John Collier: Queen Guineveres Maying, 1900

John Maler Collier (1850-1934) was a leading English artist, and an author. He painted in the Pre-Raphaelite style, and was one of the most prominent portrait painters of his generation. He was much influenced by Lawrence Alma-Tadema and also John Everett Millais. His early training was at the Slade School, working there under it's principal E.L.Poynter, and then went on to study in Munich and finally Paris, where he was taught by J.P.Laurens.

He regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and also at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, of which he became vice-President. Queen Guinevere's Maying is a scene from Malory, as recast by Tennyson in his 'Idylls of the King' (1859). In the relevant poem 'Guinevere', the cheerful pointlessness of a May Day procession quickly leads to something less innocent.

the above text appears on the back of the card
HC-678: card size 7" x 5" (178mm x 127mm)