The Hidden Treasure (1864)

Sir John Everett Millais prints follow the career of one of the most gifted British painters of the Victorian age. Millais co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as a teenager, painted Ophelia and The Blind Girl in brilliant, detailed colour, and went on to become President of the Royal Academy. Our collection of fine art prints includes his paintings, many drawings and studies, and his illustrations for Trollope, Tennyson and the parables.

About Sir John Everett Millais

Millais was born in Southampton on 8 June 1829 into a family from Jersey, where he spent much of his childhood. His mother encouraged his talent and moved the family to London, and in 1840, aged eleven, he became the youngest student ever admitted to the Royal Academy Schools. There he met William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and the three founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood at the Millais family home on Gower Street.

His Christ in the House of His Parents caused an uproar for showing the Holy Family as working people in a messy carpenter's shop. Popular success followed with A Huguenot and Ophelia, painted with intense detail. The critic John Ruskin defended the group, and through him Millais met Ruskin's wife Effie. Her marriage was annulled, and she and Millais married in 1855 and had eight children.

After his marriage Millais painted in a broader, freer style. Ruskin called it a catastrophe, but it made Millais one of the wealthiest artists of his day, with history paintings such as The Boyhood of Raleigh, autumn landscapes of Perthshire, and pictures of children such as Bubbles, famous from Pears soap advertising. He was made a baronet in 1885, was elected President of the Royal Academy in 1896, and died of throat cancer later that year. He is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

Style and Subjects

Early Millais is all sharp focus and jewel-like colour: every leaf, flower and fold of cloth painted with the same care, and faces drawn from real models rather than ideal types. These pictures often tell a story of love, loss or faith.

His later work is looser and more painterly, looking back to Velázquez and Reynolds. Look for children, Scottish landscapes in autumn light, and historical scenes. His black-and-white illustrations, full of character and fine pen work, make up a large part of the store collection.

Famous Works

• Christ in the House of His Parents (1849–1850), Tate Britain, London. The young Jesus in Joseph's workshop, shocking in its day for its realism.
• Ophelia (1851–1852), Tate Britain, London. Shakespeare's heroine floating among flowers in a minutely painted stream.
• Mariana (1850–1851), Tate Britain, London. A lonely woman stretching at her embroidery, from Shakespeare and Tennyson.
• The Blind Girl (1856), Birmingham Museums Trust. A blind girl sits in a field after rain while a double rainbow shines behind her.
• Autumn Leaves (1856), Manchester Art Gallery. Girls gathering fallen leaves at dusk, a picture of passing time.
• The Vale of Rest (1858), Tate Britain, London. Two nuns in a convent graveyard at sunset; the store has his finished study.
• Bubbles (1886), Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight. A small boy watching a soap bubble, later used to advertise Pears soap.

Decorating with Millais Prints

The colour paintings, such as Lorenzo and Isabella and The Blind Girl, suit a living room or dining room with rich wall colours, dark wood and Victorian or Arts and Crafts furniture.

His pen drawings and book illustrations are a different pleasure: framed in groups, they make a quiet gallery wall for a library, study or staircase. The head studies and sketches work well in a bedroom or reading corner where they can be seen up close.

FAQ

What art movement was John Everett Millais part of?

Millais was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, with William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. From the mid-1850s he moved toward a broader, more realist style.

What is Millais's most famous painting?

Ophelia (1851–1852), in Tate Britain, is his most famous work. Bubbles (1886) is also widely known from its use in Pears soap advertisements.

Where can I see Millais's paintings?

Tate Britain in London holds Ophelia, Mariana and The Vale of Rest. The Blind Girl is in Birmingham, Autumn Leaves in Manchester and Bubbles at the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

What makes Millais's style recognizable?

His early paintings show nature in sharp, detailed focus with bright colour and real-life models. His later work is freer and broader, often of children, history subjects or Scottish autumn landscapes.

Was Millais an illustrator too?

Yes. He illustrated novels by Anthony Trollope, poems by Tennyson and a celebrated series of the parables of Jesus, published in 1864.

Related Artists

• Dante Gabriel Rossetti: fellow founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
• William Holman Hunt: fellow founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
• Arthur Hughes: painter closely linked with the Pre-Raphaelite circle
• Ford Madox Brown: painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelites
• Frederic Leighton: the President of the Royal Academy whom Millais succeeded in 1896