Category: British
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Art in TV and Film: Turner’s Reichenbach Falls
Turner’s watercolor The Great Falls of the Reichenbach appeared in a 2012 episode of the BBC series Sherlock. Learn why this choice was so very fitting.
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Meet the Gainsborough Family
Most of Thomas Gainsborough’s compelling portraits of his daughters were displayed together in Gainsborough’s Family Album at the Princeton U. Art Museum.
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King of the Confessors: a Crazy Story About the Cloisters Cross
Thomas Hoving’s King of the Confessors is about his adventures in acquiring the so-called Cloisters Cross. The story is wild, and I couldn’t put it down.
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Turner: The Life Behind the Paintings
If you enjoy the works of J.M.W. Turner and want to know more about him, I suggest reading Franny Moyle’s comprehensive book about his life and art.
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Turner and His Disappearing Colors
Before synthetic colors, it was important to choose your paints wisely. Artists like Turner didn’t always do this, and their paintings discolored quickly.
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A Guide to Pre-Raphaelite Painting
Learn about Pre-Raphaelite painting – major artists, their ideas, and how you can identify the works? Find out how it relates to the industrial revolution.
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A Review of the Yale Center for British Art
The Yale Center for British Art is an entire museum dedicated to historical British art. Learn about my experience and the Louis I. Kahn-designed building.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Wells Cathedral, Somerset, UK
Two weeks ago, I talked about the mouth puller grotesque and how common he can be in Gothic architecture. The grotesque above belongs to a related type – the thorn puller, who struggles to pull a thorn or some other painful irritant out of his foot. The thorn puller appears in many different churches and may…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, England
This rather distressed-looking grotesque lives on Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, England. He sticks out his tongue and pokes at something inside his mouth, as though he’s having some dental problems. I can’t help but feel a little sorry for this odd little dude. He belongs to a subset of gargoyles and grotesques known as “mouth pullers”…
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A Young Girl Dressed Up for Christmas (December 22nd)
For a fine art Advent calendar, a charming illustration of a well-dressed little girl by Kate Greenaway.
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Tower of London
This weirdly-misshapen face is one of several gargoyles or grotesques located on the infamous Tower of London. Considering the many horrifying things that have happened inside that castle-turned-prison, I would say that his somewhat-twisted appearance is appropriate, though I’m sure this wasn’t intentional. Interestingly, the other Tower of London gargoyles I found, though all still disembodied…