Images of death in the Victorian era

The idea of photographing the dead might be seen as morbid today but it made perfect sense to Victorians. Readers might like to find Audrey Linkman's book Photography and Death, published by Reaktion Books in 2011.

Most photographs of a recently deceased person were taken by professionals, and were kept at home in the same way as all other family photographs were kept – mounted on the wall or inserted into family photo albums. But why did they have the deceased photos taken at all? Ordinary Victorian families could not have afforded dozens of photographs. So the post-mortem photograph was often the only image the family would ever have of their loved parent, sibling or child. There was little choice - if families did not record the person’s image just before he/she was buried, how would they properly memorialise their loved one?

A little girl in mourning clothes standing close to her younger, deceased sibling.

Norwich, N.Y.

Photo credit: Etsy

In the examples I've seen, the portraits were posed peacefully. The person may have suffered terrible pain for months or years, but appeared as peaceful as he/she had before the suffering set in. Linkman noted that at least for people who died within a familial context, the picture reminded the family that their loved one was truly at rest.

With high mortality rates in childhood, the photos filled a painful void. They honoured the loved relative and seemed to have been part of the healing process for the survivors.

Postmortem photography of the dead, esp children, was also an obsession for late C19th Americans. Bereaved families wanting to keep a memory of a lost child would have a photo made of the child lying in its coffin. Some of these photos were given to family members and friends, or appeared on memorial cards announcing the child’s death. Or these photos could be on one side of memento mori lockets and brooches, with the other side containing a lock of hair. These lockets were emotional keepsakes post death.

Photography and Death is important as it revealed the significance of images that might make modern families queasy. We may respond with equanimity when the deceased person lay on a bed with the eyes closed, as if asleep. But often the formally dressed body was seated erect on a couch, playing with toys, surrounded by flowers or propped up between live people. Daily Oddities noted that the dead eyes were "open"; this was done either by propping the subject’s eyes open or painting pupils onto the photo-graphic print. And many early images had a rosy tint added to the corpse's cheeks. The book’s strength was that it placed these rather uncomfortable images within the context of changing cultural attitudes towards death and loss.

Mourning locket, 

photo from Carter's

Why did many of these photos look as if they were taken in the family’s front parlour? An interesting aside to the familial context came from mental_floss. The parlour/death room was an important part of funerary rituals for the Victorian era, the place where deceased family members were laid out before the burial. In the Victorian and Edwardian eras, many funerals were still taking place at home until slowly, by WW1, most funerals started to take place in funeral homes. As the professional funeral parlour came into vogue, the home parlour was quickly rebranded a “living room”. A 1910 issue of Ladies Home Journal declared that for Americans at least, the death room would become a term of the past.

For Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders,  WW1 also brought an end to elaborate Victorian-style mourning rituals. The huge numbers of soldiers who died and were buried overseas, as well as the resultant collective grief, made individual displays of mourning at home seem inappropriate.

Linkman acknowledged that for violent deaths, the situation was very different. In Western Europe, young men were clearly sent off to war whenever their nation required it. In Eastern Europe, pogrom massacres were a constant feature of life. I am assuming that families would not have been comforted by images of massacred brothers and sons, even assuming they could retrieve the bodies distant from home.

Millais, portrait of the late Cecil Webb, 

1887, NGV

One last thought about the momentos that provided a kind of therapy and a physical remembrance. Ordinary working families might have relied on a locket containing hair of the deceased or a ring. The National Gallery of Victoria has a portrait of an Australian child who died in 1886, painted by the British artist John Everett Millais in 1887. This beautiful and sombre memorial was presumably painted from a photo, sent to Britain by the grieving parents. It was expensive.

Photos may have made the death images more lifelike, but examine a funerary monument from the mid C18th. The wax head and body of Sarah Hare (1689-1744)  was placed in a mahogany box in Stow Bardolph church, Norfolk. She had instructed her family as follows: "I desire to have my face and hands made in wax with a piece of crimson satin thrown like a garment in a picture, hair upon my head and put in a case of mahogany with a glass before." So it may be assumed that the fabrics were taken from Hare's own clothing and the corset was the one she wore in life.

