English Painting
English Painting has a long and rich history. Many scholars say there was no English school of painting before the 18th century, as the most important painters who worked in England came from abroad and English art lovers only liked paintings of foreign old masters. Others say English painting was influenced by native Celts whose work was repressed by the Church's invasion of the Island. [1]
Contents
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was a professional rebel. He found English art sycophantic, and determined to make it independent. Instead of working for a few rich patrons, he evolved the idea of making his living out of popular engravings of his pictures. He believed that the lack of a native school of painting was largely due to the fashions imposed on a credulous public by connoisseurs and critics and he waged continual war on taste and the Old Masters. [2]
Sir Joshua Reynolds
William Turner
John Constable
John Constable is today recognised as the major English landscape painter of the 19th century, matched only by his contemporary, J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). But he was not particularly successful during his lifetime. [3]
See also
External links
- Country Index:UK Olga's Gallery.
- British Biography Britain Express.
- Hogarth, Constable and Turner By SIR KENNETH CLARK.
- English Painting
- INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH PAINTING
