Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
These paintings are “modern” in that the subject is less important than the style. You'll
have to read the title to “get” it. You could argue that an Englishman helped invent Impres-
sionism a generation before Monet and his ilk boxed the artistic ears of Paris in the 1880s.
Turner's messy use of paint to portray reflected light “Chunneled” its way to France to
inspire the Impressionists.
• Now, head for the corner room of the Clore Gallery that's dedicated to Turner's great
rival and contemporary...
John Constable (1776-1837)
Constable brought painting back into the real world. Although the Royal Academy thought
Nature needed makeup, Constable thought she was just fine. He painted the English land-
scape as it was—realistically, without idealizing it. With simple earth tones he caught leafy
green trees, gathering gray skies, brown country lanes, and rivers the color of the clouds
reflected in them. Many details came from actual landscapes and villages from his child-
hood roots in Suffolk.
