Portrait of Effie - Masterpiece Jigsaw Puzzle
Marie Spartali Stillman (British 1844-1927)
Laurel Ink 500 piece puzzles measure 18" x 24".
Retail $12.95

Portrait of Effie - Masterpiece Jigsaw Puzzle
Marie Spartali Stillman (British 1844-1927) (from back of puzzle box)
Marie Spartali was born in 184 in Middlesex, England. Her father was Michael Spartali, and import-export merchant who had been the Greek Consul-General in London. Growing up in the rich, cultured Greek community of London inspired Spartali, and she showed early artistic promise. In her early twenties, she spent six years training under Ford Madox Brown. Madox Brown's paintings were commonly categorized as Pre-Raphaelite, although he was not officially a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Pre-Raphaelite paintings are typically recognized for their portrayal of significant subject matter inspired by literature, poetry, religion, mythology, and medieval legends. This art form surfaced during the reign of Queen Victoria and was a form of rebellion toward the "formula-driven" art that was being produced by the Royal Academy. The Pre-Raphaelites believed the Academy's art at that time was in opposition to nature, adhering to strict arrangements and idealistic representations. The Brotherhood reveled by striving for a purity they believed was conveyed by the great Italian artists who predated the Renaissance artist, Raphael. Pre-Raphaelite paintings are generally characterized by brightness, attention to detail, truth to nature, and romantic depictions of women.

The Pre-Raphaelite movement was started in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt. This movement helped pave the way for modern art. Although Spartali did not officially belong to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, she did subscribe to their philosophy and eventually exhibited her own work at the Royal Academy in 1867. She was inspired by Italian literature, and she often painted in watercolor. Landscapes, flower arrangements, and groupings of literary and historical figures were common subjects of her work.

In addition to being an artist in her own right, Spartali's beauty was renowned, and she posed for several artists including Rossetti and Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, and English painter, illustrator and designer trained and mentored by Rossetti.

In 1871, despite her family's reservations, Spartali married William James Stillman, and artist and journalist with a long association to The Times of London. Stillman was a widower with three young children. The newly married couple lived in England for six years and spent the following eleven years dividing their time between England and Italy, moves that were dictated by Stillman's career as a newspaper correspondent.

Throughout her life, Marie Spartali Stillman created a steady output of work, and she frequently exhibited her work at the Grosvenor Gallery in London as well as several venues on the east coast of the United States. Her obituary in The Times read, "As an artist she had taste, industry, and considerable imagination."

Marie Spartali Stillman had three children of her own, a child who died in infancy, a son named Michael who move to America and worked as an architect, and a daughter named Euphrosyne, nicknamed Effie, who became an artist. Portrait of Effie Holding a Lily and a Posy of Roses, in a Garden shows her young daughter standing on a path amidst flowers and plants, evidence of the beauty and nature that inspired Marie.

New: packaged/shrink wrapped 14"x14" boxed.

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