Millais was a founder member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and a successful painter of genre scenes and portraits. A lesser-known aspect of Millais' work was that of an illustrator.

In the 1860s he was a regular contributor to various weekly magazines, where his illustrations appeared alongside the works of leading writers such as William Thackery, Anthony Trollope, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell.

The exhibition comprises drawings, watercolours, books and printed material from the collection of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, other institutions and less well-known pieces from private collections.

Millais tailored his style brilliantly to suit the texts he was called upon to design, from the initial interpretation through the finished drawing and finally on to the specialist engraving firms.

He was without doubt the most significant practitioner in this field which included artists of the calibre of J.M. Whistler, William Holman Hunt and Frederick Sandys.

Discussion