Waterhouse's major works

Undine comes from the Latin word unda, which means waves and water. Water God is an image in traditional European myths and legends. The water god fell in love with a man, so she became human, but if that man was not loyal to her, the water god would die.

Sleep and the death of his half brother.

Creation time: 1874 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 70x 9 1 cm Collection location: Sotheby's

The theme is closely related to family tragedy. Waterhouse lost his mother at the age of eight, and a younger brother died of the same disease as his mother shortly before this painting appeared. A contemporary critic once commented on the young images in these two shadows: "There are strange similarities and differences between the two images lying here ... the beauty of youth belongs to one side and the other." Later, in an interview with waterhouse, London Pictorial claimed that the painting turned such a moral theme into a personal record rather than a sermon.

After the dance

Creation time: 1876 material: oil painting on canvas size: 76.2 x 127 cm collection location: private collection.

In a Romanesque house, a girl was lying on her side with a tambourine beside her, and a boy was sitting behind her. Their eyes led the audience to the atrium, where several musicians played.

Waterhouse and Alma Dadema have completely different descriptions of life scenes in ancient Rome. Alma Dadema aims to describe gorgeous clothes and decorations in buildings, and the characters are just hangers or tools to balance the composition, so as to satisfy his archaeological enthusiasm and pursuit of gorgeous scenes (this is completely one-sided, but this problem does exist in some works of Alma Dadema), while waterhouse does not show off or exaggerate at all, and only uses simple earthy tones.

Diogenes, diogenes.

Creation time: 1882 material: oil painting on canvas

Size: 208 x 135 cm Collection location: New South Wales Art Museum, Sydney, Australia.

Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who was famous for his cynicism. He advocates a natural life and does not depend on social civilization. Legend has it that Diogenes once lived in a big bathtub. He once went to Athens with a lantern during the day to find a good man, but he never found him. Diogenes in this painting has the usual appearance of a cynic: gloomy and serious. The women peeped at his house curiously.

Magic circle

Creation time: 1886 material: oil painting on canvas size: 183 x 127 cm collection location: Tate Gallery, London, England.

"The Lord of the Rings can purify a circular area. God and spiritual power are invited to enter the ring. Evil magic cannot enter the ring. Sometimes, the philosopher's stone will be placed in four directions of the ring. Four directions are related to four elements. The north is the most magical direction, representing the power of the earth. The south represents the power of fire. The east represents the power of the sky. The west represents the power of water. Turn clockwise from the east, and the witch can make a ring. The Lord of the Rings can be a staff or an Ansam (a ceremonial dagger with a black handle). When making the Lord of the Rings, the witch recited a spell and invited useful ghosts. " Quoted from The Witch: The Book of Magic and Wisdom

Saint Eulalia.

Creation time: 1885 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 74 x 46 inches Collection location: Tate Gallery, London, UK.

Legend has it that after the martyrdom of Saint Eulalia, heavy snow fell and buried the body. Waterhouse chose a unique perspective, and Eulalia's quiet expression and long hair were particularly touching in the snow. This is a representative work that made waterhouse a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Its composition was very bold at that time. The center of the picture is empty, and the arrangement of onlookers is compressed into a pyramid, instead of looking down on an upward ladder as the draft once envisaged. There was originally a statue next to the body of the central figure (saint), but the spear in his hand pointed at the saint. But now it has changed to a simpler and more direct cross, and the line of sight has changed from the gun head to the winding rope at the lower end of the frame. In the posture of the saint's body, in addition to emphasizing the horizontal and vertical dimensions, the downward and upward inclined right arm echoes diagonally to the left, which enhances the tension of the limb composition. Young children in the onlookers pointed to pigeons soaring in the sky (a metaphor for the soaring soul in Christian tradition). This upward guidance completes the final blow of a "tower of strength".

O' filia O' filia

Creation time: 1889 Material: oil painting on canvas size: 38.5x62 inches Collection location: Cristies

1909 was selected as "British master of painting" by Art Daily. Its attraction is precisely the delicate depiction of women's body posture in the artist's early works. Waterhouse chose this moment, when Mr. filia, who had lost his mind, sat alone in a deep place and inserted the collected wild flowers into his long hair. Long skirts and ribbons with oriental colors just show the fullness of her waist and abdomen, while tight sleeves and cuffs show slender arms. Finally, the posture of chin lifting, elbow lifting and hair stroking, combined with the relaxation and solemnity of the lower body, reveals the quietest madness and noblest beauty brought by death and love.

Ms. Charlotte

Creation time: 1888 material: oil painting on canvas size: 153 x 200 cm collection location: Tate Gallery, London, England.

