Ford Madox Brown, 1821-1893

By Valerie Kniazeva

The Last of England, 1855, oil on canvas

The mind of an artist is as complex as they get, working to express themselves, others, and the world around them through something visual but intangible. At times it is all too easy to forget the humanity of artists, enamored as we are with their works. There is always, though, so much more to their lives than their art, as in the case of Ford Madox Brown.

Gripped by the developments of the Industrial Revolution, everything was changing as  Brown was born on April 16, 1821. While part of an English family, Brown was born in France and received an unstable education due to the constant migration that the family underwent throughout his early life. From Belgium back to France, to London, Rome, and back to London as his final destination, Brown faced tragedy, love and inspiration in every new city he visited.  

Brown witnessed the losses of most of his family, including two of his children, and was devasted by death, seeming as it did to curl its fingers around so many loved ones. In facing these tragedies, his art explored many shades and subjects of death and broodiness. And it was not only his art that witnessed such shifts, but also his mindset which informed his perspectives on modern European society. Paintings such as Work (1850), The Last of England (1855), and The Irish Girl (1860), express an ‘unadorned reality’ that Brown viewed, studying the hierarchy of the Victorian society and especially the lower working classes. Brown worked to examine such subjects, attempting to present them as the real people of the unbalanced world.

Particularly interesting in Brown’s works is his insertion of himself and his second wife Emma Hill into most of his paintings. This was one of his few expressions of intimacy in a life marked by suffering. Brown and his wife were consistently able to ‘travel’ by proxy through paintings, as demonstrated by The Last of England (1855). The work was inspired by one of his good friends, Thomas Woolner, who emigrated to Australia, as did many citizens of the UK at this time. In using his own visage to tell the stories of his friends, Brown brings himself and his wife on journeys with many companions, finding refuge and closeness by putting himself into their shoes. 

Brown was influenced greatly by Romanticism but kept the realistic style that the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood envisioned. He was further inspired by the likes of Hans Holbein and other earlier artists and danced with many different styles. Brown balanced these varied styles delicately, but the British Academy was becoming wary of such trends, leaving the artist to lead an “anti-Academy” society for artists. Part of the mission was to turn to satire and caricature as he worked to treat the working-class subjects with the ‘candour and respect’ that they deserved. The Hogarth Club (as this breakaway group was called) ran for three years, of which Brown led the first solo exhibition and became known as a pioneer among his peers as the group continued to challenge the dominance of “official” Academic art. 

Not just an artist, but also an important figure in social history of the Victorian era, Ford Madox Brown helped make artists more independent of the Academy and led some of the first private exhibitions of the new age. His legacy is defined by his courage to push through the tragedies in his personal life and help to bring reform, making Brown an admirable figure crucial to the second half of the 19th century in Britain.

Bibliography

"Brown, Ford Madox, 1821–1893 | Art UK." Art UK. Accessed April 11, 2024. https://artuk.org/discover/artists/brown-ford-madox-18211893.

"Ford Madox Brown." Tate. Accessed April 11, 2024. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/ford-madox-brown-65.

"Ford Madox Brown." The Art Story. Accessed April 11, 2024. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/brown-ford-madox/.

Randles, Sarah. "Unlocking ‘Work’ by Ford Madox Brown." Manchester Art Gallery. Last modified June 30, 2021. https://manchesterartgallery.org/unlocking-work-by-ford-madox-brown/.