English Romantic Painter, 1775-1851 Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 ?C 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style is said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. Although Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, he is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Turner's talent was recognised early in his life. Financial independence allowed Turner to innovate freely; his mature work is characterised by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint. According to David Piper's The Illustrated History of Art, his later pictures were called "fantastic puzzles." However, Turner was still recognised as an artistic genius: the influential English art critic John Ruskin described Turner as the artist who could most "stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of Nature." (Piper 321) Suitable vehicles for Turner's imagination were to be found in the subjects of shipwrecks, fires (such as the burning of Parliament in 1834, an event which Turner rushed to witness first-hand, and which he transcribed in a series of watercolour sketches), natural catastrophes, and natural phenomena such as sunlight, storm, rain, and fog. He was fascinated by the violent power of the sea, as seen in Dawn after the Wreck (1840) and The Slave Ship (1840). Turner placed human beings in many of his paintings to indicate his affection for humanity on the one hand (note the frequent scenes of people drinking and merry-making or working in the foreground), but its vulnerability and vulgarity amid the 'sublime' nature of the world on the other hand. 'Sublime' here means awe-inspiring, savage grandeur, a natural world unmastered by man, evidence of the power of God - a theme that artists and poets were exploring in this period. The significance of light was to Turner the emanation of God's spirit and this was why he refined the subject matter of his later paintings by leaving out solid objects and detail, concentrating on the play of light on water, the radiance of skies and fires. Although these late paintings appear to be 'impressionistic' and therefore a forerunner of the French school, Turner was striving for expression of spirituality in the world, rather than responding primarily to optical phenomena. Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway painted (1844).His early works, such as Tintern Abbey (1795), stayed true to the traditions of English landscape. However, in Hannibal Crossing the Alps (1812), an emphasis on the destructive power of nature had already come into play. His distinctive style of painting, in which he used watercolour technique with oil paints, created lightness, fluency, and ephemeral atmospheric effects. (Piper 321) One popular story about Turner, though it likely has little basis in reality, states that he even had himself "tied to the mast of a ship in order to experience the drama" of the elements during a storm at sea. In his later years he used oils ever more transparently, and turned to an evocation of almost pure light by use of shimmering colour. A prime example of his mature style can be seen in Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway, where the objects are barely recognizable. The intensity of hue and interest in evanescent light not only placed Turner's work in the vanguard of English painting, but later exerted an influence upon art in France, as well; the Impressionists, particularly Claude Monet, carefully studied his techniques.  Related Paintings of Joseph Mallord William Turner :. | Schatten und Dunkelheit: Der Abend vor der Sintflut | Landscape | Rider | Roman | Fighting Temeraire |
Related Artists:
FYT, Jan
Flemish Baroque Era Painter, 1611-1661 Flemish painter, draughtsman and etcher. He was apprenticed in Antwerp in 1621-2 to Hans van den Berch [Berghe] (not to be confused with Jan van den Bergh of Alkmaar) and probably completed his training with Frans Snyders. In 1629-30 Fyt became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke, but he continued to work for Snyders until 1631. In 1633 and 1634 he was in Paris. According to his biographers, he then went to Italy; an Italian journey is confirmed by the fact that in 1650 he joined the Antwerp Guild of Romanists (exclusive to those who had visited Rome), of which he became the dean in 1652. He apparently worked in Rome, where he joined the Schildersbent and was given the nickname 'Goudvink' (Dut.: 'goldfinch'). In Venice, according to Orlandi, Fyt worked for the Sagredo and Contarini families. He is also thought to have visited Naples, Florence and Genoa, and Orlandi stated that he also went to Spain and London. By 5 September 1641 Fyt was back in Antwerp, where, apart from a brief trip to the northern Netherlands in 1642, he apparently remained for the rest of his career.
Brocky, Karoly
1807-1855
BAGLIONE, Giovanni
Italian Baroque Era Painter, active 1573-1644 A pupil of Francesco Morelli, he worked mainly in Rome, initially with a late-Mannerist style. He was also nicknamed Il Sordo del Barozzo. He published two books, The nine churches of Rome (1639) and The Lives of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers (active from 1572-1642)(1642). The last title is still seen as an important historical source for painters living in Rome during the life of Baglione. Among those he chronicled, and for whom he was notorious in his animosity was Caravaggio, whose style had influenced him much. The latter was forced to leave the city after Baglione's accusations of sodomy. Baglione's Sacred love versus profane love, a response to Caravaggio's Love Victorious, shows an angel (Sacred Love) interrupting a 'meeting' between Cupid (Profane Love) and the Devil (portrayed with the face of Caravaggio). He was employed in many considerable works in Rome during the pontificates of Clement VIII and Paul V. His main works are frescoes which can be seen in the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, in the Cappella Borghese. For the church of Santa Maria dell'Orto he painted in the chapel of Our Lady with the Zuccheri scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin. Among other works which he executed for this church is a painting of Saint Sebastian. An excellent example of Baglione's work is The Last Supper at San Nicola in Carcere. From his brush also there is a Saint Stephen in the Cathedral at Perugia, and in that of Loreto a Saint Catherine. Pope Paul V knighted Baglione a Knight of the Order of Christ for his painting of Saint Peter Raising Tabitha from the Dead (1607) in St. Peter's Basilica. He also painted a St. Stephen for the cathedral of Perugia, and a St. Catharine for the cathedral of Loreto. The Giustizia hall at the Rocca dei Rossi was completely frescoed by Baglione. He died at Rome.