According to Tennyson's poem, this painting was painted with the dark extension of the river, just like some bold prophets saw all their misunderstandings in a trance-a glassy country. Camelot. At the end of the day, she loosened the chain and lay down; The wide stream takes her far away, Mrs. Saloth. This is one of waterhouse's most famous works. The theme comes from Tennyson's poem of the same name. Waterhouse chose "She loosened the anchor chain and lay down." This poem is a delicate moment between commas, which is doomed to the beginning of a tragic journey. Waterhouse once drew sketches on the blank page of a manuscript by Tennyson. The poet's own language expression has a clear image. The most striking thing is that the whole painting faithfully conveys poetic images and is also a masterpiece of outdoor landscape painting. Waterhouse was influenced by the French impressionism, so his works required the audience to have the ability to "connect our thoughts with the romantic imagination in literature from Homer to Tennyson".

Ulysses and Sai Ren.

Creation time: 189 1 material: oil painting on canvas size:100x201.7cm.

Collection location: Victoria National Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Description: Sai Ren is a legendary half-human, half-bird creature. They bewitched the sailors with songs. Ulysses sealed the sailors' ears with wax, so they couldn't hear the siren's song, but Ulysses could hear the siren's song himself, so he tied himself to the mast and couldn't control the ship by himself. Sai Ren, with a beautiful head, was flying around the ship with a vivid expression, as if she could hear charming songs.

This painting was regarded as the most perfect work of the painter at that time, and he himself was also praised as an expert in color and antique research, because the traditional image of Sai Ren's bird with a head may come from the decoration on a vase in the British Museum. The composition of this painting is subversive. Sai Ren's circle is the only one based on traditional modeling, and the mast is the only straight line. In addition, there are diagonal lines everywhere, outlining realistic cliffs, angry seas, paw prints left by Sai Ren on the ship's side and frightened eyes of rowers. With the same effect as Homer's words, waterhouse's paintings always give people a strong first impression, and at the same time create a supernatural "real" world with countless details for the eyes to explore.

Silk poisoning

Creation time: 1892

Material: canvas oil painting

Size:/kloc-0 180.7x87.4cm

Collection location: South Australia Art Museum, Adelaide, Australia.

Screen description:

The story comes from Ovid's Metamorphosis. Loucks fell in love with Scylla, the goddess of Shui Ze, but was rejected by Scylla. Glaucus turned to Cecily for help. Cecily is in love with Glaucus and she is determined to get rid of Scylla. So Cecily poisoned the sea where Scylla usually bathed. Scylla was turned into a monster by poison, and then turned into a stone in the sea between Italy and Sicily. This is the Scylla rock that is still famous for its danger.

Waterhouse's consistent style is not to choose the most terrible consequences of events, but to create an atmosphere of strength and threat for his sculpture models. The excellent use of dark green and dark blue here strengthens this atmosphere. This work is considered as eccentric as Edward Burne-Jones, but it is more intense in color and emotion, more masculine and sharp.

(Quoted from a note written by Henry Blackburn during the 1893 exhibition)

Lady Charlotte

Creation Time: 1894 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 142 x 86cm Collection location: Leeds Art Museum.

I'm cursed, cried Lady Charlotte. This painting shows her floating out of the mirror, getting up from the chair and rushing to the window. In the mirror in the background, you can see the figure of the knight passing by the window. We seem to be standing at the window and looking in. There is nothing like this work to make the viewer integrate into the painting. "Accurate and balanced perspective" is the beauty of this painting composition. The classical elements in the picture are as obvious as those in the early works: for example, the circular ornaments of tapestries, the covered floor, the semicircular armrests of chairs, the use of mirrors and so on.

Santacecilia

Creation time: 1895 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 46 x 77 Collection location: private collection

Santacecilia lived in about 230 BC, and she was famous for vowing to believe in Christianity all her life and remain chaste. Santacecilia Festival is165438+1October 22nd. Photo 1895 is exhibited with a poem from Tennyson's Palace of Art.

In a city with clear walls by the sea.

Near the gilded organ tube, Saint Cecily fell asleep.

Waterhouse tried to convey some medieval feelings with this painting, and he did it. Decorative painting and a little religious painting. There are few traces of realism and daily life.

