Politics and Paint: Barbara Bodichon and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
November 3, 2018 - February 3, 2019
Pre-Raphaelite painter and women’s rights campaigner Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891) was an early female participant in the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Landscape was Bodichon’s preferred genre, and her style reflects Pre-Raphaelite principles of careful observation and detailed rendering. Bodichon traveled widely and exhibited at the Royal Academy and Gambart’s French Gallery in Pall Mall, London, among other venues.
Throughout her life she was a tireless reformer and champion of women’s rights. In 1854, she published her Brief Summary of the Laws of England Concerning Women, which was later used to promote the passage of the Married Women’s Property Act 1882. In 1858, she set up the English Women’s Journal and in 1866, with Emily Davies, developed a strategy to extend university education to women, resulting in the founding of Girton College, Cambridge.
In 2016, the Museum acquired the watercolor Ventnor, Isle of Wight (1856), which became the inspiration for this exhibition. Bodichon’s working process will be examined and feature watercolor sketches and drawings from her travels. The approximately 30 works are drawn from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection at the University of Delaware and recent acquisitions in the Museum’s permanent collection.
To view large images and caption information, click below.
-
- A hooded Procession, not dated. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827-1891). Watercolor on paper, 10 1/16 x 14 9/16 inches. Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library.
-
- Trees with Haystacks, ca. 1850. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827-1891). Watercolor on paper, 12 x 7 1/2 inches. Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library.
-
- A field near the sea with Sheep, not dated. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827-1891). Watercolor on paper, 9 1/6 x 13 inches. Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library.
-
- Pear still life, not dated. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891). Watercolor on paper, 9 5/8 × 6 9/16 inches. Delaware Art Museum, Acquisition Fund, 2017.
-
- Trees with knotty trunk, not dated. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891). Watercolor on paper, 14 3/4 × 8 13/16 inches. Delaware Art Museum, Acquisition Fund, 2017.
-
- Parasol pink mountains sky background pink, not dated. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891). Watercolor on paper mounted, 8 1/8 × 14 1/4 inches. Delaware Art Museum, Acquisition Fund, 2017.
-
- Entrance to Scalands Gate, not dated. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891). Watercolor on paper mounted, 6 7/8 × 10 7/8 inches. Delaware Art Museum, Acquisition Fund, 2017.
-
- Wildflowers, not dated. Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1827–1891). Watercolor on paper, 11 3/8 × 8 1/2 inches. Delaware Art Museum, Acquisition Fund, 2017.
ORGANIZER & SPONSORS
This exhibition is organized by the Delaware Art Museum.