Міністерство освіти і науки України
Дрогобицький державний педагогічний університет імені Івана Франка
Інститут іноземних мов
THE ART OF PAINTING
ОБРАЗОТВОРЧЕ МИСТЕЦТВО
Навчальний посібник
Дрогобич 2010
УДК 811.111(075.8)
Образотворче мистецтво / Автори-укладачі: О. Коляса, О. Дубицька. — Видання 3-тє, доповнене та
перероблене. – Дрогобич: Вимір, 2010. — 64 с.
© Коляса Олена Василівна, старший викладач (Кафедра практики англійської мови)
© Дубицька Оксана Богданівна, старший викладач (Кафедра германських мов і перекладознавства)
Навчальний посібник "Образотворче мистецтво" написано відповідно до програми
дисципліни "Практика усного і писемного мовлення" для підготовки
фахівців освітньокваліфікаційного рівня "Бакалавр" спеціальності "Англійська мова та література. У ньому вміщені
розмовні теми про відомих світових митців доби Ренесансу та художників сучасності. До тем
підібраний словник та подана низка вправ для засвоєння лексики.
Бібліографія 12 назв.
Рекомендовано до друку Вченою радою Дрогобицького державного педагогічного університету
імені Івана Франка (протокол № 5 від 12 червня 2004 р.)
Рецензенти: Бялик В.Д., кандидат філологічних наук, доцент кафедри англійської мови
Чернівецького національного університету ім. Ю. Федьковича;
Кушина Н. І., кандидат філологічних наук, доцент кафедри практики англійської мови
Дрогобицького державного педагогічного університету ім. І. Франка.
Contents
1. Vocabulary
2. How to Appreciate paintings
The Still Life
The Landscape
The Portrait
3. Trends in Art
4. Religious Painting
5. Artists of the High Renaissance
a) Leonardo da Vinci
b) Raphael
c) Michelangelo Buanarotti
d) Titian
e) Rembrandt
f) Pablo Picasso
6. British Painting and Painters
a) William Hogarth
b) Joshua Reynolds
c) Thomas Gainsborough
d) John Constable
e) William Turner
7. Modern Art
Pablo Picasso
8. Artists in America
7. Ukrainian Painting
8. World Greatest Art Galleries and Museums
9. Writing
10. Spekaing
11. Reading
12. Describing Paintings. Exercises
13. Stories about Painting and Painters
Vocabulary
Trends in art: classicism, realism, romanticism, expressionism, impressionism, abstractionism, cubism,
suprematism, fantasy art, surrealism.
Types of paintings:
an oil painting, a watercolour painting, a pastel painting, a graphic/ black & white / picture; a sketch / a
study; a fresco (mural) painting;
a portrait; a self-portrait; a family portrait; a ceremonial portrait; an intimate portrait; a full-length portrait; a
shoulder-length portrait; a half-length portrait; a life-sized portrait; a landscape; a seascape; a marine
painting; a cityscape; a genre painting; a historical painting; a battle piece, a still life, a flower piece; a
river-piece; an icon;
a coloured reproduction; a reproduction in black and white.
Painters and their craft:
a fashionable (self-taught) mature artist; an amateur artist;
an anonymous painter;
a portrait painter / a portraitist;
a landscape painter / a landscapist;
a flagstone (pavement) artist;
an icon painter;
to paint mythological subjects;
to paint literary subjects;
to paint religious subjects;
to paint from nature (memory, imagination);
to specialize in portraiture, etc;
to portray people and their emotions;
to depict a person (a scene of common life, etc);
to depict the mood of nature (the sea, etc) ;
to reveal the person’s nature;
to capture the sitter’s vitality;
to develop one’s own style of painting;
to acquire skill (experience);
to have a keen eye for beauty;
to depict the scenery of one’s country;
to make a preliminary sketch;
to add some finishing strokes;
to conform to the taste of the time;
to break with the tradition;
to be in advance of one’s time;
to expose the dark sides of life;
to paint people with moving sincerity;
to die forgotten and penniless;
to become famous overnight.