This is not a work with religious beliefs. In the sense of astrology, waterhouse is not a religious painter. It was Tennyson's poem that led him to the fairy tale theme: "Sleeping on the terrace by the sea" (Art Palace). Rossetti also painted this woman who was martyred in the 3rd century A.D., and was named "the saint of music" in15th century. In waterhouse's works, clothing and background settings are often mixed with medieval and Greek factors, but the technique is the tradition of Italian Renaissance. The composition of this work expands our vision from the terrace to the Woods, the harbor and the horizon, which is different from the pre-Raphaelite school and obviously inherits the classical horizontal composition style of Lord Leiden.

Hylas and Narcissus Hylas and Goddess Creation Time: 1896 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 98 x 163 cm Collection location: Manchester City Art Museum.

Hector Kuhles arrived at Teos Island by boat, Hector Kuhles's partner Geras went ashore to look for water, and Geras found the spring water, but the water fairies fell in love with the handsome young Geras and brought him into their world. Blue lake, beautiful water fairy, seemingly messy but carefully arranged plants make poetry flow slowly on the screen. This is the most widely and frequently exhibited work by artists. 1900 Paris World Expo and 1987 British "Great Victorian Painting" were exhibited respectively. In the 1970s, he became the representative of idealism. His cheap copy is not only popular, but also adapted into a photographic work, which appears in the advertisement of bath products. This success is closely related to the painter's choice and research on models. This is not only reflected in waterhouse's charcoal sketches and oil paintings, but also in a large number of portraits of the heads of these models. The reason why he repeatedly does sketch exercises that are not directly related to this picture is to capture the spiritual temperament of the models and find their "golden moments" at different angles and moments.

destiny

Creation time: 1900 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 152 x 9 1 cm Collection location: T Burnley Art Museum, UK.

1899 Boer War broke out in South Africa. This picture shows the works donated by the painter in the spring of 1900 for the artists' fighting foundation supporting the British army (see the draft withdrawn in the lower left corner). It shows a woman looking devoutly at a distant warship in front of a round mirror and drinking farewell wine. The background setting is consistent with waterhouse style: Italian and geometric; The circular shape of the mirror and the picture frame, the arc of the pavilion dome in the mirror and the shape of the front end of the reading table in front of the woman echo layer by layer. The seascape and architectural style all reflect the hometown that the painter can never give up-Italy.

"Narcissus found orpheus's head"

Creation time: 1900 material: oil painting on canvas size: 149 x 99 cm collection location: private collection.

The legendary "God of Music" in ancient Greece was dismembered and thrown into the river to drift into the sea. Waterhouse avoided the most horrible action scenes, but captured moment of silence full of tension, which was very different from later painters who showed the same theme, such as gustave moreau (1826- 1896). The use of color is extremely restrained and the composition is perfect. The soft flesh and the gentle changes of the joints of the limbs constitute the central part of the strict rectangular composition, in which the downward gaze of narcissus is blocked by the horizontally floating Greek harpsichord and the head of the corpse. Our eyes are constantly attracted to the periphery of this theme structure, where light and shadow are skillfully intertwined, including face, dress, arms and head ... This division depends on the curve of the body and the placement of small trees (one of the preferred background settings of waterhouse).

The Awakening adonis: The Awakening of adonis

Creation time: 1900 material: oil painting on canvas size: 95.9 x 188 cm collection location: private collection.

Adonis, the lover of young and handsome Avelot Dieter, is the product of incest between Taiya and his daughter. Adonis died later, and Aphrodite asked Zeus to allow adonis to stay in hades for half a year and spend the other half alone with her. Adonis's resurrection from the dead means that plants wither in winter and come back to life in spring.

Sai Ren, sirens.

Creation time: 1900 material: oil painting on canvas size: 8 1 x 53 cm collection location: Sotheby.

Expressing the beauty that can never be obtained is the key to waterhouse's imagination. This picture was inspired by Shelley's poem. Sai Ren himself seems to be controlled by endless impulses. She looked at the sailor who was going to drown because of her with regret. Like him, she knew nothing about this fate and could not explain it. In waterhouse's works, men, as pursuers, will never have a happy ending. Among them, he thinks that part of it is the painter's own projection, and that part of his desire has never been satisfied in reality, so he enjoys the pleasure of creating a beautiful image ambitiously, and at the same time repeatedly shows that the ultimate beauty is always beyond the reach of desire.

Mermaid mermaid

Creation time: 190 1 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 98 x 67 cm Collection location: Royal College of Art, UK. London

This painting is one of the artist's most subtle concepts, and it took him a long time to finish it. In the typical classical rectangular composition, the beauty beyond the concept of time is entrusted. Mermaids comb their long hair in the field, and the sea beats the rocks on the shore and in the field. Waterhouse seized a natural moment: the thick reddish-brown hair stopped combing at the beginning, and the slightly open lips and psychedelic eyes expressed the unspeakable modality of human women. The good-looking appearance of the model seems to be separated from the lower body of the curly fish, but there is no conflict. Art Daily believes that "... this beautiful creature will never be trapped by love. She not only enjoys undisturbed quiet rest, but also enjoys the pleasure of women. " Compared with Bourne-Jones's puzzling mermaid, waterhouse has brought more vitality and warmth to this legend.

