New Ford Madox Brown exhibition
August 12 2011
Picture: Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery will hold a new exhibition on Ford Madox Brown in September. It will be the first major exhibition of his work since 1964, and will assemble his greatest paintings, such as Work and The Last of England.
The show will also display this newly discovered work, The Seraph's Watch (A Reminiscence of the Old Master), found by the exhibition's curator, Julian Treuherz. Lost for many years, the composition was known only from a partial copy by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which was sold recently at Sotheby's.
This picture is apparently Madox Brown's second version of the subject - the first, painted in 1846, is also lost. The fact that it is a replica may explain some of the rather awkward aspects of the newly discovered work. The drapery and drawing of the hands looks a little unusual.
The exhibition runs from 24th Sept 2011 - 29th Jan 2012. Full details here.