Although wax memorials like this were rare, it seemed to function for the mid C18th Hare family just as the Victorian death photos did 100+ years later.

Sarah Hare funerary monument, 1744

Hare Chapel, Stow Bardolph Church, Norfolk

Excellent photos can be found in Victorian History,  History and traditions of England,  Daily Oddities, Histatic and Mental Floss. Thank you to William Clements Library.

The best Art History texts to read

ARTNEWS ass­emb­led a list of 11 must-haves books that cover art history, from class­ical antiquity to now. Art history is a flexible discipline, subject to revisions as things change. Below I have included the books I know and found excellent.

Gombrich

The Story of Art

1. Penelope & Davies et al, Janson’s History of Art For 60+ years, Horst Janson’s large book was the key text for first Art History courses, promising a wide overview of painting, sc­ulpture and architecture from earliest history on. For the most part, only women artists were criticised. $250.

But a 2006 revision largely wrote Janson out of his own book, though the title remained. Works cited as masterpieces eg James Whistler Whis­t­ler’s Mother (1871) were ignored, while  ignored arts (photo-graphy, decorative arts) were added. As were female artists. And it replaced Janson’s focus on the male artist as genius with a more comprehensive reading that considers race, class and gender. Though this most recent edition (2013) is now old, it remains useful.

2. Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss et al, Art Since 1900 Compiled by contributors associated with October, the art-critical quarterly known for its dense writing, Art Since 1900 was published in 2005 as a corrective to st­and­ard art histories, while being aimed at a broad­er readership. Now published as a 2-volume set, the book retains Oc­t­ober’s thorny attit­ude; it is sceptical of the notion that art em­bodies indiv­idual ex­p­res­sions that transcend time. So the book does­n’t follow the develop­ment of modernism, anti-modern­ism and post-modernism through movements or artists. Rather it treats C20th art to a textual deconstruction with short essays tied to cultural or hist­oric­al events for each year 1900-2003, starting with the publication of Sig­mund Freud’s Interpret­ation of Dreams. $160

3. Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists.  Vasari (1511-74)’s biographies of the Italian Renaissance’s key players introduced the concept of art history we know. Many of his subjects were his near contempor­aries, making the text a primary source for studying the era that ushered in art’s Western tradition. First published in 1550, Lives covers the period bracketed by Cimabue (1240–1302) and Mich­elangelo (1475–1564) and is prefaced with a gen­eral treatise on ar­chitecture, sculpture and painting. Later historians faulted Vas­ari for being too focused on Florence’s and Rome’s artists, though the book was enlarged in 1568 to include Venetian artists like Tit­ian. But while Lives didn’t look beyond Italy, its influence sp­read rap­idly in Europe, the first translation being in the Dutch Republic (1604).

Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition

by Davies & Hofrichter, 2015

5. HH Arnason, History of Modern Art (1968) It has 650+ daunting pages, but ever since its appearance it has served as the essential account of C20th art. The book begins with C19th Paris when artists like Manet, Monet, Gaugin, Van Gogh, Seurat and Cezanne created the first modernism. It contin­ues by recounting the major move­ments: Cubism, Dada, Bauhaus, Surr­ealism, Abstract Express­ionism and Pop Art that impacted the past 100 years of painting, scul­pture and architecture. Using good illust­rations and clear lang­uage, read the story of a rev­olutionary era that trans­formed our thinking about the world and art’s place in it. History of Modern Art is often updated.

6.  Ernest Gombrich The Story of Art, 1950 He noted there was real­ly no such thing as Art; there were only artists. Thus he set the tone of what has become one of art history’s most pop­ular works. Avoiding sweeping discussions of movements, Gombrich focused on individual works of art and the figures behind them. Ex­cept for a few divers­ions into ancient and tribal art, this invar­iab­ly meant Western, male paint­ers. Still Gombrich took a re­mark­able stance for an art historian by maintaining that art his­tory can obscure, as well as clarify the experience of art by relaying inf­or­m­ation unnecessary to the act of seeing. Linking artists as diverse as Raphael and Cez­anne across time, Gombrich insists that they all faced similar chal­lenges in their work. Their intentions matter.

