English painting and art galleries in britain

Our life seems to be impossible without art. It really occupies an important part in our daily life. Art penetrates into all spheres and sides of our life and makes it brighter, richer and more intellectual. “Time is flying but art is forever”, as the proverb saying.

Portrait painting is one of the glories of English art.
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599 - 1641), is considered to be the father of the English portrait school. He worked at the court of Karl I, was an extremely hardworking painter. His most famous works are: his self-portrait, “Portrait of the Man” and “Karl I” .
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 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. Among his best works are: “Cupid untiring the Zone of Venus”, “Mrs. Siddons”. They are well-known all over the world.
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.

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 made quick sketches based on his first impressions of natural beauties. His work is important as the beginning of the impressionist school. Constable depicted nature in his own realistic way. 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. Among his best landscapes are: “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 boy’s 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-colours were exhibited at the Royal Academy when he was only 15. At 18 he started his own studio and received a commission to make drawings for magazines. For some years he tramped over Wales and Western England. At the age of 27 he was elected as a Royal Academician. From that time his paintings became at great demand and brought good money.
During his life Turner created some hundreds of paintings and some thousands of water-colours and drawings. After his death his own entire collection of paintings and drawings was willed to the nation. They are exhibited at the National and Tate Galleries in London. Some of his famous pictures are: “The Fighting Temeraire”, “Rain, Steam and Speed”, “Light and Colour”, “Fisherman at Sea” and others.
The National gallery house is one of the richest and most extensive collections of painting in the world. It stands to the north of the Trafalgar Square. The collection covers all schools and periods of painting, but is especially famous for it's examples of Rembrant and Rubents. The British school and the national collections are shared with the Tate gallery. The National gallery was founded in 1824 when the government bought the collection of John Angerstein which included 38 paintings.
The National portrait gallery includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings and photographs. It demonstrates the history of British portraiture from its beginning, through the caricature and the crisis caused by the photography, to the edge of abstraction.
The Tate gallery house is the national collection of British painting from the 16-th century to the present day. It is also the national gallery for modern art, including painting and sculpture made in Britain, Europe, America and other countries. It was opened in 1897 as the national gallery of British art.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16