English Painting and Art Galleries
English painting.
Our life seems to be impossible without art. It really occupies an
important part in our daily life. Art offers us not only pleasure and
amusement but it is also a vehicle of culture and education. Art penetrates
into all spheres and sides of our life and makes it brighter, richer and
more intellectual. People like and know different types of art. Some of
them are fond of painting. Others have a special liking for music or they
have a passion for literature. But all of us cant help admiring the
canvases of such great painters as Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrand etc.
So, art units different people, influences the development of
personality, makes our innerworld richer, feels our soul with different
feelings. It makes us stronger, inforces us in difficult situations.
Time is flying art is forever.
Painting in England began to develop later than in over European
countries. That's why some of the greatest foreign masters were attracted
to England by the titles of nobility conferred upon them. Holbein, Antonio
Mor, Rubens, Van Dyck were almost English painters during longer or shorter
periods of their lives.
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599 - 1641), who married the daughter of an
English Lord and who died in London is considered to be the father of the
English portrait school. He worked at the court of Karl I, was an extremely
hard working painter. His most famous works are: his self portrait,
«Portrait of the Man» and «Karl I».
But not until William Hogarth (1697 - 1764) do we find a painter truly
English. Hogarth was the printers son, uneducated, but a curious observer
of man and manners. His first work dates from 1730. Among his best works
are «Captain Coram», «The Shrimp Girl», serial «Mode Marriage».
His pictures of social life brought him fame and position in the
society. One of his serials “Mode Marriage” consists of 6 pictures. “The
Marriage Contract” is the first.
Both fathers are siting to the right. One of them an earl is proudly
pointing to his family tree. The other is reading the marriage contract.
The Earls son is looking at himself with pleasure in looking glass. The
daughter of the second man is playing with her wedding ring and listening
to the complements of a young lawyer. The subject matter of the picture is
the protest against marriage for money and vanity. Other pictures of this
serial have the same subject matter.
Hogarth was sure that success came to him due to hard labor. He wrote
“Genius is nothing , labor is diligence.”
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 - 1792) is one of the outstanding British
portraitists, who had an important influence on his contemporaries. Within
a short period of time he achieved a considerable success. In 1755, at the
highest point of his career he painted 120 portraits. When, in 1768, the
Royal Academy of Arts was founded, he naturally became its first president.
In 1784 he became a principal painter of the King. He was a highly educated
person, wonderful colorist. His colors are difficult to judge today,
because they were not scientifically applied. That's why many of his
paintings have cracked and faided. Among his best works are: «Cupid
untiring the Zone of Venus» and «Mrs. Siddons». They are well-known all
over the world. For 20 years he was the most prominent artist of his day
even in the face of rising Gainsborough.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788) succeeded brilliantly as a portrait
painter. Society went to him for portraits. A good amateur violinist and a
lover of drama, he was an artistic person by nature. Joshua Reynolds and
Thomas Gainsborough created a national type of the English portrait. His
manner of painting differs from Reynolds. Thomas Gainsborough's portraits
of actors, actresses and his close friends are famous. One of his greatest
friends was Richard Sheridan, the dramatist, whose portrait belongs to one
of the best pictures of this painter. Even in his portraits Thomas
Gainsborough is an out-of-door painter. The backgrounds of his portraits
are often well-observed country scenes. He was one of the first to be
elected to the newly established London Academy of Arts. Thomas
Gainsborough is acknowledge as an excellent women painter. “The Portrait of
the Duchess de Befou”, ”Mrs. Siddons”, “Two Daughters” are among his best
creatures.
His portraits are painted in clear tones in which blue and gray
predominate. One of his best pictures is the famous “Blue boy”. His other
masterpiece is “The Portrait of Duchess de Befou”.
We can see a young noble woman, her charming face is full of freshness
and lifeness. The charm of the expression of her face and the coloring are
characteristic for the artists style. Her calm pose, the elegance of her
gesture of her hand stresses her nobility. Outwardly we may see that in
this portrait Gainsbourough followed the rules of traditional ceremonial
portraits. But it is not so. The partied lips of the woman, a timid gesture
of her hand help to create a true impression of the sitter.
The artist has a wonderful sense of color, line and composition. He
makes the affective use of light and shade. The picture is executed mostly
in light tones in the dark background. Numerous shades of blue prevail in
the picture. The combination striking of pink shades in her face and body
are contrasted with gray and blue shades on her pounded hair, dress and
scurf. It makes the impression of freshness and beauty. Gainsbourough
depicts the details of her dress skillfully. The woman is graceful and
charming.
The picture glorifies the idea of woman's beauty. It is exhibited in the
Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Thomas Gainsbourough greatly influenced the English school of landscape
painting. He was one of the first English artists who painted his native
land. His delicate understanding of nature is especially felt in the
pictures where he showed peasants. The best landscape of his are: “Watering
Place” and “Harvest Wagon”. Both of them are exhibited in the National
Gallery.
Among his other landscapes are: “The Sunset”, “The Market Card” and “The
Cottage Door”. His great love for the countryside and his ability to show
it made him an innovator in this field. He was the first English artist who
painted his native countryside so sincerely.
Thomas Lawrence (1768 - 1839) was the painter of kings, princes, great
diplomats and generals. All these are presented in large, full-dressed
portraits, painted with elegance. His portrait of Vorontsov (1821) is an
example of the brilliant official portrait. The portrait presents a young
general, a brilliant man of fashion but it doesn't characterize his nature
Landscape is another glory of English art because in it English art also
rose to supreme highs. John Constable (1776 - 1837) is one of the most
outstanding painters, who developed his own style of painting. He
considered sketch, made directly from nature, the first task of a landscape
painter. He introduced green into his painting: the green of trees, the
green of summer, all the greens which until then other painters had refused
to see. He made quick sketches based on his first impressions of natural
beauties. John Constable used broken touches of color. His work is
important as the beginning of the impressionist school.
He was a son of a wealthy miller. He began to take interest in landscape
painting while he was at Dedham grammar school. His father didn't favor art
as the profession and Constable as a boy worked almost secretly, painting
in the cottage of the local plumber, who was an amateur painter by nature
himself. Constable left school to work for his fathers business. During his
spare time he studied painting. His keen artistic interest was so strong
that his father allowed him to visit London where he began to study
sketching. After 2 years in London he returned to his fathers business for
a year. The year spent at his fathers mill was a great importance for him.
He learned to watch the sky with the exactness of a miller, to note the
direction of the wind, the significance of the clouds. In 1799 Constable
entered the Royal Academy school in London.
In his paintings the artist showed the new altitude to the nature. He
refused to learn works of famous landscape painters and decided to go to
the country and to paint nature as he saw it.
Constable depicted nature in his own realistic way, he was the first
artist who began to paint sketches which were as big as paintings. He was
able to show the inside life of nature. John Constables innovation
influenced greatly the development of French landscape painting.
In 1826, when he was 50, he showed a number of landscapes in the Paris
salon. Among them was the famous “Hay Wain”, painted in 1821, for which the
painter was awarded the Gold Medal. He was elected to the Royal Academy in
1829, but he felt, that this honor had come too late in life to have much
meaning. Among his best landscapes are: “The Flatford Mill”, “A Farm in the
Valley”, “Hay Wain”, “The Flatford Mill”, “Cottage door”, Dedham Valley”,
“The Corn Field”, etc.
William Joseph Turner (1774 - 1851) was the greatest English romantic,
landscape and marine painter. He was a son of a fashionable barber, started
drawing and painting at his early age. His father used to sell the boys
drawings to his customers and in such a way he earned money for the boys
learning of art. At 14 he entered the Royal Academy School. His water-
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