I like this party, I do. I feel quite so Arty, don't you?

Dearest Emily,

Following your lead since you have already seen this and I hear your preference is for Rossetti, I thought I would take myself along to the Christie's Preview last night- which was nice.

Eight rooms dear girl, lots to see, and all themed- though I would have preferred it chronologically. I like seeing what came first, and how it all progressed best of all.

What strikes me seeing it all in 2012, is how wonderful it is to see a group of passionate people devoting their talents to a cause. I rather like the obsession with painting the beauty of the simplest of lives- and the romanticism they gave to this. It was clearly a novelty in an Empiric society.

Seeing all this work now makes me see it anew. My recollections of The Pre-Raphaelites date back to a time when GiGi was a teenager. As a keen Fashion Student of 1977, I had overdosed on what had gone just prior to the up-coming Punk scene. Pre-Raphaelite influence through Fashion had sent Henna hair dye sails soaring as the Titian Head of hair was all the rage. Biba had adopted the Pre-Raph colour-palette and Fleetwood Mac had set the stage akin to Tableaux. My school desk reeked of the Patchouli oil rubbed in by my Hippy predecessor, and to be frank dear Em, I was so over it all!

Art-rock just seemed so more me!

This overkill spilled over into the early eighties, with middle England lapping up the tapestry designs through Liberty, and Kaffe Fassett made his career out of it. By the time Christies had their last Pre-Raph sale in 1984 I think it had somewhat run its popularity course.

But seeing it all again now, I can see it with fresh eyes. It is particularly interesting to me how the Victorians reacted to a World that was fast-changing. The Economic climate, Industrialisation and the birth of the Railway. Many of these fast-changing aspects are so akin to the world we are in right now. Perhaps that is why they fascinate me so much at the moment.

I love the 'Back to the Land' attitude they favoured and it being the stimulus for beauty.

Any-how my lovely, the point your Granny is making is that the Zeit-geist is as the Zeit-geist does. It's reaction, and then reaction against after over-kill.

Plus ca change, plus que c'est la meme chose as that French-lot say ( them who in fact carried on more successfully with the Pre-Raph muse... )

GiGi's fave is Burne-Jones! His beauties somehow feel the most appreciated by the Artist.