Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775-1851, born the son of a London Barber and Wigmaker, is considered one of the greatest European artists of the 19th century. Turner, the English romantic landscape painter, watercolourists and printmaker, was regarded as a controversial and revolutionary figure by his contemporaries despite his training being similar to other artists of the time. His work ‘Walton Bridge’, Oil on Canvas 1806-10, reflects much of his training as a young artists as well as his well-known Romantic style. In this essay I will follow the beginnings of Turners artistic life, showing how his influences, training and opinions surrounding landscape painting have influenced his work ‘Walton Bridge.’ I will further explore how art critics, …show more content…
Turners’ early experiences in art were limited and largely self-taught until entering the Royal Academy Schools in 1789 at the age of 14. From 1790 onwards Turner was heavily influences by architectural draftsman and teacher of perspective, Thomas Malton, a man Turner described as his ‘real master.’ The influence of Malton is clear in Turners superb architectural renderings that frequent his landscapes, being praised by the London Times of the 3rd of May 1797 for his ‘exquisite architectural views. ’
The influential English art critic and defender of Turners artistic style, John Ruskin, described Turner as being able to ‘stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of nature. ’ Despite many other critics of the day being highly critical of the way Turner handled his subjects, the Academy was incredibly supportive of his early works. The support of the Academy is clear in Turner being made an Associate Member of the Royal Academy in 1799, at the youngest possible age, and a full member in 1802 despite his controversially loose
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The distinctive arches of Walton Bridge alone can be seen in many scenes and landscapes far from the Thames. Having studied architectural drafting at a young age, and later going on to become a professor of perspective at the Academy, it is unsurprising that Grand pieces of forgotten, taciturn architecture frequent many of Turners’ Landscapes. The timeless quality of Turners’ bridges often rest amongst temporary pastoral scenes, as ‘Walton Bridge’ does amongst the sheep shearers. Turner in this way juxtaposes the timeless and stable against the transient and fast passed life of the 19th century. The bridge further provides a common focal point in Turners work, standing as a poetic metaphysical symbol of timelessness and transience; providing a way through for the river and a way over for the pastors for as long as the bridge
As Charles Peale’s life is examined it is seen that he was an ingenious scientist, inventor and artist. His painting The Peale Family is an extraordinarily profound piece of art, with its complex composition and style. In comparison to Peale himself, the American contemporaries of his own time, like Peale, were creative artists and architects who greatly influenced Neo-classicism and the current and future culture.
Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. N.p., 2014. Print.
"John William Waterhouse Biography." Artble: The Home of Passionate Art Lovers. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Landscape painting was extremely important during the middle of the nineteenth century. One of the leading practitioners of landscape painters in America was Thomas Cole. He visited many places seeking the “natural” world to which he might utilize his direct observations to convey the untainted nature by man to his audience. His works resolved to find goodness in American land and to help Americans take pride in their unique geological features created by God. Thomas Cole inspired many with his brilliant works by offering satisfaction to those seeking the “truth” (realism) through the works of others.
This exhibition will examine the changing role of Classical imagery from seventeenth through nineteenth century painting, as well explain how these changes gradually produced Realism. In the seventeenth century Nicholas Poussin and Peter Paul Rubens produced works that corresponded with the Classicism of the French Academie des Beaux-Arts, though they presented these ancient subjects in very different ways. The predominance of drawing and planning in Poussin’s work was seen in contrast with the dynamic use of colour in the works of Rubens. These two means of addressing Classical themes ideologically divided the Academie between the rubenistes and the poussinistes, who quarreled for over a century about artistic approaches and techniques. The innovative and expressive works produced in the eighteenth century and beyond can be seen as a product of the rubenistes’ triumph in this conflict. Following in the example of Rubens, British artist Joshua Reynolds made use of colour and dynamic compositional techniques that combined the portraiture popular in England with the Grand Manner style that gained favour in the Academie. Reynolds became the first president of the Royal Academy in Britain and gained international acclaim for his work. The achievement of such an honour fared more difficult for artists such as Eugène Delacroix, who took a bolder approach to combining Classical imagery with reality and was frequently rejected by the Academie for doing so. This was also the case for Edourad Manet, whose scandalous work shocked viewers of the Salon des Refusés with its perceived immorality and distasteful appropriation of Classical imagery.
