John Ruskin

1819-1900. English critic of art, architecture and society. Author of The Stones of Venice (1851-1853).

Private Life

Ruskin came, due to his father who tutored him, in contract with art at a very young age. Together with his family, he travelled to several European countries, such as the Switzerland, Italy and France and therefore came in contact with foreign cultures very early. Between 1837-1842, Ruskin studied at Christ Church College, Oxford and during this time, in 1840, he married Adèle Domecq. This marriage caused him a mental breakdown, which is why he travelled to Italy where he came in touch with paintings and architecture. In 1848, Ruskin married a second time, Euphemia “Effie” Chalmers Gray, but after six years she annulled the unhappy marriage in 1856. Throughout the years, Ruskin suffered from mental breakdowns, one after Rose La Touche, an ill girl he know since she was a young girls and who he proposed to several times, died in 1875. He started using séances to speak to her again. The last ten years before his death were characterised by mental decline. Ruskin spend his time at his estate, Brantwood, on Lake Coniston. After catching the flu, he died 20 January 1900 in Brantwood, Lancashire.