Art Historian
I am an Art Historian specialising in the art, literature and culture of the Victorian era. My areas of expertise include the Rossettis, the Pre-Raphaelites and Aestheticism, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and Museum Studies. Much of my teaching over the years has been interdisciplinary, looking at art and literature together, both in the aforementioned specialisms, and in subjects including the Brontës, gender representation and women’s practice, and genres such as Landscape and the Nude.
As a lecturer, I have over 20 years experience of designing and teaching courses at university level, for Liverpool University (Continuing Education), LJMU, Bradford University, and in a freelance capacity at other education venues and societies, such as The Art Fund. I have taught courses at many art galleries over the years, including the Walker Art Gallery, the Lady Lever, the Atkinson and Tate Liverpool; teaching also at Liverpool’s Speke Hall and Sudley House.
During my career, I have taught across different university departments, including History of Art & Museum Studies, History, Graphic Design & Illustration, and English Literature.
My 2013 doctorate on the Pre-Raphaelite poet-painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, presented new analyses of his art, design and poetry within the retrieved historical and cultural context of Victorian Spiritualism and Swedenborgianism.
I am currently returning to my research on Rossetti, with a view to writing and future publication, and recently gave a paper on Rossetti and Swedenborg at Retracing Swedenborg: Texts, Contexts and Changing Perspectives - a conference at The Swedenborg Society, London (November 2025). My other research interests include the Liverpool shipping magnate and art patron Frederick Richards Leyland, a subject I have taught extensively, and the Victorian-Edwardian artist John Maler Collier. I am currently working towards a future exhibition on Collier at the Atkinson Art Gallery.
I am a member of the Association for Art History, the Pre-Raphaelite Society, the William Morris Society, the Brontë Society and the Swedenborg Society.
See the ‘Classes and Courses’ section for upcoming talks, lectures and courses.
See also my Facebook Page Art History with Dr. Anna Maddison (@arthistorywithanna).