Ruskin, Turner, and the pre-Raphaelites / Robert Hewison, Ian Warrell, and Stephen Wildman.

"John Ruskin was the first critic to make his reputation by championing contemporary art: first by defending Turner, in his book Modern Painters, and then by giving his decisive support to the avant-garde, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He bacame one of the defining voices of the nineteenth century, engaging not only in the discussion of art and architecture, but in the social issues of his age. Ruskin, Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites, which marks the centenary of Ruskin's death, recovers his role as a contemporary critic by bringing together many of the masterpieces that he wrote about, and exploring his personal links with some of the greatest painters of the Victorian period. He was also an artist in his own right, and Ruskin's finest drawings are used to demonstrate the arguments of a critic for whom 'All great art is praise.' Also featured are many works that were in Ruskin's own art collection"--Provided by the publisher.