Composition:
in the foreground of the picture;
in the background of the picture;
in the top left-hand corner;
in the bottom right-hand corner;
to arrange objects symmetrically / asymmetrically;
to be painted against the background of …
to arrange in a pyramid;
to divide the picture space diagonally;
to paint smb. in profile / in full face;
to define the figures in the foreground more sharply;
to emphasize contours purposely;
to distort figures;
to resort to exaggeration;
to lay emphasis on the simplicity / on the elegance of …
to convey a sense of space;
to place the figures against the landscape background;
to blend with the landscape;
to choose models for one’s portraits;
to indicate the sitter’s profession;
to be represented sitting (standing, talking etc.);
to sit for a portrait;
Colouring:
to combine form & colour into harmonious unity;
subtle colouring;
gaudy colouring;
a brilliant colour-scheme;
a low-keyed colour-scheme;
colour-scheme where blue predominates;
cool & restful colours;
hot & agitated colours;
soft & delicate colours;
harsh & oppressive colours;
the delicacy of colours may be lost in a reproduction;
different tints / hues / shades of red, etc;
to paint with delicate brush strokes;
Impression. Judgement:
a masterpiece;
an unsurpassed masterpiece;
an exquisite piece of painting;
to leave a deep & lasting impression on a person;
Pictures may be:
moving; lyrical; romantic; original; fascinating; poetic in atmosphere;
distinguished by a marvellous sense of colour & composition;
dull; crude; chaotic; gaudy; depressing; cheap & vulgar; a colourless daub of paint;
obscure & unintelligible.
HOW TO APPRECIATE PAINTINGS
The beauty of a work of art has to be felt. One needs the ability to penetrate and share the vision of
the artists. Lacking such ability, one may develop it. Is it impossible then to learn
how to look at and appreciate paintings? Certainly not. No art critic, connoisseur
or collector would dare to say he was born with a developed sensitivity.
The best way to gain better understanding and greater enjoyment of art
is to view many paintings, looking at them thoughtfully and earnestly. Great
works of art seem to look different every time one stands before them.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, an outstanding British portraitist, says that a
relish for the higher excellency of art is an acquired taste, which no man ever
possessed without long cultivation and great labour and attention. Let it be
always remembered that the excellency of one's style is not on the surface, but
lies deep, and at the first view is seen but mistly. It is the florid style which strikes
at once, and captivates the eye. Painting does not differ in this respect from other arts. A just poetical taste
and the acquisition of a nice discriminative musical ear are equally the work of time.
So to penetrate into and share the vision of the artist one must acquire taste by slow and imperceptible
degrees.
The Fine Arts include painting, drawing, sculpture and architecture. The art of painting covers a variety
of activities usually distinguished by their techniques. The main ones are fresco (mural or monumental)
painting, easel painting and illumination.
Easel painting includes such genres (or varieties) as:
portrait painting or portraiture (a ceremonial, intimate, group or family portrait, a self-portrait, a
shoulder-, half-, knee-, full-length portrait, etc.);
landscape painting (seascape painting or marine, town (city)-scape or urban (street) scene, rural,
rustic or country landscape, woodland scene, riverside scene, etc.);
still life painting (a flower piece, etc.);
genre painting (a conversational piece, an everyday folk scene);
historical painting, the painting of battle scenes, animal painting, poster painting, cartoon
painting, miniature, icon painting.
A painter can paint in water-colours, in oils, etc., or draw in pencil, in pen, in ink, in crayon or in chalk
as well as in charcoal, in pastel, in sanguine; he can paint from nature (life), i.e. in the open air or in the studio
(atelier).
