John Edward Brett
1830-1902
John Brett was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter, mainly notable for his highly detailed landscapes. He painted mostly seascapes and coastal scenes that were influenced by the PRB and John Ruskin. His early paintings were noted for their skilled and elaborate detail. Consequently, later in Brett's career, his output decreased and he died practically unknown.
John Brett was born near Reigate, the son of an army vet. As a boy, he was interested in both painting and astronomy, but 1851 he began lessons in art with James Duffield Harding, a landscape painter. He also studied with Richard Redgrave.
In 1853 he entered the Royal Academy schools, but he was deeply moved by the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and the writing of John Ruskin. Same year he was introduced to Holman Hunt and in 1856 visited Switzerland, where he met another painter on the fringe of the Pre-Raphaelite circle, J W Inchbold (1830-1888). Inspired by Hunt's ideal of scientific landscape painting Brett on topographical landscapes and came under the further influence of John William Inchbold. He gained the attention and encouragement of Ruskin after exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1858. Fascinated by the sea, he turned more towards marine subjects in the 1860s, especially favoring rocky coasts.
In 1858 Brett exhibited "The Stonebreaker", the painting that made his reputation. This depicted a youth smashing stones to create a road-surface, sitting in a brightly lit and brilliantly detailed landscape. The precision of the geological and botanical detail greatly impressed Ruskin, who praised the painting highly, predicting that Brett would be able to paint a masterpiece if he were to visit the Val d'Aosta in Italy. Partly funded by Ruskin, Brett made the trip to paint the location, exhibiting it in 1859, again to high praise from Ruskin, who bought the painting. Other critics were less effusive, one describing it as a "gravestone for post-Ruskinism".
Brett continued to paint carefully detailed landscape views, staying in Italy on many occasions in the 1860s. He was always keen to stress the scientific precision of his rendering of nature, but often infused it with moral and religious significance, as recommended by Ruskin. In his later years he painted more coastal subjects and seascapes, subjects he came to know well due to his ownership of a schooner on which he traveled the Mediterranean.
Brett was also a keen astronomer, having studied the subject from childhood. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1871.
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