Happy Birthday J M W Turner – Grand Master of the Elements – not all at Sea

Today is the birthday of British Romantic Landscape, seascape, watercolourist and printmaker  Joseph Mallord William Turner(b. London 1775 – 1851).  Turner understood the elements, for example when in 1834 parliament caught fire, Turner witnessed it.  He also sketched shipwrecks, storms and other natural phenomena like fog, rain, storms and above all the light and strove to capture it .  He was fascinated by the way

Exhibition: David Hancock ‘Time to Pretend’

David Hancock explores the space between physicality and psychological space using a  hyper-realist technique.  His exhibition ‘Time to Pretend‘ (The Hub, Manchester 3rd – 18th March 2011) elevates the ordinary to the  decidedly extraordinary.   Gaming and urban folklore are fused together in these intricate drawings.  This  realism was made even more extraordinary by the actual presence of his

Neo-Classicism, Classicism, Romanticism and Rococo Part Two

Continued from yesterday (part one HERE) Rococo style depended on titillation.  It was elaborate, opulent and warm.  But now with the discoveries of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii 1748, artists were becoming sober in their outlook – they wanted to educate.  Winklman said “Dip your brush in intellect“, he thought that artists should raise themselves up

Neo-Classicism, Classicism, Romanticism and Rococo Part one

The art movement  known as Neo Classicism, made it’s appearance in the 1750s.  It was a reaction against Rococo: a lighter and more playful version of Baroque – associated with Louis XV of France.  It emerged in the 1750s and was established by the 1770s.  It was dedicated to static and harmonious revival in the

There’s Nothing Romantic about Romanticism, or is there? Conclusion Goya’s ‘The 3rd of May 1808’

Part one two three Conclusion ‘3rd of May 1808 ‘ by Francisco de Goya The key belief of Romanticism was the value of individual experience and individualism.  What characterised the Romantic period was the heroic view of the human struggle.  Romanticism brought to the forefront the human struggle against the violent forces of nature.  The

There’s nothing Romantic about Romanticism or is there? part three

Continuing from part one part two The English Landscape painter John Constable (1776 – 1837) also had a hard time with regards to his art being taken seriously.  He tried to gain respectability for Landscape painting,  trying to get it accepted as a proper subject matter.   “I should paint my own places best –  painting

There’s Nothing Romantic about Romanticism…or is there? part 2

Continuing from part one In Delacroix’s ‘Liberty Leading the People‘ 1830, we see an emotional approach.  One of the main differences between Classicism and Romanticism is that Romanticism shows a way of feeling and Classicism is a way of thought. This painting is was used as part of a propaganda campaign regarding the Revolution.  I

There’s nothing Romantic about Romanticism or is there?

What is Romanticism?  Romanticism was a movement in the arts that flourished in the late 18th century to the mid 19th century and rebelled against Neo Classicism.  It was the first movement to involve all of Europe in art, architecture, literature and music. Eugene Delacroix (1798 1863) sometimes incorporated a tiger in some of his