John Ruskin
John Ruskin was born on the 8th of February 1819 at 54 Hunter Street in Brunswick Square, London. His father John James Ruskin worked as a sherry and wine importer while his mother Margaret Cock came from Croydon. They married quietly in 1818 after years of delay caused by family debts. Young John spent much of his childhood reading the Bible repeatedly under his mother's strict guidance. He memorized large portions of scripture which later shaped his writing style. The family moved to 28 Herne Hill near Camberwell where he grew up with few friends his own age. Despite this isolation his parents provided extensive private tutoring including lessons from Congregationalist preacher Edward Andrews. By 1834 he attended Thomas Dale's progressive school in Peckham before enrolling at King's College London. There he prepared for Oxford University under Dale's tutelage.
In 1843 Ruskin published the first volume of Modern Painters anonymously as A Graduate of Oxford. This work defended J.M.W. Turner against attacks by critics like Rev John Eagles who had written about Turner's pictures in Blackwood's Magazine. Ruskin argued that modern landscape painters showed greater truth to nature than Old Masters such as Gaspard Dughet or Claude. He believed artists should observe reality rather than invent it within a studio setting. His prose described water air clouds stones and vegetation with extraordinary verbal skill. Although reviews were mixed many literary figures including Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell praised the young man's effort. The book cemented his relationship with Turner who died in 1851 leaving nearly 20,000 sketches to the British nation. Ruskin catalogued these works completing the task by May 1858. Four hundred watercolours were displayed in cabinets designed by Ruskin himself.
John and Effie Ruskin visited Venice in November 1849 staying at the Hotel Danieli. While Effie socialized Ruskin made detailed drawings of Ca' d'Oro and the Doge's Palace fearing destruction by Austrian troops. One soldier Lieutenant Charles Paulizza became friendly with Effie possibly with Ruskin's consent. These observations formed the basis for his three-volume work The Stones of Venice published between 1851 and 1853. In chapter The Nature of Gothic he argued that Gothic ornament expressed an artisan's joy in free creative work. He claimed workers must think express their own ideas using hands instead of machinery. This view attacked both aesthetic orthodoxy and industrial capitalism's division of labour. The chapter influenced Christian socialist founders of the Working Men's College and later William Morris. Ruskin believed Venice had degenerated slowly due to loss of true Christian faith. Renaissance artists honoured themselves rather than the divine celebrating human sensuousness instead.
Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University in August 1869 through Henry Acland's efforts. His inaugural lecture on his 51st birthday in 1870 drew a larger-than-expected crowd at the Sheldonian Theatre. He declared that England must found colonies formed by energetic men seizing every piece of fruitful waste ground. In 1871 he founded The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art within the Ashmolean Museum. He endowed the drawing mastership with £5,000 of his own money establishing over 800 frames of drawings watercolours and materials. Lectures ranged from wood engraving to myth ornithology geology nature-study and literature. When he criticized Michelangelo in June 1871 it offended university authorities holding large collections of that artist's work. A controversial digging scheme on Ferry Hinksey Road began in 1874 involving undergraduates in road-mending. Some diggers including Oscar Wilde Alfred Milner and W.G. Collingwood were profoundly influenced by manual labour experience. Arnold Toynbee Leonard Montefiore and Alexander MacEwen later expressed public service ethics fostered by this work.
In July 1877 Ruskin launched an attack on James McNeill Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket in Fors Clavigera. He accused Whistler of asking two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face. Whistler filed a libel suit against Ruskin who was ill when the case went to trial in November 1878. Edward Burne-Jones represented Ruskin while Attorney General Sir John Holker argued for him. Artist Albert Moore testified for Whistler claiming the nocturne worth less than two hundred guineas. Frederic Leighton agreed to give evidence but could not attend due to knighthood at Windsor. Whistler won the case though jury awarded damages of only a farthing. Court costs split between parties with Ruskin's paid by public subscription organized by Fine Art Society. Whistler became bankrupt within six months selling his Tite Street house and moving to Venice. The episode tarnished Ruskin's reputation accelerating mental decline he had experienced since 1871.
Ruskin founded the Guild of St George in 1871 originally called St George's Fund then Company before becoming Guild in 1878. Its aims included farming land traditionally in harmony with environment using minimum mechanical assistance. With £7,000 donation Ruskin acquired land and art treasures creating a communitarian protest against industrial capitalism. He purchased property initially in Totley near Sheffield where local communists met modest success after difficulties. Donations placed land in Wyre Forest Bewdley Barmouth Gwynedd Cloughton North Yorkshire Westmill Hertfordshire Sheepscombe Gloucestershire under Guild care. Codes of practice described dress styles even designing coins for Companions. Ruskin wished schools established publishing Bibliotheca Pastorum volumes but they never materialized. St. George's Mill operated at Laxey Isle of Man producing cloth goods while Langdale encouraged spinning weaving. Museum opened in Walkley Sheffield district in 1875 curated by Henry and Emily Swan. Collection included art minerals books medieval manuscripts architectural casts coins displayed at Sheffield Millennium Gallery today.
Rose La Touche died on the 25th of May 1875 at age twenty-seven plunging Ruskin into despair and mental illness. First breakdown occurred in 1871 at Matlock Derbyshire whose flora fauna minerals formed his nature appreciation. He attended séances at Broadlands turning to spiritualism seeking belief in meaningful universe life after death. His final tour included Beauvais Sallanches Venice in 1888 from which he never fully recovered. Complete mental collapse marked end of travel ability though he continued writing until death on the 20th of January 1900. Last great work Praeterita meaning Of Past Things ran from 1885 to 1889 as incomplete autobiography preface written in childhood nursery at Herne Hill. Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth-Century lectures described industrialization effects on weather patterns foreshadowing environmentalism. Aesthetic movement and Impressionism distanced him from modern art world favoring l'art pour l'art doctrine. He attacked Darwinian theory violently despite personal respect for Darwin. Brantwood became his home where he lived out remaining years before passing away.
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Common questions
When was John Ruskin born and where did he grow up?
John Ruskin was born on the 8th of February 1819 at 54 Hunter Street in Brunswick Square, London. He grew up at 28 Herne Hill near Camberwell after his family moved from their initial residence.
What major works did John Ruskin publish about art and architecture?
John Ruskin published Modern Painters starting in 1843 to defend J.M.W. Turner against critics. He later released The Stones of Venice between 1851 and 1853 which analyzed Gothic ornament and attacked industrial capitalism's division of labour.
How much money did John Ruskin inherit after his father died in 1864?
John Ruskin inherited between £120,000 and £157,000 plus paintings worth £3,000 following his father's death in 1864. He used this fortune for practical schemes including supporting Octavia Hill's housing work in Marylebone.
Why did John Ruskin lose the libel case against James McNeill Whistler in 1878?
John Ruskin lost the libel case because a jury awarded damages of only a farthing despite finding him ill during the trial in November 1878. Court costs were split between parties with Ruskin's portion paid by public subscription organized by the Fine Art Society.
What was the purpose of the Guild of St George founded by John Ruskin in 1871?
The Guild of St George aimed to farm land traditionally in harmony with the environment using minimum mechanical assistance as a communitarian protest against industrial capitalism. It acquired property in locations such as Totley near Sheffield and Wyre Forest Bewdley while operating St. George's Mill at Laxey Isle of Man.