THE STILL LIFE
A still life is a painting that is without people. In French a still life is called a "nature morte", a "dead
nature", which is a strange name to use to describe Nature, which is by definition, "living". The term only
dates from the middle of the 18th century in France, before that they were called "resting nature" or "motionless
objects". The English name "still life" is derived from the Dutch "stilleven", or "motionless life". But "still" has
another meaning, "silent", and this seems more appropriate to describe the bouquets of flowers, piles of fruits,
haunches of venison and the full array of the huntsman's bag that constitute a still life painting. Still life
appeared in religious art of the 15th century, as in the "the Annunciation" by Roger van der Weyden, painted
in 1435. Like all the Flemish painters, he paid much attention to the details in his paintings: the open book,
the ewer on the cabinet, the oranges on the chimney place and especially the blue and white porcelain vase
standing on the tiled floor.
However, still lifes did not appear as a separate subject until the 17th century, at the same time
as genre painting. "I take as much trouble over painting a vase of flowers as I do over painting a face",
said the Italian painter Caravaggio at the end of the 16th century. His contemporaries were scandalized.
How could anyone dare to compare the art of painting a face with that of painting a mere flower! A few
years later, nobody was shocked by the importance given to still lifes.
The still life originated in Flanders and Holland. Major painters like Rubens or Rembrandt
painted still lifes, each treating them according to his taste and temperament. The jolly burgomasters
particularly liked paintings of "lunches", with the result that a great many painters were to specialize in
painting them: Claesz, Hedda, Kalf and Davidsz de Heem... The fashion for painting still lifes quickly
spread throughout the Europe. Its most representative painters in France were Baugen in the 17th
century and Chardin in the 18th. The best-known Spanish still life painter is Luis Melendes.
Knowing how to paint a still life meant, of course, knowing how to reproduce objects as faithfully as
possible. It requires great talent to paint the velvety surface of a peach, the transparency of a crystal
decanter or the dull shine of metal. But still life painters often wanted to do more than reproduce objects
they wanted to express ideas through them. They would paint an hourglass to denote the brevity of life, or
a musical instrument to express the pleasure of it... An object therefore took on a symbolic meaning, which
the spectators have to know before they can fu lly understand the subject of a painting. This kind of still
life was called a "vanity".
During the 18th century, the symbolic meanings of the still life were slowly lost and by the 19th
century no artist would paint them exclusively. The "Still Life with a Lobster", which Delacroix painted in 1824,
is an exception. It is the last major still life of the 19th century, and it can be said that, until Cezanne
revived it in the 20th century, artists almost lost interest in the genre.
THE LANDSCAPE
Landscape painting was not always a separate genre, but landscapes have always been part of
the painter's panoply.
From the Middle Ages landscapes were used as backdrops in a great many paintings. They
were used to situate a person in the world and not in heaven, to show a precise location or to convey an
abstract idea. In the 16th century, during the Renaissance, the landscape played an important role and
reflected a new state of mind. Though it always formed part of the background of a painting, it generally
served to underline a strong tic between man and nature. The landscape became the mirror of the cosmic
civilization. Towards the end of the century it was discovered that a landscape could be used to emphasize
an effect or an emotion: a clear sky reinforced a happy scene, a stormy sky accentuated a strong emotion.
It wasn't until the 17th century t h a t painters began to make nature the sole subject of their
paintings. The Dutch were the first to acquire a taste for small landscape paintings, preferring familiar
locations to distant, unknown countries. The demand was so great that many artists specialized in the
genre, painting country scenes, sandy dunes, canals, seascapes (Hobbema, Van Goyen, Van
Reuysdael), views of the cities (Vermeer, Berkcheyde, Van der Heyden) or winter scenes (Avercamp).
During the same period in France, the Academy of Painting established a hierarchy in the genre,
separating it into two kinds of landscape. At the top of the scale there was the "heroic landscape", which is
included in the "grand manner" of painting. This applied to historical or Biblical scenes that were often set
in landscapes with ruins reminiscent of Antiquity.
At the lower end of the scale, the Academy placed the "rustic landscape", country scenes,
sometimes containing figures, and generally f u l l of life. These paintings were considered to be inferior
because they didn't call for a knowledge of history or any great mastery of the laws of composition. Up to the
beginning of the 19th century they were always painted indoors, in the artist's studio, using sketches made at
the locations. In the 18th century the popularity of the "fetes galantes" and open-air entertainments
encouraged the "rustic landscape". The formal gardens of Versailles were forgotten in favour of a wilder, truer
nature.
