Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898)

Brief Biography of the Artist

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (28 August 1833 – 17 June 1898) was an English painter and decorative artist. He is best known as one of the leading figures of the second Romantic phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. His paintings often depicted mystical worlds full of medieval legend and classical mythology, and they played a significant role in the Aesthetic Movement. Alongside William Morris, he was involved in the rejuvenation of stained glass art across Britain; his works include windows in St Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham; and St Edmund Hall and Christ Church of the University of Oxford.

Read full Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burne-Jones

Burne-Jones in the Archive Collections

Brian Sewell Archive

Brian Sewell (1931–2015) was a British art historian, author, critic and media personality. His highly acclaimed work for the Evening Standard and other publications led him to write on a huge range of subjects, but particularly the arts. The archive contains one file which, alongside handwritten notes and research material, includes Sewell’s reviews of exhibitions featuring Burne-Jones between 1999 and 2008.

The Brian Sewell archive has been catalogued and the descriptions can be searched online.

Paul Oppé Archive

Adolph Paul Oppé (1878–1957) was a British art historian, critic, art collector and museum official. Paul Oppé’s specialism was in eighteenth and nineteenth-century British art history, hence his interest in Burne-Jones. He wrote about Burne-Jones in Volume 3 of the unique and highly personal set of notebooks, collectively known as the ‘Black Books’, that he maintained between 1894–1955.

The Paul Oppé archive has been catalogued and the descriptions can be searched online.

The above archive collections contain substantial amounts of material for Burne-Jones. You may also discover smaller quantities of material, such as individual letters referencing the artist, research notes and photographs, by searching the online catalogue and boxlists.

Burne-Jones in the Photographic Archives

• The Paul Mellon Centre Photo Archive consists of mounted reference images depicting works of art. It has been digitised in its entirety and contains around 450 images associated with Burne-Jones. These document the breadth of media used by Burne-Jones and include photographs of figurative studies, stained glass works and paintings. Most mounts in the collection feature extensive typed reference notes documenting the sale, exhibition and publication history of the referenced objects.
• The Tate Photo Archive has not been digitised but contains seven folders of images associated with Burne-Jones. It can be accessed on site with an appointment.

Burne-Jones in the Library

The Library has large amounts of material on this artist.

• Books – over 50 books, including biographies, artist monographs and art criticism dating from the late nineteenth century to the present day.
• Exhibition catalogues – around 20 exhibition catalogues from regional and national public museums and private galleries in the UK, Europe and around the world.
• Journal articles – 20 journal articles that have been individually catalogued from journals such as Apollo, The Art Annual, British Art Journal and Burlington Magazine.
• Published and unpublished PhD and other dissertations from the USA and Germany.

Burne-Jones in Paul Mellon Centre Publications

The Paul Mellon Centre has published one book featuring the artist, entitled William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones: Interlacings (2008) by Carol Arscott.