BRITISH PAINTERS.

Shannon News, 23 July 1929, Page 2

BRITISH PAINTERS.

great national heritage

DEVELOPMENT IN THE LAST TWO CENTURIES.

British painting was dealt With by Miss Cadell, 8.A., in her eleventh lecture on “The History of Painting in Europe,” to the Levin W.E.A-. crass. The history of painting in England, said the tutor, followed on naturally from that of Holbein. The English

court formed the habit of entrusting art to foreigners,' and this tendency has persisted in the British people through the intervening centuries. The Stuarts secured the services of another painter of European eminence, and after Van Dyck came his less gifted and illustrious compatriots, Sir Godfrey Knellcr and Sir Peter Lely, who is known

for liis series of portraits of. the favourites of Charles 11. National art revealed itself in the painting of miniatures, which was a development, of the monkish tradition of illumination. Miniatures were usually portraits, and owing to the hostility of the Church towards painting the tendency was for all pictures to be likenesses of the influential personages of the day. ORIGINALITY OF HOGARTH.

In the 18th century appeared an artist who was to assert in. his work the independence of English painting and of his own tastes. William Hogarth (1697-1764) turned his back on court patronage and reflected in his pictures the fruition of the English genius in the drama. He endeavoured to convey graphically all that the actor could express on the stage, and in a series of half a dozen scenes mapped out a story. These pictorial dramas were presented with astonishing directness and force, each episode being summed up at the decisive moment. Hogarth was first apprenticed to an engraver on silver, but at the age of 21 started on copper-plate engraving,

and so was launched on an artistic care.u'. He opened a shop for the sale of piints, and managed, to save enough ■money to study painting at, the academy of Sir James Thornhill, one. of die most celebrated decorative artists of the time. He married his teacher’s daughter, with whom he eloped, and v:as° forgiven by her father when his

earnings as an engraver .grew, aubstautiai. Hogarth showed an early and abiding interest in the stage, and painted a scene from “The Beggar’s Opera.” In 1731 Hie began the first of his sferies of pictures, “The Har : lot’s Progress.” Then followed “The Rake’s Progress” and “Marriage a la Mode.” As their titles suggest, these paintings show the rapid deterioration brought about by evil courses, and Hogarth thereby showed himself to be a satirist on the side of morality. He

was endowed with marvellous technical skill, which manifested itself in all his work. Ilis most characteristic trait was the quick seizure of essentials, which was revealed in the , por-. trait oF a “Shrimp Girl” in the Na-

tional Gallery. Alike in the choice of subject and in the broad handling of the brushwork, Hogarth showed his originality and independence. Although it was to Hogarth that English art owed new vitality, succeeding painters did not follow jiis

tradition. Those who achieved success in the 18th century were the portrait painters, who absorbed the teaching of the European masters and who still looked upon Italy as the fount of art.

REYNOLDS’ GREAT FAME. Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) was one of the great figures of his age. Edmund Burke proclaimed him to be “the first Englishman who added the praise of elegant arts to the other glories of his country.” Reynolds was essentially a . studious painter. He began his studies as a youth in Rome, and always approached his subjects in a thoughtful frame of mind, pondering how to apply the knowledge he had garnered. None of the famous por-trait-painters resembled Hogarth in style, but the influence of the stage was apparent in their work, for they all depicted'the leading actresses of

the day in their favourite parts. Reynolds was especially interested in the dramatic aspects of his pictures, and, apart from his likenesses of stage favourite, he would seek out a fresh treatment for his sitters that would reveal each in a distinctive role. Lord Heathfield was depicted on the Rock of Gibraltar, with the §moke of battle behind him; and in his many studies of children Reynolds always devised a setting appropriate to youth. At the end of his years of application in Italy, Reynolds quickly found patronage and fame in London. The leading figures of the town passed through his studio and appeared upon

his Canvases. It was not surprising that, when the Royal Academy was founded in 17G8, Reynolds should be invited to become its first president. He filled the position with tact and dignity, and his discourses on art to the students were lucid and full of good sense. His own experiments in the use of mediums and pigments, in the endeavour to emulate the glories of Venetian colour, often had unhappy results. as his paintings tended to fade, darken or crack. Reynolds’s friendship and association with the authors and political men of his time fostered the interest in art of fine minds and increased the prestige of painting.

