The Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Wirral, is set to exhibit a little-known letter from the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti in which he sought to escape a difficult meeting with a patron by claiming to have ‘constant diarrhoea.’ Sent 155 years ago, the letter will be exhibited alongside a celebrated Rossetti painting that he repeatedly promised his backer, George Rae, he would complete. The artist often made excuses in letters to Rae as to why his paintings were not finished. It was typical of Rossetti to be very candid about his health, according to Dr Deborah Lam, an English lecturer at the University of Bristol, who explained that the artist was “quite a hypochondriac”.
Rossetti was an infamous womaniser, depressive insomniac and heavy drinker who repeatedly promised Rae that his paintings would be completed, yet frequently failed to deliver. His artistic output was often delayed by his habits, which led to alcohol psychosis and an addiction to prescription drugs which, in turn, made him susceptible to new prescription drugs, chloral, in essence, which were addictive and aided his insomnia. Rossetti was among the first patients in the UK to receive a prescription for the drug.
Rossetti’s health issues continued to worsen while Rae continued to wait impatiently for the painting Sibylla Palmifera. Rae first wrote to Rossetti regarding his now unfinished painting in December 1865 and took out a deposit of £300 pounds for it. One year later Rossetti promised Rae that he would soon make progress on the painting and again, six months after that, he claimed that he had no other substantial paintings to work on. Over two years later, in late July 1868, a frame and corresponding bill for the painting was sent to Rae’s home, but not the painting itself. It took Rossetti another two years to complete it, sending it to Rae in December 1870, sparking an enthusiastic response from Rae. The painting hinted at the temporary nature of love and female beauty.
Melissa Gustin, curator of the exhibit, argued that while Rossetti’s diarrhoea excuse was likely to be true, it was just one of a “cycle” of various excuses made by the artist throughout his career. Rossetti was relieved from his health issues in 1882, when he finally passed away due to his addiction to prescription drugs and whisky. He was buried at All Saints churchyard in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent.
Read the full article from The Guardian here: Read More