Edward Coley Burne-Jones
(England 1833–1898)
- Title
- The fight: St George kills the dragon VI
- Other titles:
- The fight: St George killing the dragon VI
- Year
- 1866
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
-
105.4 x 130.8cm stretcher; 166.0 x 175.6 x 19.0cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.l., black oil "EB-J / 1864".
- Credit
- Gift of Arthur Moon KC in memory of his mother, Emma, born in Sydney in 1860, the daughter of John de Villers Lamb 1950
- Accession number
- 8536
- Location
- 19th c European art
- Further information
More commonly an excuse for high drama and dynamic design, the legend of St George inspired in Edward Burne-Jones a typically lyrical response. This image presents the viewer with something akin to a dream. The knight is hardy enough, dispatching his beastly (but undernourished) enemy with assurance; yet this St George is a creature of the mind. The blurry 'sfumato' of the forms - Burne-Jones had yet to perfect his brittle manner - and the elegance of the poses encourage reverie, not alarm. Burne-Jones was the least ideological of the Pre-Raphaelites, yet the most enduring, always keeping faith with a moonlit world of bloodless damsels and epicene saints. Henry James called the Burne-Jones type 'pale, sickly and wan'. No progressive, the English artist loathed the impressionists, preferring their symbolist contemporaries, whom he admired and greatly influenced.
AGNSW Handbook, 1999.
- Provenance (5)
-
Arthur Moon, KC (England), pre 1950, England, Gift of Arthur Moon 1950
Sir Ernest Moon (England), post 26 Apr 1902, England, Braziers park, Ipsden, Oxon
Christie's London (England), 26 Apr 1902, London/England, Purchased by Agnew's for Sir Ernest Moon
C. Sidney Goldmann, 1898, In the collection of C. Sidney Goldmann by 1898, with some others of the series.
Myles Birket Foster (England, b.1825, d.1899), 1864-1894, Surrey/England, Series commissioned in 1864 for the dining-room of Foster's house at 'The Hill' at Witley, Surrey. Series sold at Birket Foster's sale 1894 for 2,100 gns.
- Bibliography (19)
-
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (Germany) (Author), Edward Burne-Jones: The earthly paradise, 2009, 61, 62 (colour illus.). fig.20, illustrated in reference to cat.no.34
Angus Trumble (Australia) (Curator), Love and Death: art in the age of Queen Victoria, Adelaide, 2001, 158, 159 (colour illus.).
Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 38 (colour illus.).
Peter Tomory (United Kingdom) (Author), Anne Kirker (New Zealand; Australia, b.1947) (Author), British painting 1800-1990 in Australian and New Zealand public collections, Sydney, 1997, 60 (illus.). cat.no. 305
Russell Ash (England) (Author), Sir Edward Burne-Jones, London, 1993, back page (colour illus.).
Annabel Davie (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales Handbook, Domain, 1988, 44.
Renée Free (Australia) (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales catalogue of British paintings, Sydney, 1987, 26 (illus.), 27.
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna (Italy) (Author), (Burne-Jones), Rome, 1986. cat.no. 15
Jan Reynolds (Author), Birket Foster, London, 1984, 97-99, 176. Appendix no. 8 including a photograph of the dining room at 'The Hill' with the painting in situ in another frame.
History and Legend in some selected paintings at the Art Gallery of New South Wales 1980, 1980, 14 (illus.).
Art Quarterly 1973, 1973, 78. fig.no. 29, fig.no. 30
M. Harrison (Author), W. Waters (Author), Burne-Jones, 1973, 89.
Editor Unknown (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Domain, 1972, 27 (colour illus.).
Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly Oct 1962, Oct 1962.
Catalogue of Drawings 1939, 1939, 296-7.
F. de Lisle (Author), Burne-Jones, 1904, 75-77.
M. Bell (Author), Burne-Jones, 1898, 36.
McLean's Gallery (England, active 1880s) (Author), (MacLean's Gallery Exhibition), 1895. contains verse by William Morris for each of the series
The Art Annual 1890, 1890, 26.
- Exhibition history (17)
-
Unknown, MacLean's Gallery, McLean's Gallery, 1895–1895.
Unknown, Gooden's Gallery, Gooden's Gallery, Jan 1896–Jan 1896.
VII Internationale Kunstausstellung, Munich, Exhibition Venue Unknown, Aug 1897–Aug 1897.
Unknown, New Gallery Winter Exhibition 1898-9, New Gallery, Winter 1898–1899.
Purchases and Acquisitions for 1950, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 Feb 1951–22 Apr 1951.
Old Masters from AGNSW and NGV, Exhibition Venue Unknown, 1979–1979.
European masters and Australian painting from Australian collections, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, 02 Oct 1979 -.
European masters and Australian painting from Australian collections, State Hermitage Museum, 04 Dec 1979 -.
Burne-Jones, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, 1986–1986.
Burne-Jones and his followers, Tokyo Shimbun Japan, 1987–1987.
Love and Death: art in the age of Queen Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, 07 Dec 2001–03 Feb 2002.
Love and Death: art in the age of Queen Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 16 Mar 2002–12 May 2002.
Love and Death: art in the age of Queen Victoria, Queensland Art Gallery, 30 May 2002–28 Jul 2002.
Love and Death: art in the age of Queen Victoria, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, 24 Aug 2002–24 Nov 2002.
Edward Burne Jones, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, 09 Jun 2012–19 Aug 2012.
Edward Burne Jones, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, 28 Aug 2012–14 Oct 2012.
Edward Burne Jones, Koriyama City Museum of Art, 23 Oct 2012–09 Dec 2012.
