BURNE-JONES, SIR EDWARD BURNE, BART. (1833 1898), English painter and designer, was born Aug. 28 1833, at Birmingham. He was educated at King Edward's school, Bir mingham, and Exeter college, Oxford, where William Morris was his contemporary. With Morris he read Modern Painters and the d'Arthur. He studied the Italian pictures in the university galleries and Durer's engravings; but his keenest enthusiasm was kindled by the sight of two works by a living man, Rossetti. One of these was a woodcut in Allingham's poems, "The Maids of Elfinmere"; the other was the water-colour "Dante drawing an Angel," then belonging to Mr. Coombe, of the Clarendon Press, and now in the university collection. At Easter 1856 he left col lege without taking a degree. This was his own decision, not due (as often stated) to Rossetti's persuasion; but on settling in London, where Morris soon joined him at 17 Red Lion square, he began to work under Rossetti's friendly instruction.
In 1859 Burne-Jones made his first journey to Italy. He saw Florence, Pisa, Siena, Venice and other places, and appears to have found the gentle and romantic Sienese more attractive than any other school. Rossetti's influence still persisted; and its impress is visible, more strongly perhaps than ever before, in the two water-colours "Sidonia von Bork" and "Clara von Bork," painted in 1860. These little masterpieces have a directness of execution rare with the artist. In powerful characterization, com bined with a decorative motive, they rival Rossetti at his best. In June of this year Burne-Jones married Miss Georgiana Mac donald, two of whose sisters were the wives of Sir E. Poynter and Mr. J. L. Kipling. They lived first in Bloomsbury, then in Ken sington square, then at the Grange, Fulham. In 1862 the artist and his wife accompanied Ruskin to Italy.
Burne-Jones exhibited from 1864 to 1887 at the Society of Painters in Water-Colours. Between 1870 and 1877 he showed only two water-colours (at the Dudley gallery), but he was work ing hard on a number of large pictures in oils. At the first exhibi tion of the Grosvenor gallery, he exhibited the "Days of Creation," "The Beguiling of Merlin," and "The Mirror of Venus." His reputation was now made. In 1878 he exhibited several canvases, and in 1879 the "Annunciation," quieter in colouring, in 1884 "Cophetua and the Beggar Maid," in 1886 "The Depths of the Sea," and in 1891 "The Star of Bethlehem," commissioned by the corporation of Birmingham. He had been elected A.R.A. in 1885, but resigned in 1893. He was occupied with various decorative series, the most famous of which was perhaps "The Briar Rose," and in 1892-93 produced some portraits. He received a baronetcy in 1894. He died on June 17 1898. His son and successor in the baronetcy, Sir Philip Burne-Jones (d. June 21, 1926), also became an artist. His only daughter, Margaret, married Mr. J. W. Mackail.
Burne-Jones's influence has been exercised far less in painting than in the wide field of decorative design. Here it has been enormous. His first designs for stained glass, 1857-61, were made for Messrs. Powell, but after 1861 he worked exclusively for Morris & Co. Windows executed from his cartoons are to be found all over England ; others exist in churches abroad. For the American Church in Rome he designed a number of mosaics. Reliefs in metal, tiles, gessowork, decorations for pianos and organs, and cartoons for tapestry represent his manifold activity. In works, however, which were only designed and not carried out by him, a decided loss of delicacy is to be noted. The colour ing of the tapestries (of which the "Adoration of the Magi" at Exeter college is the best known) is more brilliant than successful. The range and fertility of Burne-Jones as a decorative inventor can be, perhaps, most conveniently studied in the sketch-book, 188J95, which he bequeathed to the British Museum. The artist's influence on book-illustration must also be recorded. In early years he made a few drawings on wood for Dalziel's Bible and for Good Words; but his later work for the Kelmscott Press, founded by Morris in 1891, is that by which he is best remembered. Besides several illustrations to other Kelmscott books, he made 87 designs for the Chaucer of BIBLIOGRAPHY.---In 1904 was published 'Memorials of Edward Bibliography.---In 1904 was published 'Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones, by his widow, two volumes of extreme interest and charm. The Work of Borne-Jones, a collection of 91 photogravures, appeared in 1900.
See also Julia Cartwright (Mrs. Ady) , Sir E. Burns-Jones, his Life and Work (1894) ; Malcolm Bell, Sir E. Burne-Jones: a Record and a Review (1898) ; W. Mackail, The Life of William Morris (1899) ; Catalogue to Burlington Club Exhibition of Drawings by Burne Jones, with introduction by Cosmo Monkhouse (1899) .