Autumn Leaves (painting)
Encyclopedia
Autumn Leaves is a painting by John Everett Millais
exhibited at the Royal Academy
in 1856. It was described by the critic John Ruskin
as "the first instance of a perfectly painted twilight." Millais's wife Effie
wrote that he had intended to create a picture that was "full of beauty and without a subject".
The picture depicts four girls in the twilight collecting and raking together fallen leaves in a garden. They are making a bonfire, but the fire itself is invisible, only smoke emerging from between the leaves. The two girls on the left, modelled on Millias' sisters-in-law Alice and Sophy Gray
, are portrayed in middle class clothing of the era; the two on the right are in rougher, working class clothing.
The painting has been seen as one of the earliest influences on the development of the aesthetic movement.
argues that Millais was influenced by the poetry of Tennyson
, at whose house he had once helped to rake together autumn leaves. Warner suggests that lines from Tennyson's song "Tears, Idle Tears
" in The Princess (1847) may have influenced him:
The apple held by the youngest girl at the right may allude to the loss of childhood innocence implied by reference to original sin
and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden
.
After a positive review from F.G. Stephens
, Millais wrote to him that he had "intended the picture to awaken by its solemnity the deepest religious reflection. I chose the subject of burning leaves as most calculated to produce this feeling."
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Early life:...
exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
in 1856. It was described by the critic John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
as "the first instance of a perfectly painted twilight." Millais's wife Effie
Effie Gray
Euphemia Chalmers Millais, Lady Millais née Gray, known as Effie Gray, Effie Ruskin or Effie Millais was the wife of the critic John Ruskin, but left her husband without the marriage being consummated, and after the annulment of the marriage, married his protégé, the Pre-Raphaelite painter John...
wrote that he had intended to create a picture that was "full of beauty and without a subject".
The picture depicts four girls in the twilight collecting and raking together fallen leaves in a garden. They are making a bonfire, but the fire itself is invisible, only smoke emerging from between the leaves. The two girls on the left, modelled on Millias' sisters-in-law Alice and Sophy Gray
Sophy Gray (Pre-Raphaelite muse)
Sophia Margaret Gray , later Sophy Caird, was a Scottish-born model for her brother-in-law, the pre-Raphaelite painter, John Everett Millais. She was the younger sister of Euphemia Gray, who married Millais in 1855 after the annulment of her marriage to John Ruskin.-Background:Sophy Gray was born...
, are portrayed in middle class clothing of the era; the two on the right are in rougher, working class clothing.
The painting has been seen as one of the earliest influences on the development of the aesthetic movement.
Interpretations
The painting has typically been interpreted as a representation of the transience of youth and beauty, a common theme in Millais's art. Malcolm WarnerMalcolm Warner
Malcolm John Warner is an English art historian and curator who lives in the United States.Warner was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. He has been Deputy Director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas since 2007, having been senior curator since 2002...
argues that Millais was influenced by the poetry of Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
, at whose house he had once helped to rake together autumn leaves. Warner suggests that lines from Tennyson's song "Tears, Idle Tears
Tears, Idle Tears
"Tears, Idle Tears" is a lyric poem written in 1847 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson , the Victorian-era English poet. Published as one of the "songs" in his The Princess , it is regarded for the quality of its lyrics. A Tennyson anthology describes the poem as "one of the most Virgilian of Tennyson's...
" in The Princess (1847) may have influenced him:
- Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean.
- Tears from the depth of some divine despair
- Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
- In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
- And thinking on the days that are no more.
The apple held by the youngest girl at the right may allude to the loss of childhood innocence implied by reference to original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
.
After a positive review from F.G. Stephens
Frederic George Stephens
Frederic George Stephens was an art critic, and one of the two 'non-artistic' members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood....
, Millais wrote to him that he had "intended the picture to awaken by its solemnity the deepest religious reflection. I chose the subject of burning leaves as most calculated to produce this feeling."