7. Phaidon eds, The Art Book Smart and lavishly produced, this directory of artists across history is valuable. Ranging from the Middle Ages on, the book features 500 artists, each given a lush treatment: a full-colour reproduction of a key work printed with breath-taking det­ail. Each entry has a brief text with a clear career over­view of the artist. Since the artists are pres­ented alphabet­ic­ally, meet unexpected juxtapositions of eras and styles eg one pairing C17th Dutch painter Hendrick ter Brugghen and contemporary Frenchman Daniel Buren. Though The Art Book loves painting, it also covers sculpture, photo­gr­aphy & installations.

Vasari,

Lives of the Artists

8. Richard Shone and Jean-Paul Stonard eds., Books that Shaped Art History: From Gombrich & Greenberg to Alpers & Krauss While an art history book about art history books is self-referential, this compilation of essays covering C20th milestones is a reminder of how closely de­velopments in art are tied to changes. Linking a wide-ranging group of leading sch­olars & curators, The Books that Shaped Art History examines 12 volumes that introduced critical con­cepts understand, starting with Relig­ious Art in C13th France by Émile Mâle in 1898. An early study of medieval art, Mâle’s book was one of the first to use icon­ography to unlock the mean­ing of images. Heinrich Wölfflin’s Princ­iples of Art History (1915) form­ulated the now common method of comparing artworks on style. The Books that Shaped Art History looks closely at how writing has shaped art and vice versa. 

**

To read the books I was not familiar with, go to ARTnews September 7, 2023:

Mary Beard and John Henderson, Classical Art: From Greece to Rome; 

Sharon F Patton, African-American Art; 

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood eds, Art in Theory 1900–2000; and 

Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art and Society)

Beautiful Madeira Islands near Portugal

Madeira (under blue spot), Portugal and Morocco

Wiki

Madeira’s written history started in 1418. It was then the navigators led by João Gonçalves Zarco sighted, after days afloat on the high seas, a small island that saved them from tragedy, a safe harbour they named Porto Santo Island. Next year, 1419, they reached Madeira Island.

Navigators Tristão Vaz Teixeira, Bartolomeu Perestrelo & João Gonçalves Zarco became the first settlers. Portuguese King John I (1357–1433) ordered the colonisation process in 1425 with people of modest means, ex-prisoners of Portugal and some lower nobility. Other settlers were peasant farmers and fishermen hoping for better prospects after the bubonic plagues ravaging Europe. To develop agriculture, settlers cleared parts of the dense forest with long lasting fires.

King John I statue in Lisbon

Wiki

Madeira's settlement history showed its clear potential. The islands were in a perfect geographical location, quickly making it an international point of connection, with fertile volcanic soils & subtropical climate all year. During colonis-ation, some crops were introduced that became central to Madeira's history. Sugar cane brought great economic wealth to the region. Madeira began planting sugarcane, a rare spice then, in c1450 and quickly became a large exporter of sugarcane and a popular sugar stop for European traders. From C16th, the islands were established as one of the most famous sugar producers in the world: White Gold. The use of slave labour in sugar cultivation was launched on a small production model in Madeira in 1452, the earliest place to use slave labour for sugar. This was due to its proximity to Africa’s coast, 400 km to the Canary Islands and c520 km to Morocco; but c1000 km from Portugal!

The cultivation of sugarcane continued until most production moved to Brasil. Then fishing & vegetables were the main products for Madeirans. But in order to develop Madeira's agriculture, it was essential to thin out the dense forest and to build many levadas-aqueducts. They brought water from the island’s wet north to the dry parts in the south. Today there are 2,170 km+ of levadas still used for water transport, hydroelectric power & popular walking trails with great views. Already in 17th & C18ths, Madeira's history was marked by a new culture that boosted the economy.

