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Ruskin claimed we would never prefer “black clouds” to “blue sky.”
Our Reading Group challenged him. What about the extraordinary beauty of Turner's storms?
Can something frightening also be beautiful? Or is that the sublime?
JMW Turner, Snow Storm (1842)
#RuskinReadingGroup #Ruskin #Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth (1842), oil on canvas, Tate Britain, London. A steamship struggles through a violent storm at sea, almost engulfed by swirling grey, brown and white clouds and turbulent waves. A pale shaft of light pierces the storm, whilst emphasising the overwhelming power of nature.
November 4, 2026 at 11:42 AM
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“He [the painter] is great if ... he has laid open noble truths, or aroused noble emotions.”
— #Ruskin, Modern Painters, p. 42.
Is great art about technique, or what it makes us feel and understand?
🎨 William Holman Hunt, Claudio and Isabella (1850)
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William Holman Hunt OM (1827–1910), Claudio and Isabella (1850). Oil on mahogany panel, 75.8 × 42.6 cm. Tate Britain, London. A richly coloured Pre-Raphaelite painting depicting a tense encounter between a brother and sister in a prison cell, inspired by Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Claudio, dressed in crimson and purple, leans against a wooden wall, his leg shackled. His sister Isabella, wearing the pale habit of a novice nun, places her hands against his chest. Sunlight streams through a barred window, revealing flowering branches outside. A lute hangs on the wall, while fallen blossoms lie across Claudio's dark cloak. Condemned to death, Claudio begs Isabella to surrender her chastity to Angelo in exchange for his life. Hunt captures their moral conflict between survival, conscience and sacrifice.
October 31, 2026 at 2:13 PM
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Join our international Ruskin Society Reading Group!

Monday 9 November, 6.30–7.30pm (UK time), on Zoom.
We'll discuss Modern Painters III, Chapters IV & V: “Of the False Ideal” (Religious and Profane).

All welcome! DM for details.
Follow our discussion posts: #RuskinReadingGroup
October 26, 2026 at 10:03 PM
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“Truth and beauty are entirely distinct, though often related, things.”
— #Ruskin, Modern Painters, p. 55
But what is truth in art? Visual accuracy, emotional honesty, or something deeper?
🎨Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents (1849–50)
#RuskinReadingGroup #PreRaphaelites
Yes, this is the correct painting. Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA (1829–1896), Christ in the House of His Parents (The Carpenter’s Shop) (1849–50). Oil on canvas. Tate Britain, London. A detailed Pre-Raphaelite painting depicting the young Jesus in Joseph's carpenter's workshop. Mary kneels to comfort and kiss her son after he injures his hand, while Joseph examines the wound. Other figures surround the wooden workbench, with tools, wood shavings and a ladder visible. Sheep gather outside the open doorway. Religious symbolism, including the wound, sheep and white dove, foreshadows Christ's future sacrifice.
October 29, 2026 at 9:37 AM
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Do I heartily love this? Am I doing it for love of it? Am I praising it for love of it?”
— #Ruskin, Modern Painters.
Questions about artistic sincerity, fashionable taste & genuine appreciation.
🎨John Ruskin, Study of Dawn: Purple Clouds (1868)
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John Ruskin (1819–1900), Study of Dawn: Purple Clouds, Denmark Hill, 20 March 1868. Watercolour and bodycolour over faint graphite lines on blue-grey paper. Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. Accession no. WA.RS.ED.005. An atmospheric study of sunrise, dominated by a vast expanse of deep violet, blue-grey and purple clouds. Delicate streaks of crimson and pink illuminate the upper sky, while broad horizontal bands of pale silver and yellow stretch across the lower clouds. Near the horizon, an intense orange-red glow marks the rising sun, contrasting with darker blue and purple shadows below. The landscape is barely visible, directing attention entirely to the changing colours and light of the dawn. Painted from observations at Denmark Hill, London, the work captures the fleeting beauty of an early morning sky.
October 27, 2026 at 1:12 PM