Ruskin Society (@ruskinsociety.bsky.social)

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 15, 2026, 5:42 PM

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"Tender as well as bright—like inlaid mother of pearl, or white roses washed in milk."
— John Ruskin, The Elements of Drawing.
The soft, creamy outer petals of these roses fading into a warm blush pink perfectly capture the delicate colour harmony #Ruskin described in his botanical studies.

@nemoloris.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 6:18 PMReposted by @ruskinsociety.bsky.social

Ruskin on lichens. Reposting if only to be able to use this in a class on Ruskin tomorrow!

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 14, 2026, 5:03 PM

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An inspired snap at #Brantwood, @andyksheff.bsky.social!
#Ruskin's portrait catching a glimpse of the dining room's iconic windows, symbolising his Seven Lamps of Architecture - Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory & Obedience that he believed should guide both architecture & society.

@andyksheff.bsky.social Oct 14, 2026, 4:10 PMReposted by @ruskinsociety.bsky.social

Enjoyed a couple of hours around John Ruskin’s home at Brantwood,Coniston in the English Lake District today. He spent the last 28 years of his life here @ruskinsociety.bsky.social

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 3:24 PM

📖 Join the next Ruskin Society Reading Group Monday 26 October, 6.30–7.30pm (UK time), on Zoom. We’ll discuss Modern Painters III, Chapters II–V in the Cook & Wedderburn edition. Just bring your curiosity and enthusiasm. DM us for details - all welcome!

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 12:08 PM

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#RuskinSocietyReadingGroup
12.10.2026

“I saw that nothing remained for me to write, but his epitaph.”
#Ruskin began Modern Painters to defend #Turner. In the preface to Volume III (1856), that defence becomes a task of remembrance in explaining his achievement and preserving his work.

J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851), “The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838”, painted in 1839. Oil on canvas, 90.7 × 121.6 cm. National Gallery, London; Turner Bequest, 1856. Inventory number NG524.

A broad river scene beneath an expansive sunset sky. On the left, the towering Temeraire appears pale and almost ghostly, its white-and-gold hull beneath three tall masts, fine rigging and furled sails. A much smaller, dark brown steam tug pulls the warship towards the viewer and slightly to the right. Its black funnel releases a plume of orange-brown smoke that streams backwards across the sailing ship.

The sky shifts from cool blue and grey on the left to glowing gold, peach and fiery orange on the right. A slender crescent moon hangs high above the warship. Near the right-hand horizon, a pale setting sun shines through reddish clouds, casting a long golden reflection across the gently rippling water. Both ships cast darker reflections in the foreground. Smaller sailing vessels, distant masts, a low shoreline and a tiny rowing boat recede into the haze. A dark buoy rises from the water at lower right.

The scene depicts the veteran warship’s final journey along the Thames to be dismantled, pairing the fading grandeur of the sailing ship with the compact, smoky power of the steam tug.

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 6:42 PM

Great question🤩, thank you. This manuscript is held by the Getty Museum in LA, not currently on view, but available digitally. Ruskin had many more though! Some of those are now kept at Sheffield Museums for the St George’s Guild. More info here: www.guildofstgeorge.org.uk/the-collecti...

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 1:52 PM

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The Ruskin Hours, made in northeastern France cca 1300, is a book of prayers for lay worshippers, later owned by John Ruskin. This page opens the Hours of the Virgin: “O Lord, open my lips.” The Annunciation fills the initial D; jousting riders occupy the margin.
#Ruskin #MedievalArt #BookOfHours

Illuminated parchment page from the Ruskin Hours, made in northeastern France around 1300, folio 37v. A large blue, pink and gold initial D at the upper left contains the Annunciation: the winged angel Gabriel faces the Virgin Mary, who holds a book, with a flowering plant in a vase between them. Both figures have gold haloes and stand beneath pointed Gothic arches. Black Gothic lettering and a red heading fill the right side and lower half of the page. The Latin prayers begin, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.” A smaller decorated D shows a young man praying to Christ above him. Slender blue and gold stems, curling leaves and red, orange and green ornaments extend down the left margin and across the bottom. Below the prayers, two riders on pale and orange horses face one another with long lances in a jousting scene. The parchment is cream-coloured, with faint ruling lines. The image has black borders on either side, and the page’s upper edge is cropped.

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 2:29 PM

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Looking closely @ Henry Moore’s Double Oval (1966).

#Ruskin valued the expressive marks of the human hand over mechanical perfection. Moore’s textured bronze surface brings that idea to mind. Its scored marks suggest a landscape in miniature, recalling weathered rock, bark & layers of stone.
#Kew

An extreme close-up detail shot focusing entirely on the textured surface of Henry Moore's bronze sculpture. The metallic material is covered in a dense, chaotic network of fine scratches, heavy cross-hatched chisel marks, and deep vertical gouges. The patina shows varying tones of dark metallic gray, earthy bronze, and lighter silvery-gold highlights where light reflects off the raised edges of the scratches. The overall appearance mimics the rugged, weathered texture of tree bark or heavily eroded rock faces.

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 9:03 PM

This shot is quite intriguing. The scars of mining now feel like part of the landscape’s furniture...

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 9:00 PM

No wonder Ruskin felt at home in the Alps. A Herdwick on a Lakeland crag could almost pass for an ibex!?! 🐐

@allantadams.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 8:32 AMReposted by @ruskinsociety.bsky.social

I've heard it's #BookshopDay so here are some of my favourite bookshops.

Minster Gate Bookshop in York is still one of my favourite shops.

#ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #watercolour #drawing #ArtShare

Pen and watercolour drawing of a bookshop with books outside the shop on low shelves protected by a green awning.

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 11:54 AM

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Henry Moore's "Double Oval" bridges the gap btw modern abstraction & Ruskin’s devotion to the study of nature. By piercing large voids through the bronze, #Moore lets the landscape in. The trees & sky frame the sculpture, proving space is as vital as the physical art itself.
#KewGardens #Ruskin

A dramatic, close-up perspective of Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture, "Double Oval." The foreground shows the wide, heavy curve of the sculpture’s base, which features a rough, deeply scratched and gouged metallic texture. Emerging from behind this foreground curve is a massive upper loop with a smooth, polished inner rim that forms a large circular opening. Framed perfectly inside this circular void is a dense, vibrant green tree in the background under a cloudy, overcast sky, demonstrating how the sculpture incorporates the surrounding landscape.

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 6:28 PM

⬇️Call for papers⬇️

Gothic 1730–1850: Traditions, Transmissions, Translations
Literature, art, architecture & material culture
17–18 June 2027
Submit by 4 January 2027
Please share!

www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/gothic-confe...

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 5:51 PM

Same here!

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 1:31 PM

What a great idea!🎥 We’d like to think that if Ruskin could put himself in Moore’s shoes, he might recognise in Moore’s focus on organic forms an unexpected evolution of his own 19th cent. ideas about art and nature.

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:25 PM

We can't inherit a literal memory, but we can inherit certain biological 'imprints' from our ancestors. We shall see whether instead of tending your Himalayan roses you start building an inclined gravity tramway in your garden!🤔

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:09 PM

A brilliant question. One could build an entire thesis around it!

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:01 AM

So informative, thank you! All that mining history. With a heavy heart though we're upgrading you to - Post Industrial Excavation Fixation, fully developed. Of course, you may seek a second opinion. 🤩

@ruskinsociety.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 9:16 PM

Stunning, which quarry is it?