“Autumn Leaves”
Today, I am sharing a piece by the immensely talented John Everett Millais.
“Autumn Leaves” is a lovely oil on canvas painting by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist, John Everett Millais, from 1856. He painted this in his own garden in Perth, Scotland shortly after returning from his honeymoon with his new wife, Effie.
In this piece, Millais depicts four young girls standing around a pile of autumn leaves as they build a bonfire. In true Pre-Raphaelite fashion, the leaves are in extreme detail, directing the viewer’s gaze from the bottom of the canvas, at the leaves, up centrally towards the girls. The two girls on the left stare at the viewer as they add leaves to the pile. They are in dark green and have their long hair loose. The two girls on the right are looking away from the viewer. The older one is holding a rake, while the youngest holds an apple with a bite taken from it. All appear melancholy and somber as they continue their task of building the bonfire leaf pile. The faintest beginnings of blue and gray smoke can be seen in the lower left as the bonfire begins to smolder. In the background, the twilight sky illuminates the upper half of the painting, silhouetting poplar trees against an orange and yellow sky.
“Autumn Leaves” is seen as a pivotal painting marking the beginning of the aesthetic art movement. Millais’s wife said that his aim in this painting was to create a piece “full of beauty and without a subject” making it art for art’s sake. He did not want it to have a narrative. He wanted it to awaken the senses and prompt self-reflection.
Art historians have interpreted this piece as a representation of the passage of time and the loss of youth, with the symbolic use of the falling autumn leaves. Just to the left of Alice Gray, just barely visible, is the shape of a man holding a scythe, possibly alluding to Death himself. Millais has said, “Is there any sensation more delicious than that awakened by the odour of burning leaves? To me nothing brings back sweeter memories of the days that are gone; it is the incense offered by departing summer to the sky, and it brings one a happy conviction that Time puts a peaceful seal on all that was gone”.
The models for the two girls on the left were Effie’s younger sisters, Alice and Sophie Gray. This was the first of many paintings by Millais that would include his sisters-in-law. The girl in the middle, Sophie, was used as a model for many of his paintings. She lived a rather tragic life, which is a story for another time. The other two girls were friends of Alice and Sophie Gray.
“Autumn Leaves” is currently on display at the Manchester Art Gallery in Manchester, England.
For more on John Everett Millais, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
