[W]hile the male model was revered by (male) artists as a paradigm of physical and moral well-being, the female was treated as little better — or even worse — than a prostitute.... artists who appeared to show concern for the moral turpitude of the female model were invariably compromised by their own subjective fascination with the model’s sexuality.
During the second half of the nineteenth century the female model was driven by the guardians of public morals from the academy into the private world of the studio, a situation which, paradoxically, increased the aura of social contact and sexual frisson surrounding the relationship between the male artist and his female model. The reality, as [Martin] Postle observes, was far more mundane, as the majority of "gentlemen" artists reserved a disdain for their working-class models, whom they regarded as social, intellectual and moral inferiors. It was against this background that models — long treated as the flotsam and jetsam of society — began to form their own professional networks. Indeed, many models had aspirations beyond modelling, carving out careers as dancers, actors, and even as artists. [Desmarais et al. 2]
Female Models
- Rossetti's Real Fair Ladies: Lizzie, Fanny, and Jane
- Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal (1829-1862)
- Alexa Wilding
- Alexa Wilding (discussed as she appeared in in Rossetti's La Ghirlandata)
- Fanny Cornforth, the Rogue Elephant
- Dorothy Dene
- Agnes Leefe (Atkinson Grimshaw's muse)
- Mary Lloyd - The Face of an Angel (in 5 parts)
- Maud Cox and Professional Model, by Frank Brangwyn
Male Models
Related Material
- Ellen Monroe becomes a sculptor’s model
- Pictures from Italy (artists' models)
- A Look at the Model, by E. J. Gregory, A.R.A.
- Illustration for "The Model's Story" by Rebecca Solomon
- The Pre-Raphaelite Body
- Glasgow School of Art — one of the life rooms (photograph of 1900)
- A Sculptor's Model by Sir Laurence Alma Tadema
- The Artist's Studio by James Clark
Bibliography
Desmarais, Jane, Martin Postle and William Vaughan. Model and Supermodel: The Artists' Model in British Art and Culture. (This has a very useful introduction, and comprehensive chapters on the Victorian model by Elizabeth Prettejohn, Alison Smith and others) Manchester: Machester University Press. 2006.
James, Russell. The Pocket Guide to Victorian Artists & Their Models. Barnsley, Yorks.: Remember When (imprint of Pen & Sword Books), 2011.
Jiminez, Jill Berk, ed., with associate ed. Joanna Banham. Dictionary of Artist's Models. New York and London: Routledge, 2001.
Created 25 September 2024