History

John Ruskin

John Ruskin was a critic, writer, artist and social reformer. He was born in London on 8th February in 1819, the son of a wine merchant. His father, also called John, was a great lover of the arts and encouraged his son to write poems and paint, often about the journeys that they used to share throughout Europe as part of his fathers work with Domecq, the sherry people.

Whilst in the Lake District, at the age of eleven, Ruskin wrote a poem:

When Dinner was over, as still it did rain
We thought that we scarcely need longer remain:
So, ordered the carriage, and with no good will,
We ordered the pest of all travels-the bill.

In 1836, he went to Oxford University where he began to collect paintings by Turner who was being condemned for his abstract style, which led to the first volume of his great classic work, Modern Painters that appeared in 1843 when Ruskin was twenty-four years old. It was a success, though Turner was slightly embarrassed by the passionate defense from a young man.

"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it,
but what they become by it."

In 1869 Ruskin was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University.

"Nothing can be beautiful which is not true."

In 1871, Ruskin founded the Guild of St George to encapsulate many of his interests. The aims of the Guild were outlined in a series of papers published as ‘Fors Clavigera’, subtitled ‘Letters to the Workmen and Labourers of Great Britain’. The first practical step taken by the Guild, under the direction of Ruskin, was to assist "the liberal education of the artisan" by starting a museum to house his collection of art compiled over many years.

"When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece."

Ruskin started his museum in Sheffield in 1875; he was impressed by both the beautiful countryside surrounding the city and the tradition of skilled craftsmanship in its metal work. The museum was sited in Walkey, named the George Museum, after the Guild of St George.

"Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort."

In 1890, the museum was re-housed to the purpose built Meersbrook Hall. In the 1950’s the collection was relocated to the University of Reading, where it was to be housed in a new museum. This never happened, and in 1985 the collection was brought back to Sheffield to be housed the in the Ruskin Art Gallery on Tudor Square, the site of Ruskin’s wine bar. The collection is now housed Millennium Galleries across the other side of Tudor Square.

"A great thing can only be done by a great person;
and they do it without effort."

Ruskin died on 20th January in 1900 at the age of eighty having suffered with mental illness and depression. Tolstoy described him as " One of the most remarkable men, not only of England and our time but of all countries at all times, he was of those rare men who think with their hearts".

"Of all the pulpits from which human voice is ever sent forth,
there is none from which it reaches so far as from the grave."

He is buried in Coniston churchyard.

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