Early 20th Century British Art - The Rise of Modernism
#SUBHEADING#Moving Against Tradition#SUBHEADINGEND# At the turn of the 20th Century a wide range British artists began to react against the restrictive standards and conventions of the Royal Academy and working in response to the new model of Impressionist painting in France. They were mainly centred around London, where there was a constantly shifting scene of art and artists. This is illustrated in the painting by Richard Carline of artists who met regularly at the Carline household in Hampstead. It includes the well know independent artist Stanley Spencer and his future wife Hilda Carline. #SUBHEADING#The Royal Academy and France#SUBHEADINGEND# However the Royal Academy continued to exert a strong influence on art practice over the Edwardian period at the start of the century, with classic portraiture continuing to engage artists such as J. Byam Shaw and W. Strang. There were also artists using portraiture within domestic narrative scenes with a moral or sentimental message reminiscent of Victorian painting in works such as 'Memories' by Walter Langley and the 'Wedding Dress' by Fred Elwell. Frank Brangwyn was an example of an independently trained artist who learned his craft from Pre-Raphaelite and medievalist artists in the Arts and Crafts studio of William Morris, from which he developed his own style as a popular and prolific muralist and printmaker. Whistler was also a rising star in the independent art world of Paris and London at this time, and inspired pupils and younger artists such as Walter Sickert and Gwen John working in an impressionist style. #SUBHEADING#Impressionism in Britain#SUBHEADINGEND# The collective response French Impressionism among British artists, was the formation of a range of independent groups around the country to enable the free expression and experiment that they were unable to practice within academic institutions. One was founded in Newlyn, Cornwall by the artist Stanhope Forbes in 1884, with a similar artistic centre in Staithes on the Yorkshire coast, which included the painter Laura Knight. In London the main body for the display of Impressionist inspired works was the New English Art Club founded in 1886 by leading artists such as P.W. Steer, J. Lavery, G. Clausen, H. La Thangue and A. Stanhope-Forbes. These artists had been strongly affected by their travel and work in France where they came into contact with the new ideas and techniques of Impressionism. The young Walter Sickert also joined the exhibiting society after training with E. Degas in France. The rapid adoption of the latest developments from Paris, led to the formation of the Fitzroy Street group by W. Sickert and other radical young artists in 1907. They painted urban landscapes and interiors, which concentrated on the effects of light and colour on living subjects.
Fred Elwell
Frederick William Elwell was born in 1870 in Beverley, a market town situated seven miles from Hull. His father James was a cabinet-maker, and it is to him that Fred owed his high standards of achievement and his love of craftsmanship. Fred began to study art at evening classes at the Lincoln School of Art. In 1887 he won a scholarship which enabled him to embark upon full time studies. It was during his period at Lincoln that he developed an interest in the work of the French Impressionist painters.
Early 20th Century British Art - Artists Groups
From the creation of 'Post-Impressionism' by Roger Fry in London, further groups began to form around the studios of particular artists, following the example of the leading independent artists in France. It is from this point that London began to contribute to the direction and development of modernism on an equal footing with Paris, with radical artists moving easily between both cities.
Late 18th and early 19th British and European Landscapes
Read on to discover how the genre of landscapes developed in eighteenth and nineteenth century Britain and Europe.
Early 20th Century British Art - Between the Wars
After the devastation of WWI, radical movements in art had retreated to more conservative forms that celebrated the local and familiar, representing a national character in relation to European art movements. However, some developments were completely original responses to the art that had gone before and an attempt to encompass the state of the natural and human world as it appeared to British artists of the time. This led to new forms of visual expression that represented the cutting edge of the Art World at the outbreak of WWII.
Dutch 17th Century Landscapes
The Ferens Art Gallery collection has a particularly good representation of the 17th century Dutch landscape tradition. Read on to find out more about how this genre developed and who was involved.
