Lady of Shalott

Lady of Shalott was a stylish oil painting from British Pre-Raphaelite painter JW Waterhouse. This article discusses the Lady of Shalott painting in great detail and pays particular attention to it's symbolism as was common in the art movements of that period. JW Waterhouse himself was one of the major stars within 19th century British art and his reputation has remained strong up to the present day.

For this painting the artist took an existing poem and used certain extracts which talked of a female character who had decided to set sail by boat in desperation at the unrequited love which she held for Camelot. The sadness she was feeling at the time was represented by the three candles at the front of her boat, as two were out and this had great meaning at the time that Waterhouse painted Lady of Shalott in the mid 19th century.

Some believe this painting to be a combination of Pre-Raphaelite, with the desirable woman as main focus, and Neo-classicism which refers to the style of landscape around which the boat is surrounded. This art movement was around earlier than Waterhouse and it is certainly possible that it had some significant impact on at least part of his work. Waterhouse's career came towards the end of the span of the Pre-Raphaelites and as such his style took in much of what others had already achieved and then added considerably more thanks to his own creative mind and skilful techniques.

We can easily conclude that the Lady of Shalott painting is generally considered to be the most loved painting to have come from Waterhouse's career, at least within the British art public who have proclaimed it as a crucial piece within their homegrown Pre-Raphaelite art movement. Waterhouse was a master artist who created scenes of beauty based solely on the briefest of stories told by his favourite authors. The artist's ability to bring literature to life through his art has ensured his abilities have become well known right across Europe and in North America as well.

Lady of Shalott itself has gone on to become one of the most reproduced of all paintings from the 19th century and it is difficult to see interest in it reducing any time soon, what with art print reproductions becoming so affordable in recent years and also the greater frequency of Pre-Raphaelite exhibitions which helps to promote the best this art movement has to offer.

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