Fig. 2. The Brazen Serpent, 1872. (1878). Cartoon for stained glass, black chalk and wash. Private collection, on loan to Manchester City Galleries. ©Manchester City Galleries
Fig. 1. Pruning (The Woodcutter), 1863. Made by Morris, Marshall Faulkner & Co., after a design by Brown. Courtesy William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest
An important exhibition of the work of the Victorian Pre-Raphaelite artist and stained glass designer, Ford Madox Brown (1821 -1893), has opened at the Manchester Art Gallery in northern England. Madox Brown joined William Morris’s design company (Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.), in 1861.
Over the next thirteen years he produced about 115 designs for windows before leaving the firm in 1874. The exhibition includes 140 works by the artist, including some of his black and white cartoons for stained glass.
Examples of his designs can be seen in a number of churches including those in Bonchurch (Isle of Wight); Cambridge, Jesus College; Cheddleton (Staffs); Dedworth (Berks); Doddington (Cambs); Durham, St Oswald; Haltwhistle (Northumberland); Knaresborough (Yorks); Langton Green (Kent); Enfield, (London); Madeley (Staffs); Middleton Cheney (Northants); Rodbourne (Wilts); Scarborough (Yorks); Sculthorpe (Norfolk); Selsley (Glos); Tamworth (Staffs); Troutbeck (Cumbria); and Waterford (Herts).
The exhibition is accompanied by an excellent catalogue written by the curator, Julian Treuherz, with contributions from Angela Thirlwell and Kenneth Bendiner.
Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer is on show at Manchester Art Gallery until Sunday, 29 January 2012. Entry costs £8 (£6 concessions) with free entry for under 18s and Manchester Art Gallery Friends. Copies of the catalogue are available from the Art Gallery shop and on online.
For more information visit the website.
