Guggums exists to explore, illuminate, and celebrate the world of the Pre-Raphaelites, while also reaching beyond them into the broader constellation of art, story, and imagination.
Rooted in decades of research and personal fascination, this site gathers the lives and legacies of the artists and muses who shaped one of the most vibrant movements of the nineteenth century.
The name “Guggums”, a pet name between Victorian artists Elizabeth Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, captures the spirit of this space: a blend of tenderness, scholarship, and creative curiosity. Here, the historical and the personal meet, allowing fact, feeling, and imagination to coexist.
The site is designed as both a resource and a sanctuary: a place for learning, wandering, and discovering new connections between art and life. Read more…
Most recent Journal entries
Pre-Raphaelite: Not a Look, a Movement
Somewhere along the way, “Pre-Raphaelite” became shorthand for a look: abundant hair, pale skin, some…
A Guggums Ghost Story: The Laugh in the Stairwell
A flat in Blackfriars, a winter evening, and a sound you can’t quite place… A…
Color Harmonies, Explained (With Rossetti as Our Mischievous Guide)
Color harmony sounds like a polite term, as if it should wear a waistcoat and…
Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal
Elizabeth Siddal began her career as a model for members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an artistic group that secretly formed in 1848. The fact that she was determined to become an artist herself is testament to her bold spirit and determination. Read more…
The Pre-Raphaelites
The Pre-Raphaelites created art that is known for its vivd and colorful brilliance, achieved by painting white backgrounds that they would later paint over in thin layers of oil paint. Their work was meticulous and their subject matter drew inspiration from myths, legends, Shakespeare, Keats, and lovely long haired damsels that we now equate with Victorian beauty. Read more…
Millais’ Ophelia
Let’s dive into Ophelia, painted by Sir John Everett Millais in 1851-2. It’s one of the most famous images of Elizabeth Siddal – a stunning Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece, known for its faithful botanical precision and the delicate beauty of Hamlet’s young ingenue. Read more...
Adventures
While the escapades here aren’t all Pre-Raphaelite in nature, my perspective often is and perhaps yours is, too. Read more...
