ford madox brown - eTheses Repository - University of Birmingham

of working up a composition, most often produced first as an illustration, in oil or
watercolour became a money-making strategy which Brown gradually developed,
largely in response to his acute financial situation. 22 For this reason his efforts as an
illustrator must be considered alongside his work as a painter as the two are often
interlinked, a fact often passed over by scholars working on Brown. 23
Around the same time the Dickinson brothers, friends and business associates of
Brown, commissioned two illustrations from him. 24 Although these can not be
considered 'illustrations' in the literary sense these projects gave him further
experience of working with printing media and introduced him to lithography and
wood engraving. His diary reveals that, in addition to the etching for The Germ, in
early March 1850 he was also working on a commission from the Dickinson brothers
to produce an illustration of 'Lord Jesus.' 25 In fact, he received this commission
before putting himself forward to supply an illustration for The Germ: a diary entry of
3 November 1849 records that he 'drew a figure of the Lord Jesus for the
Dickinsons.' 26 However, like the Cordelia etching, Brown was unimpressed with the
results: in 1854 he glumly recalled in his diary 'the drawing of the Lord Jesus was
paid me £2. They afterwards lithographed it in shameful stile [sic] so as to cause me
22 This was not an uncommon artistic practice but is one which Brown seems to have resisted until
forced to adopt this method of production due to financial necessity.
23 Mary Bennett briefly acknowledged the link between Brown's career as an illustrator and as a painter
(catalogue entry for Elijah and the Widow's Son in The Pre-Raphaelites, exh. cat., Tate, London, 1984,
p. 204). However, as there has been relatively little in depth discussion of his illustrations this
important link has not been elaborated upon.
24 The Dickinson Brothers were 'a firm who dealt in print and lithograph publishing and selling and
acted as photographic agents' (Op. cit. at note 19, p. 15). Robert Dickinson, the elder brother, was head
of the firm. Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908) was a portrait painter and friend of the PRB.
25 2 March 1850 (Ibid., p. 70).
26 Ibid., p. 69. Surtees notes that a pen and ink study for the head is in a private collection.
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