Madeira was marginally involved in both world wars. There were a handful of German attacks in WW1, during which Germany declared war on Portugal on Mar 1916. In WW2, Portugal was neutral but did agree to take in Gibraltarian humanitarian refugees, until the war’s end.

Madeira gained political autonomy in 1976 after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, when a military coup ended Portugal’s endless dictatorship. Today Madeira’s population = c256,000 people, the majority of whom live on Madeira island and 5,000 people living on Porto Santo island. Of those on Madeira, almost half (105,795) live in the capital, Funchal. The population is almost entirely Catholic (96%) and tourism makes up c30% of the Madeiran GDP.

Old Town Funchal

Museum of Wine and Vine, tasting room

 

With 600+ years of history, this Atlantic archipelago protects a vast collection of monuments, churches, museums and other cultural spaces. Madeira's heritage stands out for its undeniable historical relevance. Walking in the streets of Madeira's towns and cities means enjoying direct contact with that heritage. It is a journey into the past through different architectural styles, historic spaces or artworks from the eras. Among Madeira's heritage, see King Manuel I late Gothic relics, military or modern architecture. And valuable paintings, photos, sculptures, jewellery, furniture and porcelain found in the chapels, churches, cathedrals, forts, palaces, old estates, museums or cultural centres.

The capital city, Funchal, is central to Madeira's cultural heritage. Wander down the streets of this European city to enjoy its rich heritage eg art pieces from 7 museums. These artefacts were chosen for their history and their relationship with Madeira. All the museums are ideal for exploring the archipelago's history, identity and traditions but also for discovering the region's natural wealth. 

Madeira Island vineyards

The special wine produced is globally acclaimed still, and although Madeira is mostly made with red grapes, white grapes are also common. Since C17th, Madeira’s main export has been wine, used in many traditional Portuguese dishes. In Santana municipality on Madeira’s north coast, the Museum of Wine and Vine is housed in an old restored cellar, examining wine’s complex production process. Three wine presses have been restored in the cellar, offering visitors the chance to inspect these traditional spaces and utensils used in viticulture. Additionally the Museum also has an explanatory section on the cycles of the vine. Note the Museum includes a shop for buying traditional products!

The Solar do Aposento is a traditional, wealthy house preserved in the Madeiran architectural tradition. Built mid C18th in Ponta Delgada, this agricultural property’s building came with out-buildings; the ground floor was occupied by wine stores, next to a wine press. So visiting Solar do Aposento means witnessing island life in 18th & C19ths.  Recently the site gained a small chapel and extensions near the kitchen. The interior explores various decorative styles. Most of the furniture are of C19th Madeiran origin, with pieces in mahogany and chestnut wood, like contemporary English furniture. And also Portuguese furniture from the late 18th and C19ths. And see important paintings and sculptures eg the C17th oil painting of Our Lady with Child and a polychrome, gilded upholstered wooden sculpture of St Anthony (mid-C17th). Also see a carved and gilded wooden mirror from Queen Donna Maria I (1734–1816).

Funchal family houses and beach rental houses

The Madeira Story Centre explains the archipelago’s rich history. Situated near the cable car station in central Funchal, the Centre teaches via an exhibition of authentic historical objects and interactive multi-media equipment. The Museum’s halls are organised in themes: Volcanic Origins; Legends of Discovery; Discovery of Madeira; Turmoil and Trade; Strategic Island; Madeira Development; After Navigation; and Exploring Madeira. From volcanic genesis to pirate attacks, going through the Centre suits the entire family. See the panoramic terrace, to scan Funchal city and to taste the local cuisine.

Madeira Flower Festival

each year in April-May

Beyond Madeira

The paradisal nature of the two Atlantic islands became famous around the world. Some of the European aristocracy, attracted by the therapeutic properties of this Eden, began to take up temporary residence here. Madeira flourished with tourism, and still does today.