In the 19th century, during the Romantic era, the genre was freed from a systematic idealization;
the modern type of landscape had been born.
English painters in particular were deeply moved by the spectacle of nature. They painted open skies full
of movement which they reproduced very accurately and wild seascapes. German landscapes expressed a
feeling of unease, or melancholy. Faced with the landscapes of Germany, the painter felt dwarfed and lonely,
as if he were facing his destiny. These landscapes are tragic. In France a number of artists, known as the
Barbizon School, began to paint sketches in the open air, so as to capture reality better. The final painting,
though worked over in the studio, had a greater air of spontaneity. This school was to open the doors to one of
the most celebrated movements in painting: Impressionism.
THE PORTRAIT
Nowadays famous faces are widely reproduced in the media. Television, magazines and newspapers
spread them quickly throughout the world. But prior to the invention of photography, things were not so
easy. How could a king, for instance, become known to all his subjects? There was only one way: to
commission a portrait from a painter, sculptor or engraver.
In Medieval times, artists painted very few portraits, because religion was the main interest.
Portraiture began to flourish at the end of the Middle Ages, when the individual began to gain importance.
The first portraits, dating from the 14th century, were still part of religious painting. When a living person was
portrayed, he was generally shown on his knees next to a Crucification or a Madonna and Child. He was frequently
shown much smaller than the religious figures in the painting, for, even if he were a king or a prince, he could
not be painted the same size as God.
What a shock the first portrait of a man alone must have produced! This historic and totally
revolutionary painting was painted by an unknown artist and it is the portrait of a king of France, Jean le Bon
(1319-1364).
Over the centuries that followed, every king, prince and governer was to have himself "portraited". At
first they were invariably shown in profile, as they were on coins and medallions, because painting
techniques were not advanced enough to produce a proper likeness in full-face. After the discoveries that
were made about colour and modelling, they began to be shown in three-quarter profiles and at last, in fullface. Then they began to be painted half-length, in a flattering pose and richly apparelled. That is when the
"display portrait" came into being. By then one no longer needed to be a king or queen to have one's portrait
done, but one still had to be rich!
Artists made a good living out of painting the portraits of the well off, but they also painted them for
pleasure. They experimented with their faces, and thus the "self-portrait" came into fashion. From the 17th
century, they painted complete unknowns, often usually looking people full of malice or fun.
The portrait continued to gain in popularity, and the group portraits were done of the members of the
same firm, profession or social group. These paintings were less costly, since the fee was divided by the
number of people in the painting. When someone in a powerful position commissioned a group portrait, he
usually intended it as a publicity for himself. Thus, Napoleon commissioned the painter David to paint his
coronation as Emperor in 1806 so that entire nation could share in the historic event."150 years later television
would doubtless achieve the same effect.
From 1830, the art of portraiture went into a fast decline. A new technique was available to all levels of
society: photography. Who could prefer the days for a portrait to the instant gratification provided by a camera?
TRENDS IN ART
Realism is an attempt to represent figures and objects exactly as they appear in life. The term “realism”,
frequently used to describe scenes of common life, implies criticism of social conditions. Thus, some of
the work of some realist painters has been described as “social realism”.
th
Impressionism [ɪmˈprɛʃəˌnɪzəm] (late 19 century) took its name from one peculiar painting by Claude
Monet “Impression: Sunrise” (1872). It arouse out of dissatisfaction with the classical & sentimental
subjects, and dry precise techniques of painting. The impressionists tried to achieve a spontaneous,
undetailed rendering of the world through representation of the effect of natural light on objects. The
impressionists painted landscapes, street scenes, figures from everyday life. However, they were
concerned more with the effects of light on an object than with exact depiction of form, as they believed
that light defuses the outlines of the form & reflects the colours of surrounding objects into shadows. The
impressionists eliminated minor details and just suggested, but not defined form. The impressionists
preferred the primary colours – red, yellow & blue – and the complementary colours – green, purple &
orange.
