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Sir John Everett Millais
Boehm, Michael - Enlarge image
Sir John Everett Millais
- Object:
Bust
- Place of origin:
England (Made)
- Date:
1882 (Made)
- Artist/Maker:
Boehm, Michael (sculptors)
- Materials and Techniques:
Plaster
- Credit Line:
Boehm Bequest
- Museum number:
1773-1892
- Gallery location:
In Storage
Three busts of Sir J.E.Millais were acquired in 1892 from the Boehm bequest, one of which was presented to the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. In 1863 Boehm exhibited a bust a J.E. Millais at the Royal Academy.
Sir John Everett Millais was an English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Boehm (1834-1890) was an English sculptor and medallist born in Austrian, as the youngest son of Joseph Daniel Boehm (1794–1865), a court medallist and director of the Imperial Mint at Vienna. From 1848 to 1851 Joseph Edgar attended Leigh’s art academy (later Heatherley’s) in London and drew the Parthenon marbles in the British Museum. On his return to Vienna he enrolled at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. Around 1858–9 he visited Italy, where he developed a lasting admiration for early Renaissance sculpture. From 1859 to 1862 he worked in Paris and was influenced by the work of Paul Gayrard (1807–1855). Boehm settled in London in 1862 where he befriended John Leech and John Everett Millais, both of whom he portrayed in statuettes in 1863. A statuette of William Makepeace Thackeray (1864) led to an edition of 70 plaster casts. Boehm frequently worked in terracotta, a material common in French sculpture but less familiar in English. Queen Victoria’s admiration of Boehm’s statuettes led to an association with the royal family that lasted from 1869 until his death. Most of Boehm’s works are portrait busts. Boehm was immensely prolific: some 360 different works are documented. He was a highly consistent sculptor, rarely deviating from his brand of realism. He was modest about his immense popularity and aware of his imaginative shortcomings (cit.: M. Stocker: 'Boehm, Joseph Edgar').