Before Ariel, Victorian artists created mermaids and nymphs with red hair. (But with no shells…)
There are a bunch of connections in art history, so let’s look at a few.
The Little Mermaid and Victorian artists
Walt Disney and Disney animators and artists have long been fascinated by 19th-century Victorian art. Why? Well, many Victorian artists were looking to the medieval and renaissance era, as well as to cultures outside of Europe. This fascination with earlier eras in particular is one that Disney shares with the Victorianists. They all did a bunch of medievalizing.
During the Victorian era, there were many artists, like those associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, who looked to ancient mythology and medieval stories and art for inspiration.
John Willliam Waterhouse was one of those artists. His painting, A Mermaid, from 1900 was presented and exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. It shows a mermaid as a lonely figure brushing her long, red hair. Though, she uses a comb instead of a dinglehopper, er, I mean fork.
His paintings with nymphs also include beautiful women with long red hair. Just look at his painting Hylas and the Nymphs (1896), which focuses on the Greek youth Hylas who goes to fetch water and he is seduced by beaeutiful nymphs—and taken.
Another artist who I think also likely influenced Disney animators and artists as they brainstormed Ariel is Warwick Goble. He was an illustrator of children’s books. His works are vast, but he provided illustrations in books about faeries, The Arabian Nights, and more. His mermaid is from about 1900. She too has long red hair that she brushes as she sits on a rock.
And yes, there are exposed body parts in all these artworks but that’s the nineteenth century for you. Clearly, Disney decided to put some clam shells on Ariel, which is one major difference with these Victorian artworks.
If you've enjoyed learning about The Little Mermaid and Victorian artists, then you will definitely enjoy my other posts and newsletter that dives into more Disney art history!
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The Pre-Raphaelites on The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heilbrunn Timeline
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