Friday 3 June 2022

a picture should tell a thousand words: british painting from two centuries ago

What do you know about prominent British artists from two hundred years ago?

John Constable RA (/ˈkʌnstəbəl, ˈkɒn-/;[1] 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting[2] with his pictures of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home – now known as "Constable Country" – which he invested with an intensity of affection. Constable's most famous paintings include Wivenhoe Park (1816), Dedham Vale (1821) and The Hay Wain (1821).[4] Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art, he was never financially successful.

John Constable - Wikipedia

John Constable 1776–1837 | Tate

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. What he called his "prophetic works" were said by 20th-century critic Northrop Frye to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language".[2] His visual artistry led 21st-century critic Jonathan Jones to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced".[3

William Blake - Wikipedia


Henry Fuseli RA (/ˈfjuːzəli, fjuːˈzɛli/ FEW-zə-lee, few-ZEL-ee;[1][2][3] German: Johann Heinrich Füssli [ˈfyːsli]; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as The Nightmare, deal with supernatural subject matter.

Henry Fuseli - Wikipedia

Henry Fuseli 1741–1825 | Tate

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner,[a] was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. He left behind more than 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolours, and 30,000 works on paper.[1] He was championed by the leading English art critic John Ruskin from 1840, and is today regarded as having elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting.[2]

J. M. W. Turner - Wikipedia

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851 | Tate

Turner and the Industrial Revolution:

The Genius of Turner: Painting The Industrial Revolution - YouTube

BBC Two - The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution, Tracey Emin on Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner | Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway | NG538 | National Gallery, London



The Fighting Temeraire | The Nation’s Favourite British artw… | Flickr

Joseph Mallord William Turner | The Fighting Temeraire | NG524 | National Gallery, London

Turner the Impressionist:

Turner Whistler Monet | Tate

Monet's own biographer called him "the French Turner". Henri Matisse called Turner "the link between tradition and Impressionism" and said he "found a great similarity of construction through colour between Turner's watercolours and the paintings of Claude Monet".

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