Sir John Everett Millais (1829 - 1896)

Sir John Everett Millais, born of Jersey parents, went on to become the most fashionable British painter of the 1880s. He is perhaps best known as a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. From a very early age Millais showed a remarkable artistic ability, and in 1840 became the youngest ever student at The Royal Academy at the age of 11. His first picture to be accepted for the Royal Academy's exhibition was in 1846 when he was still only sixteen. Millais was elected associate of the Royal Academy in 1853 and, in 1885, became the first artist to be created a baronet. He later became the President of the Royal Academy.



In his later years Millais concentrated on portraiture, and in 1878 painted a portrait of another Jersey person, Lillie Langtry. The picture was painted at the height of Lillie's fame, by the most fashionable artist of the day, wearing the black dress that was to become her trademark. Both sitter and artist were part of the "in-crowd" of the fashionable society of poets and artists. Despite both of them having Jersey backgrounds, the lily is actually a Guernsey lily, not a Jersey lily. Edmund Blampied (1886 -1966) Edmund Blampied, whose prints and drawings are on display all over the island today, was also one the twentieth century's wittiest book illustrators. He is perhaps best known locally for his images of rural life.