GAINSBOROUGH TURNS TO PORTRAITS. Thomas Gainsborough (1726-88) was a complete contrast to Reynolds, and his lifelong rival. He was intuitive and spontaneous, ■- -where Reynolds was measured and thoughtful, and he studied the English countryside rather than the Italian masters. If he had followed his own inclination, he would have been a landscape painter, and in his scenes such as “The Market Cart” he showed his quality in that direction. Financial considerations decreed that he should follow the more profitable road of portrait painting, which,

indeed, led him to success.; yet his j house was always filled with unsold landscapes. Gainsborough was born in Suffolk, and, .after an apprenticeship to an engraver, he set up as a painter -in Ipswich. He worked there .steadily anu quietly for 14. years, and already his style revealed its nervous quality and his technique its delicate precision, in 1760 he was advised by a friend to frequent the fashionable watc-r-place of Bath, where he might paint the society of the day. His suc-

cess was rapid, and in the houses of his sitters he saw fine private collections of pictures, which awoke in hiin. a deep admiration for the work of "Van j Dyck. He was an original member of the Royal Academy and was brought Into contact and opposition with Reynolds. One of his most famous pictures, “The Blue Boy,” was painted to refute a pronouncement by the president that blue should not be the. dominant note of a design, but that n. should be relegated to the backgiound. The last 14 years of Gainsborough’s life was spent in London. He there adopted a new technique, in which he applied colour in flecks. and streaks, which method gave to his work a vibrating quality. His portraits were instinct with grace and elegance, and

he excelled in likenesses of women, for he could so delicately reveal fern: inine charm on canvas. “The Morning Walk” of a squire and his lady proved that Gainsborough -had psychological insight as well as technical skill. His light, sure touch and luminous colouring him to rank as

an exquisite craftsman. ROMNEY, RAEBURN AND OTHERS George Romney (1734-1802) had neither the scholarship of , Reynolds nor the magical colouring of Gainsborough, but his work charmed by reason of the unstudied grace that pervaded it. He was chiefly remembered for his pictures of, lovely girls, and the futuie Lady Hamilton was his model and inspiration for several years early in his career. He showed that he could also depict other types by his painting of “The Beaumont Family.” While these men of talent .were painting the celebrities of London, Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823), after a visit to Italy, settled in Edinburgh. He had a comfortable income and could have followed his calling where .and

how he wished, but he preferred to remain in his native city and to produce vigorous portraits of his eminent countrymen. A painter whose career was divided amongst most of the .countries of Europe was Angelica Kauffman (17411807). She was born in Switzerland,

and as a child was taken by her father to study in Milan. She later lived in Rome, and, as her artistic gifts grew and flourished, she became the idol of brilliant circles in the cities among

.• which she travelled.' She spent fifteen years’in. London, and was well-known l for her decorations for walls and ceil- ; ings. Her portraits were of fine qual- ■ ity, and one of the most attractive was a likeness of herself. There remained) '.two 181 th .©sin/tury 1 painters wlio did not fit into any cate- ! gory and who were the antithesis of i each other! George Morlaaid (17)63-

1804) was. a - vigorous portrayer of homely scenes until his talent was submerged by the exigencies of satisfying au ever-growing thirst. William Blake. (1757-1827), poet and mystic, was hampered by technical limitations, but for sheer imaginative power has seldom been equalled, as may be seen in his illustrations to the Book of Job.

(The second part of this lecture will appear in to-morrow ’s issue).