Durand-Ruel, Impressionist art, Geelong

Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922) was an art-dealer of belief; when the young Impressionists were ridiculed by French dealers, he bought their work and nurtured their cause, slowly influencing public taste in Europe. In 1865 he opened his first gallery in Paris. This dealer shaped the art market by discovering artists who later became global favourites.

Paul Durand-Ruel in his gallery, c1910

erinhanson.com

In the Franco-Prussian War 1870, Durand-Ruel packed his stock and left Paris for London. An artist there advised him to check out the work of two chaps named Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. She said: this artist, Claude Monet, will surpass us all. Pissarro heard about the Monets Durand-Ruel bought, and not wanting to miss out, Pissarro left his paintings at the gallery. Durand-Ruel wrote to him saying “I am so sorry I missed you. I am delighted with the paintings you left. Could you name a price and bring me others?”

In late 1871 Durand-Ruel returned to Paris to meet Degas & Auguste Renoir, and started buying ALL the works in their studios. Buying so much so early was unusual. Other dealers would buy 10 works, wait for them to sell and then came back to buy more. But although it allowed him to corner the market, it was a risky gamble to invest his resources in an unloved art movement. It actually took 10-20 years to sell some of the paintings. There was no ready audience eg for Monet’s misty London’s Green Park, Manet’s battle between ships in America’s Civil War and Degas’ pale ballerinas.

Before he met Durand-Ruel, Monet had been so poor he tried to drown himself in the Seine. Monet and his painter friends had slaved away in poverty for years. Their abstractions of colour & light had met only ridicule from Paris’ experts. Durand-Ruel bought Renoir’s Boating Party Luncheon in 1882 and Monet’s Stacks of Wheat in 1891, 100+ works in Musee d’Orsay Paris’ collection and 100 paintings in Dr Albert Barnes’ Foundation Phil. Durand-Ruel bought c200 Manets, 1,000+ Monets, 1,500 Renoirs, 800 Pissarros, 400 Alfred Sisleys, 400 Mary Cassatts: c5,000 Impressionist works!

In 1876 he filled 3 rooms of his Le Peletier Gallery for a 2nd Impressionist show, but French critics were vicious. Durand-Ruel stayed loyal to his artists, giving them one-man shows and supporting them when they needed stipends & loans. When Monet bought his Giverny property, he bought it with advance monies from art he would present at Durand-Ruel’s gallery. Sadly Durand-Ruel did go broke and artists were anxious about their careers. Monet, painting on the Norman coast, wanted to destroy his canvases so Durand-Ruel wrote: Please don’t do that! I’ll send you money. Just send me the canvases in return.

In 1862 art student Ren­oir met Jean Frédéric Baz­ille, Mon­et and Sisley at Charles Gleyre's Paris stu­d­io, then met Edgar De­gas, Pissar­ro, Paul Cezanne and Edouard Manet via these contacts. These men socialis­ed in coffee shops and slowly created a theory base for their Impressionist style. Renoir also met Paul Durand-Ruel, in this time. At this happy meeting, Durant-Ruel agreed to be Ren­oir's agent and Renoir remained the favourite artist.

Monet, Haystacks Midday 1890

Geelong Gallery

Pissarro wrote the group's written manifesto and was the only artist to participate in all 8 Impressionist shows. At the 1st exhibition in 1874, there were 30 artists. Pissarro showed 5 of his paintings, out of the 135 on display. Even when Pissarro's work was finally beginning to attract buyers, a dealer’s support was always critical. His paintings were some of the first Impressionist works purchased by Durand-Ruel.

By 1876, Salon jurors clearly disliked Impressionist art and would not accommodate their paintings. So the young artists decided to get back together and rethink their plan. Monet, Renoir, Degas, Berthe Morisot, Sisley and Pissarro remained at the core. And then Jean-Baptiste Millet, (Jean-François Millet's brother, joined in. Gustave Caillebotte, who started out as a collector, ended up half funding the project. They opened in Ap 1876 and took 3 rooms in the Durand-Ruel Gallery on rue le Peletier, off of the Blvd Haussman. The number of paintings on display rose to 252, but the number of artists declined to 19. The critics were rude. Again! 

