John Ruskin (1819–1900)

Image credit: The Ruskin Museum

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Arthur Severn soon abandoned the sober Civil Service for art. Lazy, in 1871, he opportunistically married Joan Ruskin Agnew (1846–1924), the cousin, eventual guardian, of John Ruskin. He was generous to them, but following his 1878 break-down, they lived at Brantwood. Joan had to mediate between Ruskin and her socially ambitious but resentful drone of a husband. Charitable though he was, Ruskin resented being regarded as a meal-ticket. This antipathy is obvious in this unsympathetic portrait. Arthur Severn, deliberately or sub-consciously, paints with anger, spite, hatred: he depicts a victim, not a person of greatness. There is no compassion, just cruel enjoyment of the sitter’s senility. A desperate, frightened, drugged Ruskin, a prisoner, trapped inside himself, looks out in anguish, unable to fight against what has happened to him – or to understand why.

The Ruskin Museum

Coniston

Title

John Ruskin (1819–1900)

Date

1897

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 61 x W 51 cm

Accession number

1989.594

Acquisition method

gift from the artist, 1901

Work type

Painting

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The Ruskin Museum

Yewdale Road, Coniston, Cumbria LA21 8DU England

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