PORTRAIT OF EDWARD BURNE-JONES (1898) † NCM 1900-685 The painting in the background is Edward Burne-Jones’s Perseus and the Sea Nymphs from his Perseus series, which you can also see in this exhibition.
This print is taken from the portrait of Edward BurneJones painted by his son Philip Burne-Jones towards the end of the sitter’s life. Sir Philip Burne-Jones (1861-1926), a wellknown painter in his own right, specialised in landscape and portraiture, and developed a distinctive type of small portraiture of which this is the first example. The portrait was started in 1897 and completed in 1898, the year of his father’s death. It shows the artist in the upstairs studio of his home. Edward BurneJones produced an enormous output of works throughout his lifetime, which could not have been achieved without intense application. Phillip recalled that his father would often work at home and that he rarely saw his father idle or without his brushes. In fact, even when on a brief break from painting to visit relatives, Edward BurneJones would not surrender his palette or brushes.
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