Outstanding personalities, Детальна інформація

- English painting up to the 18th century was dominated by foreign portraitists. The modern British school of painting originated in England in the 18-th century. Its founder was William Hogarth. He invented a new form of secular narrative painting. In his moralizing paintings William Hogarth showed the life of his contemporaries. Thomas Gainsborough is known for his landscapes and elegant portraits. The mainstream of English painting in the first half of the nineteenth century was landscape. Constable and Turner were the greatest landscapists of that time.

- Can you dwell on one of them?

- Yes, of course. I'll tell you about John Constable. The son of a miller Constable honoured all that was natural and traditional. He never left England and made dutiful sketching tours through regions of scenic beauty. "The Hay Wain" sums up Constable's ideals and achievements. The painting shows Constable's beloved river Stour with its trees, a mill, and distant fields. In 1829 Constable became member of the Royal Academy. One of his late works of art is "Stroke-by-Nayland". In this large canvas John Constable depicted the distant church tower, the wagon, the plough, the horses, and the boy looking over the gate. The breadth of the picture, and colours painted in a rapid technique are equalled to Titian's or Rembrandt's landscape backgrounds.