Norwich School of Painters

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John Crome: Boys bathing on the River Wensum in Norwich
Robert Ladbooke: Beach scene at Mundesley, Norfolk

The Norwich Landscape Painting School was founded in 1803 as the first art movement in the British provinces. The artists at this school were inspired by the Norfolk countryside . They were influenced by Jacob van Ruisdael and Meindest Hobbema , the main representatives of the Golden Age of Dutch landscape painting . The school was artistically committed to realism . The school was founded by the English painter John Crome , known in his homeland as the Hobbema of Norfolk . In addition to many only locally known painters, the painter John Sell Cotman belonged to this loose artist association.

history

The Norwich School of Landscape Painting was founded in 1803 as the Norwich Society of Artists by John Crome and Robert Ladbrooke as an association where artists could exchange ideas. The aim of the society was to increase and promote knowledge in painting, sculpture and architecture. The Society's first meeting took place at The Hole in the Wall Tavern. Two years later, the meeting place was moved to a former factory building, Sir Benjamin's Wrench's Court . Here the association members could also work artistically and exhibit their works. The first exhibition in 1805 was a huge success. The exhibitions were therefore held annually until 1825 until the old factory building was no longer suitable for this purpose. Three years later, the exhibitions continued under the name The Norfolk and Suffolk Institution for the Promotion of Fine Arts until 1833. The leading figure in this movement was John Crome until his death in 1821. He drew numerous friends and students to this art event. John Sell Cotmann, a member of this art association since 1807, then took over this function until 1834, when he left Norwich for London. From that point on, this art society ceased to exist.

meaning

The great achievement of the Norwich School was that a small group of autodidactically trained painters was enabled to depict the landscape around Norwich in a vital and artistically valuable way. Far from being able to produce works in the format of Dutch pastel paintings of the 17th century, the two great painters Crome and Cotman established a landscape painting school that actually deserved more attention. Cotman's watercolor painting in some ways anticipated French impressionism .

Part of the reason the School of Norwich painters were not as well known as their English contemporaries John Constable and William Turner was that the majority of their paintings were bought and collected by the industrialist and mustard manufacturer JJ Colman . These paintings have been exhibited at the Norwich Castle Museum since the 1880s . Since 2000, these works have been and are made available to a wider audience outside of Norwich and exhibited at the Tate Gallery in London, among others .

Members of the painting school

London members of the school:

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