During his many journeys J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) produced an enormous number of sketches which he transformed into finished watercolours when he returned home. He was fascinated by rendering changing light effects and was able to convey an incomparable tragic grandeur in his works. Talented for both oil and watercolour painting, Turner set the two techniques on an equal footing.
From the beginning of the 19th century, the Napoleonic Wars curbed European travel and artists turned to exploring the riches of their own country. They sought out and brilliantly depicted some of the most picturesque landscapes and views of Great Britain. John Varley (1778-1842) was one of the most popular painters of his time, both among fellow artists and with the public.
With romanticism, landscape was appreciated more as a personal experience than purely the scenery or context of an action. Now that nature had become a source of pleasure and emotion in its own right, artists could express much greater subjectivity as they contemplated their surroundings.
The fall of Napoleon and the "reopening" of the Continent in 1816 gave rise to an insatiable desire for discovery; after the aristocrats, the British middle classes now set off to travel for pleasure. To satisfy their customers" curiosity, artists journeyed further and further afield to explore distant lands and bring back views whose beauty and exoticism were a source of fascination. Italy, Egypt and the Middle East were magnificently depicted by Edward Lear (1812-1888) in his exquisitely spontaneous sketches.
Victorian taste for detail and technical feats led artists to produce larger works and to use bright, thick colours to create an oil-like effect. In tune with their time in the second half of the 19th century, painters of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood strove to attain absolute precision in portrayal.
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