The second half of the 19th century was a dynamic period in Britain’s art history. Three generations of young, rebellious artists and designers revolutionized the visual arts in Britain by challenging the new industrial world around them.

Victorian Radicals brings together an extensive array of pieces that represents the avant-garde practices of the Victorian era, many of which have never been exhibited outside of the United Kingdom. The collection of paintings, drawings, decorative arts and watercolors explores the relationship between art and nature, questions of class and gender identity, the value of the handmade versus machine production and the search for beauty in an age of industry.

Masterworks of pioneering artists like Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddall are on display in Victorian Radicals at Oklahoma City Museum of Art from Saturday, October 13, 2018, until Sunday, January 6, 2019.

Image credits:

Image 1: Henry Wallis, Chatterton (The Death of Chatterton), 1856–58. Oil on mahogany panel, 6 13/16 x 9 15/16 in., Birmingham Museums Trust (1918P43). © Birmingham Museums Trust
Kate Bunce, Musica, ca. 1895–97. Oil on canvas, 40 3/16 x 30 3/16 x 1 3/4 in., Birmingham Museums Trust (1897P17). © Birmingham Museums Trust