Windflowers

Creation time: 1903 material: oil painting on canvas size: 45x3 1 inch collection location: private collection.

Waterhouse was deeply influenced by Tedema and Reston in his early days, and his painting style was close to classicism. In the later period, influenced by Bourne-Jones and Rossetti, his painting style is more inclined to pre-Raphael. Waterhouse mostly takes literature, myths and historical stories as creative themes, with natural painting style, rhythmic and mysterious pictures. The picture in this work is very dynamic, and the viewer seems to feel the girl with long hair and flowers coming from afar. The girl's fluttering hair, dancing dress, graceful posture, calm and slightly sad expression are all conveying beautiful and sad feelings to the viewer. In addition, the treatment of girls' clothes wrinkles seems to have been influenced by Impressionism. Impressionist painters are very concerned about color and complementary color, and some of them pursue the accurate tone of white folds. In this painting, the artists' treatment of folds is consistent with their pursuit.

Lei Mier lamia

Creation time: 1905

Material: oil painting on canvas

Size: 57 x 36 inches

Collection location: private collection

Legend has it that Lei Mier is a banshee. She will turn into a beautiful woman to seduce a man and then eat him.

This painting is based on john keats's poem lamia.

She is a dazzling Goldie shape,

Scarlet spots, gold, green and blue;

Striped like a zebra, spotted like a leopard,

Eyes like peacocks, all crimson Barr;

Full of silver moon, when she breathes,

Dissolved, or brighter light, or intertwined.

Their glossy and gloomy tapestries-

So beautiful and full of pain,

She seemed, immediately, to be punished by some female elves,

Some devil's mistress, or the devil's ego.

Psyche opened the door to Cupid Garden.

Date of creation: 1904

Material: oil painting on canvas

Size: 109 x 7 1 cm

Collection location: Harris Museum Art Gallery, Preston, UK.

Psyche is a symbol of the human soul. In Roman mythology, psyche was a beautiful princess, and people worshipped her more than Venus. Venus ordered her son Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest creature in the world. But Cupid fell in love with Psyche and forgot Venus' orders. Cupid and Psyche became lovers, but Cupid forbade Psyche to look at him. Later, psyche saw Cupid, and Cupid escaped.

Psyche opened the golden box.

Creation time: 1903

Material: canvas oil painting

Size:117x74cm

Collection location: private collection

The story of this picture follows the story of the above picture. After Cupid ran away, Psyche looked for him everywhere, and Venus set up many difficulties to test whether Psyche was worthy of her son. One of them is that she is not allowed to open the gold box. Psyche couldn't help opening it and she fell into a deep sleep. Finally, Jupiter forgave the couple, and then there was a tacky prince and princess who lived happily together.

Echo and Narcissus in Echo and Narcissus

Creation time: 1903 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 109 x 189cm Collection location: Livepool Walker Art Museum.

Echo (meaning echo) died sadly because of her love for narcissus (meaning narcissus or narcissism), leaving only her voice echoing forever. The background of the forest is familiar, and the winding stream divides Echo and her lover who is completely immersed in narcissism in the composition. The thinness and tranquility of the stream emphasizes a separation beyond physical location and a near horizon arranged by fate, which shows the eternal theme of waterhouse: unattainable love. Art magazine thinks it is one of the best representatives of imaginative art. This work has also been widely successful, and it has been copied by textbooks, postcards and calendars.

Danes

Creation time: 1904 Material: Oil on canvas Size:154.3x11.1cm Collection location: new york, Christie.

Fifty daughters of Argos (the king of ancient Greece) were asked by a spell to kill their husbands on their wedding night, but only one daughter completed the task, and the rest were punished for constantly pumping water and pouring it into leaking containers. This version is the final version of waterhouse. In the book, he completely pointed out the arrangement of the three main characters and the first composition (the existing version of Aberdeen Art Museum), thus obtaining the magical harmony of composition.

O' filia O' filia

Creation time: 19 10 material: oil painting on canvas size: 40 x 24 collection location: private collection.

