Renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber made a special appearance at the Delaware Art Museum this week to share his deep passion for Victorian-era Pre-Raphaelite art. The visit coincided with the launch of a newly revived production of "Phantom of the Opera" at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre, prompting Webber to travel to Wilmington to indulge in his other artistic love. On Monday evening, he joined curator Sophie Lynford for an on-stage interview about his celebrated Pre-Raphaelite art collection.
Webber's fascination with Pre-Raphaelite artists began during his teenage years in the early 1960s, when his interest in the moody, lush Victorian art from a century earlier represented an act of rebellion against contemporary tastes. As he recalled in the introduction to his collection's exhibition catalog at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2003, he once asked his grandmother for 50 pounds to purchase "Flaming June" by the then-nearly forgotten artist Frederic Leighton. Her response was harsh and dismissive: "I will not have Victorian junk in my flat."
The Pre-Raphaelite movement itself began as an act of rebellion in 1848, with artists proclaiming that Renaissance art and its successors were "sloshy," preferring instead the crisp lines and vibrant colors of earlier, medieval paintings. However, by the early 20th century, particularly following World War I, the drama and emotional exuberance of Pre-Raphaelite works found little appreciation in the European zeitgeist. "After the carnage, so many people in Europe losing the cream of the male generation, basically killed, people thought this idealized world which the Victorians inhabited: What was it about?" Webber explained during a pre-event interview. "I mean, it was worthless."
During this period of artistic neglect, there are documented accounts of Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces being discarded in demolition dumpsters, while art dealers purchased paintings solely for the value of their ornate frames. It was into this environment that Webber entered as a young collector, long before achieving his legendary success in musical theater with productions like "Jesus Christ Superstar," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Evita," and "Cats." In the 1960s, he was merely a struggling composer with limited financial resources but possessed a keen eye for artwork that nobody else wanted.
"Like all kids, you're a bit of a rebel," Webber reflected. "So, with the art establishment saying that Victorian art was rubbish, there was a group of us who thought, 'No, there was some wonderful architecture. There are some wonderful artists.'" The tide began turning for Victorian appreciation in 1960s England, particularly after the controversial 1961 demolition of London's ornately Victorian Euston train station from 1837. The replacement modern building became widely despised, with The Times' Richard Morrison describing its design in 2007 as giving "the impression of having been scribbled on the back of a soiled paper bag by a thuggish android with a grudge against humanity and a vampiric loathing of sunlight."
Webber wasn't alone in his passion for Pre-Raphaelite paintings during the 1960s. Future music icon Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin shared this artistic interest. "It would be fair to say that I was pretty intoxicated with the whole movement," Page told Tate in 2019, demonstrating how the Pre-Raphaelite revival attracted musicians who would later achieve international fame.
Today, Webber possesses what is widely considered the largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite art in private hands. He expressed particular admiration for the Delaware Art Museum's collection, which features an impressive array of Pre-Raphaelite works thanks to a transformative 1935 gift from Samuel and Mary Bancroft. The wealthy 19th-century industrialist couple had been purchasing Pre-Raphaelite paintings, particularly works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, when they were newly created. "I have a couple of good Rossettis and a few minor ones, but not to the extent of what's here in Wilmington," Webber acknowledged. "Of course, I was only able to collect the things that were available. Right now, there are probably only half a dozen paintings left in private hands. Most of them are in museums."
The conversation at the Delaware Art Museum inevitably turned to contemporary culture, specifically Taylor Swift's recent artistic choices. Her new album "The Life of a Showgirl" features the song "The Fate of Ophelia," and its cover art depicts Swift partially submerged in water with only her face visible above the surface. This imagery appears to reference John Millais' famous Pre-Raphaelite painting of Ophelia, suggesting that Swift, like the Victorian artists, has developed an obsession with Shakespeare's tragic character.
"Ophelia was a fairly minor figure in Hamlet, but she resonated with the Victorians a lot because she was a sad, mad woman," Webber explained. "They really related to her story and, indeed, rather embellished it. Became the cult of Ophelia." In a recent Instagram post, Webber suggested he may have influenced Swift's interest in Ophelia, recounting how the pop star had visited his home and dined in a room surrounded by pieces from his art collection. Given Webber's extensive Pre-Raphaelite holdings, he is constantly surrounded by images of Ophelia, as "she was a subject that so many of the Victorian 19th-century artists painted. I must have got half a dozen versions. She probably was the most painted legend in Victorian art."
