The Pre-Raphaelites

This is a stunningly beautiful book filled with incredibly beautiful art. The narrative text is well written.

This book is the most amazing introduction to the Pre-Raphaelites! The pictures are absolutely amazing, especially since this is an over-sized book and therefore the details in the photos are amazing! I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about the Pre-Raphaeilite Artists (in general) and also to anyone that loves the Pre-Raphaelite works of Art & needs a good introduction!

I am a learning hobbyist artist interested mostly in portraits. An artist friend told me that I might be interested in the pictures of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Pre-Ra...What?" When I bought this book I had not intended to read much of the text. I was primarily attracted to the beautiful pictures in the book, which I hope to learn from. It turns out that Christopher Wood's rendition of the biographies of these remarkable group of mid- to late 19th century English artists was exceptionally well weaved and readable. I got a very good education on the history of the Pre-Rephaelite art with fascinating details of the lives of the key players and, of course, beautiful, large-format reproduction of their best work. I came across a number of books on this subject. Some have better and more detail prose, but none comes close to this one in terms selection and the quality of reproduction of the pictures.

I'm so thrilled to see that this book has been reissued after being out of print for several years. I found the original edition of this book in a frame shop in 1992, and bought it on a whim. Through this book I fell in love with the art and artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and now own over fifty books on the subject, while prints by Evelyn de Morgan and John William Waterhouse decorate my walls. This book introduced me to the beauty and majesty of Pre-Raphaelite art, so I'd love it for that reason alone. However, years later, I still find that Wood's survey of Pre-Raphaelitism is the best I've ever seen. Full of 'academic' information, it's still easily read cover to cover, and the full color pictures are exquisite. If you have even the slightest interest in Pre-Raphaelite art, you simply must own this book. It's both the PRB Primer and Bible, as far as I'm concerned.

This book is the most beautifully, and thoroughly done book on the Pre-Raphaelites that I have ever read. The prints are exceptional and the history reads like a novel. It was in this book that I found the passion to paint and I have never stopped. I recommend it to anyone looking for the excitement in art.