Georgiana Burne-Jones, with Philip and Margaret, by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt ARA

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Georgiana Burne-Jones, with Philip and Margaret

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt ARA (1833-1898)

1883

Oil on canvas

Height: 76 cm (29.9″); Width: 53 cm (20.8″)

Private collection

This painting, which shows the artist's wife with her grown-up children in the background, has been taken as a "tacit acknowledgement of Burne-Jones's betrayals" (National Portrait Gallery's exhibition label). [Commentary continues below.]

The painting in its frame

Image and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. The photograph was taken at the exhibition, by kind permission of the Gallery. [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

In this painting, the Burne-Jones's son Philip, described in the gallery label as already a "professional painter," is seated at an easel, with their daughter Margaret (in a supportive rather than active role) standing behind his chair looking on. Georgiana herself, the main figure, has a sombre, perhaps hurt, expression, reminding us that some of the "Pre-Raphaelite sisters" suffered a good deal as a result of the "brothers'" affairs. She had had to stand by helpessly while Burne-Jones's affair with Maria Zambaco developed. According to the gallery label, the illustrated book she holds here is "Gerard’s Herball, open at her favourite heartsease (wild pansy), which Ruskin called the flower of 'those who love simply, to the death.'"

The sisters often suffered in another way, too, from having too little opportunity to develop their own talents. Georgiana was one of those who had artistic aspirations and potential: she had studied with Ford Madox Brown, and taken classes in drawing and wood engraving, and some fine examples of her work were on show in the same exhibition; but her role in the marriage had been to help her husband and family, as any wife's was expected to be. Her loyal, uncomplaining two-volume Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones (1906) is an invaluable resource for students of his work.

Bibliography

Information about the painting at the "Pre-Raphaelite Sisters" exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 17 October 2019 – 26 January 2020. [Review]

Created 12 June 2020