Nash, Susan. Oxford History of Art: Norther Renaissance Art. 2nd. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 30-65. eBook.
Osborne, Harold. The Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Art. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England in 1837, Thomas was taken to the United States at the age of 7. (Ency. Bio. Vol. 11). He was educated in Philadelphia public schools for his elementary years and then indentured to a wood engraving firm in 1853-1856. (Am.Nat.Bio.Vol 15). He had three brothers who were artist, but he learned to paint from his brother Edward Moran. He did do some watercolors during his apprentictionship and in 1856, he painted his first oil painting titled, Among the Ruins There He Lingered. (Vol.11). Moran still working closely with his brother became an informer student of Philadelphia marine artist James Hamilton. Hamilton may have introduced him to the work of J.M.W, turner and a belief in close study of nature in his foundation of panting. (Vol.15) Moran exhibited landscapes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the fine arts for the first time in 1856 and then later elected academician in 1861. He continued to exhibit there through 1905. (Vol.15). 1862 Thomas married Mary Nimmo who had always thought to be her husbands student. (Vol.15). The beginning of his life had just started and didn't know that he would accomplish so many feats with his artwork of nature.
Landscape architecture has been around since the beginning of time, but it was not until Frederick Law Olmsted came along that the idea of integrating design into the landscape with plants, water, and structures that it turned into a thriving profession. To many, Olmsted is considered “a pioneer in the profession of landscape architecture, an urban planner, and a social philosopher, one of the first theoreticians and activists behind the national park and conservation movements” (Kalfus 1). Growing up, he did not ever graduate from formal schooling and just sat in on a few classes while at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. Instead, he acquired his education from being out in the world through traveling and reading. He had a hard childhood. His mother died when he was just four years old and on his journeys around the world to Europe and China, he became sickly with seasickness, paralysis of the arm, typhoid fever, apoplexy, sumac poisoning, and at times suffered from depression. For many years he went on a journey within himself to find out whom he really was and what he wanted to do with his life, career wise. Frederick had one brother, John Hull, who died in 1857. This left Olmsted feeling empty and at loss of what to do. That was when Calvert Vaux came and filled the space in Olmsted’s life that his brother left. Vaux convinced Olmsted to enter the Central Park Commissioner’s design competition with their design entitled the “Greensward Plan.” With the success in that project, Olmsted figured out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, which was to become a landscape architect. Olmsted practiced from the years of 1857 up until he retired in 1895. Olmsted’s two boys, adopted son John Charles and biological son Frederick La...
1. Hunter, Sam and Jacobs, John. Modern Art, 3rd Edition. The Vendome Press, New York, 1992.
Davies, Denny, Horfrichter, Jacobs, Roberts, Simon “Summary, Photography, Chapter 26 Progress and its discontents: Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, and Art-Nouveau 1880 - 1905” (2007): Page 943 “Janson’s History of Art – The Modern World”
In the mid 1800’s realism was developed as a style of painting to replicate the world as it was seen in a traditional artistic style. This allowed for a new style of art to be created that was based of a real moment or scene but to forget the traditional artistic laws such as distinct lines and forms. Approaching art from this impressionistic view Monet’s painted “Impression, Sunrise” bringing to life a natural scene of a hazy harbor using quick, short brush strokes and defining uses of color and natural light. Van Gough’s “Starry Night” uses similar impressionistic styles to paint a natural scene using vibrant contrasting colors, yet he embellishes the scene to create art that in not merely a landscape but a piece of self expression and shifted
Kleiner, Fred S., and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History. Boston, MA:
To be able to appraise the originality of eighteenth century English art, one must recognize its importance in history. A great painter to research is Thomas Gainsborough. His artwork was an important aspect of the art community of the middle seventeen hundreds. His paintings seem to bring brightness and color to a period in art that needed his creative boost. His combination of portrait paintings along with beautiful landscapes was not recognized in his time, but would be recognized as remarkable later in history.
Diarmuid Costello, Jonathan Vickery. Art: key contemporary thinkers. (UTSC library). Imprint Oxford: Berg, 2007. Print.