British Watercolors

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The British Watercolors (German: British watercolor painting ) includes an important cross-epochal Technique that of classicism , romanticism about the realism to the pre- Impressionism was at its peak. It lasted from around 1750 to 1900.

General

Watercolor consists of powdered pigments that are soluble in water . It stands out from the strong impasto and the glaze of the oil painting . The light hitting the surface of the picture penetrates the white painting ground into the paper. It is thrown back the same way. This will lighten the color. In painting, one speaks of a certain lightness, of its fresh, natural character - this effect has been known since the 16th century. It is precisely this atmosphere that evolves from this that is characteristic of it - the paintings by Joseph Mallord William Turner are best known from this period . There was also the advantage that, in contrast to the oil technique, with its drying phases and the final surface preservation, the picture was ready after the last brushstroke.

Application and dissemination

Although already known throughout Europe for the illustration of books in the Middle Ages, this technique has been almost forgotten. The water colors were then demonstrably first used by Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn for the creation of sketches of their later paintings. In the early seventeenth century, this technique was used by British painters to paint landscapes. British watercolor painters also copied oil paintings - the best known is the German painter Philip Hackert (1737–1807). Travelers of that time included Richard Payne , Charles Gore and Thomas Hearne , John Robert Conzen and Pauls Sandby . They stood for a refinement of the painting technique, whereas JMW Turner rose to become a visionist. This technology did not have the same importance on the continent, especially since there was more of a tendency towards oil technology.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the number of watercolor painters grew. They organized themselves in joint exhibitions . However, many paintings have been lost because of the poorly mixed pigments. The pictures in the water color technique became noticeably larger and got the same status as oil paintings.

After Waterloo and the end of the continental blockade, British painters fond of traveling discovered the beauty and fascination of European landscapes from Calais to the Mediterranean Sea and created images of them. This is also referred to as a "British character" in the way it is presented. These painters are also known as the new generation. These include names such as Joseph Mallord William Turner , Samuel Prout , William James Müller , and John Augustus Atkinson .

The way they were presented captured the speed and dynamics of the action and the forces of nature of clouds and wind as well as the power of water. People and their work were also discussed. Now the representation went over to blurring the contours and adapting the coloring to the character. In contrast to this, some painters have refined the chromatographic effects and thus achieved an effect that comes very close to oil painting.

The water-color technique was increasingly used for coloring maps , caricatures and depicting figures. Around 1850 photography came to the fore. An attempt was made to introduce this art to the general public through traveling exhibitions and museums. The British Watercolor Society continues, maintaining a tradition that has lasted for over 260 years.

Bonington and his work in France

The most famous of its kind in France was Richard Parkes Bonington . He had spent the second half of his life in France and traveled as far as the Mediterranean Sea to Venice. In 1824 he won the gold medal at the Salon in the Louvre alongside his compatriot and oil and water color painter John Constable . This had a far-reaching impact. At first, his almost impressionistic painting style was given a lot of attention. Both painters were famous for their outdoor painting. The French painters Paul Huet and Eugène Delacroix had already met him in 1816. The final impetus should then come from an oil painting by a John Constable. These two impulses alone were enough to give rise to the Barbizon School , which was to pave the way for Impressionism . In England too, Bonington was to find many imitators for his light and airy way of portraying himself.

Old Watercolor Society

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

In 1804 the Watercolor Society was founded . Art historians like to refer to it as the “English School of Water Color”. This may be an attempt at a conceptual summary, but it does not really hit it. Well-known names like Blake, Constable, Conzen and Turner, an integral part of what was happening at the time, created their paintings outside the sphere of influence of the Watercolor Society. For many young artists, the water color technique was new and its potential was also great and was drawn to this society.

List of selected British watercolor painters

These are not only those who had used watercolor painting, but also those artists who had worked in panel painting using the oil paint technique:

Literature (selection)

  • British Watercolors in the Victoria and Albert Museum. An Illustrated Summary Catalog of the National Collection. Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1980.
  • Lesslie Parries, Ian Fleming-Williams and Conal Shields: Constable - Paintings, Watercolors & Paintings , The Tate Gallery, 1976.
  • John Baskett and Snelgrove Dudley: English Drawings and Watercolors 1550-1850 in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. Exhibition catalog. Introduction by Graham Reynolds. Pierpont Morgan Library, New York 1972.
  • Jane Bayard: Works of Splendor and Imagination: The Exhibition Watercolor, 1770-1870. Exhibition catalog. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven 1981.
  • John Lewis Roget: A History of the "Old Water-Color" Society. 2 vols. Longmans, Green, London 1891. Reprint (2 vols. In 1). Clopton, Woodbridge, Antique Collectors' Club, Suffolk 1971.
  • Andrew Wilton: British Watercolors, 1750 to 1850. Phaidon, Oxford 1977.
  • Yale Center for British Art. Selected Paintings, Drawings & Books. Foreword by Paul Mellon. Yale Center for British Art, New Haven 1977.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Victoria and Albert Museum: British Watercolors 1750-1900. Retrieved April 11, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Willox, Scott: British Watercolors - Drawings of the 18th and the 19th Centuries from the Yale Center for British Art. Orbis, London 1985th
  3. ^ Andrew Wilton, Anne Lyles: The Great Age of British Watercolors, 1750 to 1870. The Royal Academy of Arts London / Prestel Verlag, Munich 1993.
  4. ^ Phillips Koninck: Landscape with a River at Distant Hills. British Museum, London.
  5. ↑ Shipping Scene , around 1810
  6. ↑ The Beach of Hastings , around 1815/1820
  7. ↑ Mountain waterfall, around 1841/1842
  8. ↑ Fishermen Putting out to Sea
  9. ↑ Harvest Field, Peter de Wint
  10. ^ Pile Drivers , Rouen around 1821/1822, created using water color technology and as a drawing on vellum paper, Richard Parkes Bonington
  11. ↑ Clipper in a High Sea , created 1827, Ricard Parker Bonington.
  12. ^ A Windy Day: Boats in a Gale , George Chambers, after 1827.
  13. ^ Study of clouds from Hampstead, John Constable, created 1830.
  14. ↑ John Constable was more of an oil painter and watercolor was more of a tool.
  15. ↑ Hans-Peter Bühler: The Barbizon School. Verlag F. Bruckmann, Munich 1979.

Remarks

  1. ↑ There is a graphic on blue vellum paper for the picture Pile Drivers , Rouen . Probably the topic was first recorded with the help of a sketch and then the work was implemented in water color technology.
  2. ↑ In 1826 Joseph Nicéphore Nièpce developed the Helio process. the techniques essentially existed for about ten years. This gave painting the competition between free choice of objects and reproduction.
  3. ↑ John Constable plays a key role in the history of painting. The watercolor painting was mainly used by him for study purposes. During his lifetime, only a few pictures were exhibited using the watercolor technique.
  4. ↑ The Barbizon School is a misrepresentation and misinterpretation. The term Barbizon artists' colony is more appropriate. Because there was neither a school nor an academy with the same name. However, the masters went outside with their students and gave them advice and assistance. The term "The Barbizon School of Painters" was coined by the English writer and journalist David Croal Thompson; this movement was initially called the “School of 1830”. Life took place between the “Auberge Ganne” in Barbizon, the “Auberge de Cheval Blanc” and the “Lion Noir” inn in Chailly-en-Bière and the “Auberge de la Mère Anthony” in Marlotte and nature.
  5. ↑ A distinction is made here between French, Dutch and German Impressionism.