag of the house". It sought to engage the interest of the art lover and art collector while retaining an independent critical voice. One of its most popular contributors was artist William W. Fenn who by then had lost his sight. Despite his blindness, he was able to contribute reviews with the help of his wife who took him around the galleries and gave him verbal information about the exhibits. [5]
W. E. Henley (1881–86) was responsible for revitalising the magazine and transforming it into a "lively cosmopolitan review of the arts" that was influential in shaping the public's perception of and taste in art. [3] He engaged eminent artists and literary figures to write for the journal including R. L. Stevenson, Richard Jefferies, J. Comyns Carr and others, and the quality of the wood engravings was further improved. He also introduced poetry to its pages. [5]
M. H. Spielmann was editor for 17 years from 1886 to 1904 and encouraged many well known artists, as well as leading art critic John Ruskin, to contribute articles. In 1888, a supplement was introduced called Royal Academy Pictures, which, as its name suggests, contained reproductions of the chief works from the annual Royal Academy exhibitions in London. However, The Magazine of Art failed to make sufficient returns to justify its continued existence and publication ceased in 1904, though Royal Academy Pictures continued until 1916. [5]
Catherine Greenaway was an English Victorian artist and writer, known for her children's book illustrations. She received her education in graphic design and art between 1858 and 1871 from the Finsbury School of Art, the South Kensington School of Art, the Heatherley School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art. She began her career designing for the burgeoning holiday card market, producing Christmas and Valentine's cards. In 1879 wood-block engraver and printer, Edmund Evans, printed Under the Window, an instant best-seller, which established her reputation. Her collaboration with Evans continued throughout the 1880s and 1890s.
William Edward Norris was a London-born English fiction and writer. His first story, Heap of Money, appeared in 1877, and was followed by a long series of novels and stories, many of which first appeared in the Temple Bar and Cornhill magazines.
Edward Dowden was an Irish critic, professor, and poet.
Stanhope Alexander Forbes was a British artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a registered charity, and a registered company.
John Cassell was an English publisher, printer, writer and editor, who founded the firm Cassell & Co, famous for its educational books and periodicals, and which pioneered the serial publication of novels. He was also a well-known tea and coffee merchant and a general business entrepreneur. A fervent Christian, he campaigned throughout his life for the temperance movement in Britain, and for the reduction of taxes on publishing. He was a social reformer who recognised the importance of education in improving the life of the working class, and whose many publications, both magazines and books, brought learning and culture to the masses.
Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' model, Jane Morris.
Walter Goodman was an English painter, illustrator and author.
The Anglo-Japanese style developed in the United Kingdom through the Victorian period and early Edwardian period from approximately 1851 to the 1910s, when a new appreciation for Japanese design and culture influenced how designers and craftspeople made British art, especially the decorative arts and architecture of England, covering a vast array of art objects including ceramics, furniture and interior design. Important centres for design included London and Glasgow.
Hal Hurst, was an English painter, etcher, miniaturist, illustrator and founding member of the Royal Miniature Society.
Marion Harry Alexander Spielmann was a prolific Victorian art critic and scholar who was the editor of The Connoisseur and Magazine of Art. Among his voluminous output, he wrote a history of Punch, the first biography of John Everett Millais and a detailed investigation into the evidence for portraits of William Shakespeare.
Moses King was an editor and publisher who produced guidebooks to travel destinations in the United States, including Massachusetts and New York.
Cassell & Co is a British book publishing house, founded in 1848 by John Cassell (1817–1865), which became in the 1890s an international publishing group company.
Frank Hill Smith (1842–1904) was an American artist and interior designer based in Boston, Massachusetts. He painted landscapes and figures; and designed wall frescos, stage curtains, stained-glass windows, and other décor. Among his works are ceiling frescoes in the Representatives Hall in the Massachusetts State House.
John Mulvany was an Irish born American artist best known as an artist of the American West who painted the first large (11ftx21ft) image of General Custer’s defeat by the Oglala Sioux Indians at Little Big Horn in 1876. Mulvany's painting Custer’s Last Rally, was finished in 1881. In Ireland, he is known for The Battle of Aughrim, painted in 1885 and exhibited in Dublin in 2010.
Sarah Pitt was a 19th-century English children's author. She wrote several children's novels published by Cassell and Co., during a period of activity between 1881 and 1900. In addition she provided several short stories for the publication Little Folks, a "magazine for the young" which was also published by Cassell.
Gilbert Leigh Marks was an English silversmith, who worked in the Arts and Crafts style, during a career of little over ten years.
Charles Joseph Staniland was a prolific British genre, historical, and marine painter and a leading Social Realist illustrator. He was a mainstay of the Illustrated London News and The Graphic in the 1870s and 1880s.
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