The Ruskin Revival

In the year of the bicentenary of John Ruskin s birth, Suzanne Fagence Cooper documents the astonishing revival of interest in Ruskin s ideas and values. In his own day, he was revered as a pioneering art critic - champion of J M W Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites - as well as an artist, educator and campaigner. However, by the mid-20th century, his views seemed outmoded, relegated to the footnotes of historical debate. The Ruskin Revival: 1969-2019 celebrates the re-engagement with his radical world-view. Beginning with a conference held in 1969 at Ruskin s last home, Brantwood in the Lake District, this study charts the renewed fascination with his biography, as well as Ruskin s role in reshaping discussions about the environment, criticism and arts education. It also documents the afterlife of Ruskin s letters and paintings, through exhibitions and catalogues. The struggle to secure his inheritance - both his archive in the Ruskin Library at Lancaster University, and his home at Brantwood - makes a fitting last chapter to the tale. Whether we see him as a prophet, teacher, philanthropist or artist, Ruskin s life and work seem to have become more urgent, 200 years after his birth.