By the 3rd exhibition, cashed-up artist Caillebotte fully funded & organised the project, so planning began in his Rue Miromesnil home. Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, Sisley and Degas were as usual the steering commit­tee. Manet may have been in attendance too. But it was Caillebotte who risked not making a profit until money from exhibition sales arrived. They rented a spacious apartment at 6 rue Le Peletier, not far from the 2nd exhibition at Durand-Ruel Gallery, a year after the 1876 exhibition: Ap 1877. The number of works remained the same but only 18 artists participated.

But what a risk-taker he was. For 20 years 1871-90, Durand-Ruel spent hundreds of thousands of francs on pictures by the unknown and unloved Impressionists. Even after he spent millions on 12,000 paintings, incl 1,000 Monets, 1,500 Renoirs, 800 Pissarros, 400 each by Degas & Sisley, 200 Manets & 400 Cassatts. Durand-Ruel made and lost fortunes!

The other Impressionists were not pleased when Renoir went to the Dark Side i.e the Official Salon, but they were thrilled when Renoir returned to the Impressionist Exhib­itions in the 1880s. He submitted 25 of his paintings to the 7th Impress­ionist exhibition in 1882 in the Durand-Ruel gal­l­­ery. The next year, Durand-Ruel gave Renoir his first maj­or one-man show, showing 70 works! Once Durand-Ruel bought Renoir’s The Umbrellas and sold it to a collector, Renoir started to enjoy the pat­ron­age of weal­thy collectors and dealers.

There were other progressive, risk-taking art agents working in Paris in late C19th-early 20th. Amboise Vollard (1867-1939) was a fine art-dealer in the late C19th and when he exhibited the Impressionists’ art, he raised the rep­utation of individual artists and Impressionism in general. Berthe Weill (1865–1951) and Paul Guill­aume (1891-1934) were other key French art-dealers. But the rest of the Paris-based dealers seemed to be German-raised and educated: Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1884-1979), who dealt mainly in Post-Impressionism; Leonce(1879-1947) and brother Paul Rosenberg (1881-1959); Gaston and Jos Bernhein-Jeune’s father was a German art-dealer; and art-dealer/publisher Paul Cassirer who opened his Berlin art gallery in 1898 to specialise in French impressionist art.

Geelong Gallery

Georges d’Espagnat, Autumn afternoon,1899

Geelong Gallery catalogue

UK’s first major show honouring Durand-Ruel was in National Gallery London 2015. Inventing Impressionism included c85 works, among them some of Impressionism’s greatest master-pieces which had never seen in the UK. Most of the works had been dealt by Durand-Ruel, borrowed from the key European and American collections he helped form.

Geelong is the second biggest city in Victoria. In its 130th year, Geelong Gallery and Art Exhibitions Australia, are proud to present Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel art-dealer among the artists, the most ambitious international exhibition in Geelong’s history. The exhibition, 20 June-11 Oct 2026, flows over 5 galleries, presenting 70+ works from 2 generations of Impressionist artists, most from private collections in France and never before seen in Australia, re Durand-Ruel’s remarkable legacy.

Albert André, Montmartre, view of Boulevard de Clichy, 1921

Geelong Gallery

Throughout the Gallery, works by Monet, Renoir, Morisot and Pissarro hang in direct dialogue with a second generation of painters long overshadowed by their famous predecessors: Albert Andre, Georges d’Espagnat, Gustave Loiseau, Maxime Maufra and Henry Moret. Supported by Durand-Ruel in Impressionism’s late years, these artists are now being rediscovered, and Geelong Gallery is offering visitors time to appreciate their work. Never before touring outside Europe-UK, Discovering the Impressionists is the first of its kind to trace their story via the art-dealer who made it possible.