paper collage with red crosses and blood drips; mostly black and white engravings with colored flowers, foliage, grapes, and snake; imagery includes figures flanking a blue decorative shield with gold crosses and text in LRQ, dead clergyman lying in state in LRC with crucified Christ above his face, figure on a bull at LLC, Classical man with a hole torn in his PL abdomen with a snake entwining his legs, Christ with a snake and flowers in ULQ, skulls with Mary Magdalene and Jesus in URQ; received in a medium toned wood frame

Blood Collage, c. 1850-60

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John Bingley Garland was a prosperous English merchant, politician, public servant, and collage artist. He lived in Newfoundland for four years, in two different stints, where he managed his family’s fish trading business, and served, notably, as the first Speaker of Newfoundland’s House of Parliament. In 1834 he returned to England, where he ran his family’s firm until his death at age 83. Forty-five accomplished, fantastical “Blood Collages” by Garland survive, all likely executed in the 1850s—62 years before the medium of collage was officially “invented” by Picasso or Braque. Garland’s practice grew out of the Victorian craze for scrapbooking and decoupage, but little from that period hints at the extraordinary artistic heights he would take it.

Drawing heavily on high-end reproductive prints of European masterworks, particularly religious art, as well as colorful, cheaply manufactured prints of flora, fauna, insects and reptile, he would meticulously cut and assemble hundreds of prints as source material to create astonishing, visionary collages. The works include extensive inscriptions of religious texts, gold and blue paper, painted gouache, and his signature drops of blood made with diluted red ink. The densely layered works incorporate a plethora of symbols—bleeding doves and crosses, red ankhs (Egyptian hieroglyph symbolizing life), serpents, skulls, stars, eggs—mixed with Christian and pagan imagery, architecture and ruins, sculpture, and archaeological fragments. It has been suggested that the mysterious, spiritual works reflect that the artist was a Freemason or member of the Knights of Templar.

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Details
Title
Blood Collage
Artist Life
British, 1791–1875
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2021.22.2
Provenance
John Bingley Garland, Wimborne, Dorset, England (until d. 1875). Possibly, Sir Philip Burne-Jones (1861-1926), England ('until d. 1926); 'by descent, Peter Burne-Jones (until 1990; to Gibbs); [Christopher Gibbs, London; 1990–d.2018] Gibbs estate (2018-2019; to Libson-Yarker); [Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd. British Art, London; 2019-21]; sold to MIA, 2021.
Curator Approved

This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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paper collage with red crosses and blood drips; mostly black and white engravings with colored flowers, foliage, grapes, and snake; imagery includes figures flanking a blue decorative shield with gold crosses and text in LRQ, dead clergyman lying in state in LRC with crucified Christ above his face, figure on a bull at LLC, Classical man with a hole torn in his PL abdomen with a snake entwining his legs, Christ with a snake and flowers in ULQ, skulls with Mary Magdalene and Jesus in URQ; received in a medium toned wood frame