This is another photo of O 'filia. In this picture, Ophir's treatment seems to be different. Different from other works, O 'filia is described as a pure, melancholy and gentle image. In this painting, O 'Filja has a power of despair.

witch

Creation time: 19 1 1

Material: canvas oil painting

Size: 74 x 109 cm

Collection location: Leicester Art Museum, London, UK.

Description: The sentences in Faust are written on the back of the canvas:

The metaphysics of these magicians

The necromancer book is sacred:

Lines, circles, letters and characters:

Ah, these are what Faust craves most.

Ah, this is a world full of profit and joy.

Power, honor, omnipotence

It is promised to a studious craftsman!

Everything that moves between quiet poles.

Will obey my orders: the emperor and the king

But obedience is in several of their provinces

They can't wind up or tear the clouds;

But his rule went beyond that.

The human mind can extend as far as it can.

A sound magician is a powerful god;

Hey, Faust, try to get a god with your mind. '

Tristram and Isolde: Tristram and salter.

Creation time: 19 13 Material: oil painting on canvas size: 106 x 77.5cm Collection location: whitford &; Hoghes

A scene in the legend of King Arthur. Waterhouse once again chose Lovers' Club, which can't have a happy ending, and its feature is still a static scene full of emotional tension. When the daughter of the King of Ireland got married, she accidentally shared the same cup of magic wine with Tristram, stared at each other and fell in love immediately. This moment also heralds their death. The painter described the flying veil, knight's armor, ship wood's seascape and Cornwall in the distance (that's where he often goes) in detail, and revived the romantic scene of the Middle Ages in reality with a precise brush, just like his usual masterpiece.

"I'm a little tired of shadows," said Mrs. Charlotte. "I hate shadows," said Charlotte's wife.

Creation time: 19 16 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 39.5x29 inches Collection location: Ontario Art Museum, Toronto, Canada.

According to Tennyson's Charlotte's Woman

She knits there day and night.

Colorful magic net.

She heard a whisper saying,

If she stays, she will be cursed.

Overlooking Camelot.

She doesn't know what the curse is,

She just weaved steadily,

She seldom cares about anything else,

Mrs Charlotte.

The painter is infatuated with this image in Tennyson's poems. He once again used the original model and created the third work about this poem in a purely realistic style. The model did not lose the beauty of the year, but was more relaxed and calm. Clothing and background furnishings are familiar, but one of the wonders of waterhouse lies in the use of familiar elements, which does not weaken the drama and our emotional response, such as the details of castles and bridges, and the scenes where couples walk hand in hand, all presented through the window. Through the tense dynamics of 1894 and the tragic separation of 1899, this work brings us back to the restrained and gentle desire at the beginning of the poem: "I'm a little tired of shadows," said Lady Charlotte.

Story in decameron Story in decameron Creation Time: 19 16 Material: Oil on canvas Size: 102 x 7 159cm.

Collection location: birkenhead Leif Art Gallery.

Boccaccio's decameron shows the erotic theme with elegant poems, which seems to be more suitable for medieval readers than Victorian audiences. Therefore, the painter here does not show the literary theme itself as he always does, but shows the scene when the story is told. He once again used the keyhole composition method (most elements are arc-shaped around a few elements), and the quiet and harmonious combination highlights the concentration and addiction of women listening to love stories.

maui wowee

Creation time: 19 16 Material: Oil on canvas Size:112x161cm Collection location: Madame Lviv Art Museum, Liverpool, England.

This is one of waterhouse's later works, which has not been finished yet.

The painter's last painting is based on his lifelong fascination with flowers. The garden in the snow is also a warm resting place in the winter of his life. Snow fell on the top of the colonnade in the Renaissance, and the buildings in the garden reminded us of the painter's hometown: Italy. Roses are in full bloom in the snow, a girl bends down to smell the flowers, and poppies show a quiet forgetfulness. Roses and snow are themes that painters have been exploring all their lives: symbols of desire and restraint. At the same time, because he loved poetry all his life, this masterpiece on his deathbed also hides Tennyson's words in his Story of King Arthur: "avignon, in an island-like valley, there will never be hail/rain/snow/wind, and there will never be sound."

"rosamond" beautiful rosamond

Creation time: 19 17 material: oil painting on canvas size: 96.6 x 72 cm collection location: private collection.

A medieval story produced this work. Rosa Mudd, the daughter of Sir Crever, was the love of Henry II. She was avenged by the queen and died. The picture shows a scene before the climax of the tragedy: Rosa Mede is looking at her lover from the window of the secret room, and the queen has poked her head out of the curtain behind her. The costumes, embroidery and carpets in this work all show the gorgeous romance of chivalry, and like all the works of the painter, they are very closely consistent with the geometric structure of the building site.