PRE-RAPHAELITES: DRAWINGS & WATERCOLOURS EXHIBITION

PAST EXHIBITION

From a sketch on the back of an envelope to grand, elaborate chalk drawings, this exhibition – returning after its sold-out, limited run last year – offers the chance to view our internationally-renowned collection of Pre-Raphaelite works on paper.

15 July – 27 November 2022

The exhibition explores the enormous range of techniques and media used by the artists that made up this movement and shed light on their connections to Oxford, as well as their intimate and often complex friendships and love affairs.

Visitors inside the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition
The Combe drawings in the the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition

There are over 100 artworks on show. These include works of extraordinary beauty, from the portraits the Pre-Raphaelites made of each other, their studies for paintings and commissions, to subjects taken from history, literature and landscape.

 

★ ★ ★ ★

"Stunning"

The Observer

WATCH THE TRAILER

https://www.youtube.com/embed/SxhARyJnDbU?rel=0

There is a Pre-Raphaelites family art trail leaflet available for younger exhibition visitors.

Download the Exhibition Family Trail PDF

 

SOME OF THE WORKS ON DISPLAY

Click on each image to view the full artwork

The Day Dream, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti WA1939.6
Watercolour showing St George slaying a dragon with a large sword, with a trapped female figure on the left tied by ropes
Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Portrait of Elizabeth Siddal WA1962.17.77
A painting of a seated woman who rests her head on her left hand, her elbow resting on her knee
A painting of a woman with red hair, in a purple dress, holding white flowers and resting on an open book
A portrait of Thomas Combe with a long, flowing white and grey beard
Edward Coley Burne-Jones, The Knight's Farewell
Portrait drawing of John Everett Millais in profile, looking left
WA1978.121, Edward Burne-Jones, Design for stained glass in Lyndhurst Church
A watercolour painting of a purple crab on similar colour backgroun
Painting of a rural scene with red and brown barn and yellow straw on the ground in the foreground
A line drawings of figures punting on a river
Pen drawing of a robed figure holding cymbals, with foliage drawn behind

EXHIBITION TICKETS

Timed tickets were in operation. Visitors and Members are strongly recommended to book tickets in advance to guarantee entry.

Please note a booking fee of £1 is added for booking our major exhibition tickets online. Telephone bookings may incur a booking fee to help support the Museum and cover the costs of staffing our Box Office.

 

 

EXHIBITION VISITING FAQs

 

Full-Price adult

Ticket prices

£13.50
£15.00 with Gift Aid

 

FREE Entry (but booking is strongly recommended) for
  • Members & Patrons
  • Under 12s
  • Carers (see 'Disabled visitors & carers' section, below)
  • University of Oxford students
  • ASH passholders
  • OU GLAM staff & Ashmolean volunteers
  • Museum colleagues (OU Ruskin School, ICOM, UK Museums Association, NMDC members)

Proof of eligibility must be presented with your ticket when you visit.

 

Concession rate tickets available for
  • Senior citizens
  • University of Oxford staff & alumni

Proof of eligibility must be presented with your ticket when you visit.

 

Half-Price tickets available for
  • Blue Light cardholders
  • Children aged 12–17 years
  • Students and those under 25
  • Those who are unemployed
  • Art Fund members

Proof of eligibility must be presented with your ticket when you visit.

 

Disabled visitors & carers

Disabled visitors should book a regular exhibition ticket at full or concession price, depending on eligibility.

Accompanying carers can access the exhibition for free with a ticket-holding disabled visitor, but should please book one of our free 'Carer' tickets for the same time slot.

 

BECOME A MEMBER
FOR UNLIMITED FREE ENTRY

Membership gives you unlimited access to exhibitions, as well as members-only previews, exclusive discounts in our our shop, restaurant and café, and much more.

 

 

No, but booking is strongly recommended to guarantee entry.

 

 

Yes. Access to the exhibition is via lift and the entire exhibition is wheelchair accessible. Handheld labels will be available.

There is also a level access route from the pavement outside the Museum to the front door. You can read more about Museum access at this link Ashmolean Access Guide

Disabled visitors should book a regular exhibition ticket at full or concession price, depending on eligibility (when tickets are made available later this year). Accompanying carers can access the exhibition for free with a ticket-holding disabled visitor, but will need to book a free, timed Carer ticket.

 

 

Yes, from September 2022 we will facilitate group visits to the exhibition. 

Please contact the Box office on onlinetickets@ashmus.ox.ac.uk at least 3 weeks in advance of your preferred visit date to check availability and make the arrangements.

 

 

Yes, from September 2022 we will facilitate school group visits to the exhibition.

Please contact the Box office on onlinetickets@ashmus.ox.ac.uk at least 3 weeks in advance of your preferred visit date to check availability and make the arrangements.

 

 

Yes. A family trail will be available from the exhibition entrance.

 

 

Please note that the planned exhibition 'Russia! Icons and the Avant-Garde' was regretfully withdrawn from our 2022 programme due to the serious and deteriorating situation in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed or threatened on both Russia and the UK.

PRESS

To contact the Press Office please click here

EXHIBITION SUPPORTERS

Blavatnik logo - Pre-Raphaelittes exhibition sponsor

Patrons of the Ashmolean Museum

The Roger and Ingrid Pilkington Charitable Trust 

Anson Charitable Trust 

Members of the Ashmolean

And all those who prefer to remain anonymous