Through History
A new exhibition at the Ashmolean showcases the dazzling colours of Victorian society
When considering the Victorian period in England, it is hard not to think of a dismal time characterised by hard labour, poverty, stuffy societal rules, dreary landscapes covered by smog and a grief-stricken Queen in mourning. However, it was during the 1800s that Britain experienced a colour revolution, with scientific advancements leading to the development and production of a brilliant new array of colours available to dye and paint with. Artists and designers, as well as everyday Victorians, embraced this new colourful existence resulting in the Victorian era being one of the brightest in history.
At the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, a new exhibition entitled The Colour Revolution: Victorian Art, Fashion & Design brings together 140 artefacts and objects from the period that epitomise and demonstrate the brilliant, colourful artistic landscape of the time that lit up Victorian society. Works by
John Ruskin, JMW Turner, Ramon Casas and Dante Gabriel Rossetti all feature in the collection to highlight the Victorian obsession with colour. Other pieces featuring hummingbirds, peacocks, kingfishers and beetles showcase the colourful inspiration taken by the Victorians from the natural world. In combating the preconceived vision of bleak Victorian England, the Ashmolean’s dazzling exhibition highlights the brightness of Victorian culture.
MAUVEINE DAY DRESS
The first aniline colour produced was mauveine, a shocking shade of purple. This day dress, from the late 1860s and worn by Mary Eleanor Cunliffe, was dyed using mauveine, and still retains its brilliant hue.
BEETLE JEWELLERY
This set of jewellery, made of the bodies of 46 South American weevils, was owned by Lady Granville. Beetles became popular in Victorian designs due to a new interest in the natural world and an attraction to their iridescent colours
THE YELLOW BOOK
The ‘Decadent’ movement of the late 1800s embraced bright colours, particularly yellow. The Yellow Book, a periodic avant-garde journal associated with decadence, began to be published in London in 1894. The iconic yellow cover was designed by Aubrey Beardsley.
STUDY OF A KINGFISHER
Polymath John Ruskin experimented with m
