"Hearts are Trumps," John Everett Millais, 1872.

Millais (1829-1896) was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite school, & one of its most praised & successful members, getting many society commissions & earning a knighthood.

Starting in the 1850s, though, he began moving away from strict Pre-Raphaelism to a more Realist style, which caused some of his old crowd to view him as a sellout. But today it's seen as a natural evolution of his style, & his own refusal to be corralled by a particular school. Some feel his marriage to Euphemia, the former wife of art critic John Ruskin, a champion of the Pre-Raphaelites, had something to do with it; Effie had received an annulment on the grounds that her marriage had never been consummated. Millais was said to be very uneasy around Ruskin after that.

The women here are the three daughters of writer and collector Walter Armstrong, who was hoping to bump up his family's social status. The pose of the three women at cards is seen as a hint of a competition to marry. Of note is that Mary, to the right and looking out at us knowingly (with the King and Jack of hearts in her hand) married an Irish politician a few years after this was painted.

Happy Portrait Monday!

From the Tate Britain, London.

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