The best known impressionist painters: French artists Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste
Renoire, Edouard Manet, the American painter J. Whistler.
Impressionists developed the techniques which started new movements in art – pointillism,
impressionism, cubism, postimpressionism, etc.
Expressionism [ɪkˈsprɛʃəˌnɪzəm]
Expressionist artists express subjective feelings and emotions rather than depict reality or nature
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objectively. The movement developed during the late 19 and early 20 centuries as a reaction against
the academic standards that had prevailed in Europe since the Renaissance (1300-1600). In
expressionism, the artist is not concerned with reality as it appears, but with its inner nature & with the
emotions aroused by the subject. To achieve this, the artist frequently exaggerates, distorts or otherwise
alters the subject in order to stress the emotions more intensely.
Representatives of expressionism: the 16
th
century Spanish painter El Greco (who purposely
elongated the figures of his subjects), the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, the French artist Paul
Gauguin (who used violent colours & exaggerated lines to obtain intense emotional expression).
Abstractionism [æbˈstrækʃəˌnɪzəm]
Abstraction is the simplification of subject matter into basic & often geometric shapes. Artists
working with abstraction were mainly concerned with the design of the various parts related to each
other.
Degrees of abstraction or realism depend upon the way the artists sees the environment or his
ideas & concepts. Painters of the 20th century explored many ways of expressing their ideas & almost all
of them tried their hands at cubism.
The best known representatives: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Wassily Kandinsky.
Cubism [ˈkjuːbɪzəm]
Cubist art is concerned with abstract rather than lifelike forms. It began in Paris about 1908 as a
revolt against the sentimental & realistic traditional painting, and the emphasis of light & colour effects and
lack of form characteristic of impressionism.
The doctrine of the cubist school is, “Everything in nature takes its form from the sphere, the cone & the
cylinder”. There are two types of cubism: analytical, in which the artists paints the main geometric solids of
which it is composed, and synthetic, in which views of an object from different angles, not visible in life
simultaneously are arranged into a single composition. Cubists used mainly grays, browns, greens &
yellows. The most famous cubist artists are Pablo Picasso, Spain, Robert Delaunay, France.
Surrealism [səˈrɪəˌlɪzəm] emphasizes the role of the unconscious in creative activity. It is a
magical presentation of incredible things and three-dimensional space. Surrealist painting has great
variety of content & technique. Dali’s painting is symbolic and dreamlike, other painters used fantastic
shapes, etc.
Some famous surrealist painters: the Russian Mark Chagall (also known as the founder of
Fantasy Art), the Spaniard Pablo Picasso, the Frenchman Jean Arp. The Catalon painter Salvador
Dali joined the surrealist movement in 1930, but was later denounced by most surrealists because
they considered him to be more interested in commercialising his art than in surrealists ideas.
Suprematism [sʊˈprɛməˌtɪzəm; sjʊ-] – total abstraction. The best known representative Kazimir
Malevich, famous for his painting “The Black Square”.
RELIGIOUS PAINTING
The earliest paintings of the Middle Ages to have survived portray Biblical scenes. In order to fully
understand their meaning, it is essential to know something about life in Medieval times. The 13th and Nth
century life was dominated by religion. An ordinary, individual man was of little importance. He only really
"existed" united with other men in the Church.
Medieval society was generally uneducated, learning was reserved for a few privileged people, and the
mass of the population could neither read nor write. But it did understand pictures, and pictures were mainly
to be found in churches. Thus the common man derived what learning he had from looking at pictures. Thanks
to painting, the Church instructed the people. That is why so many religious paintings were produced in the
Middle Ages.
In a church a painting was placed in the most important and sacred spot, above the altar before which
the congregation knelt in prayer. The light filtering through the colourful stained glass windows was soft and rich,
greatly enhancing the paintings and their gold leaf background. What a difference from the modern museum!
Who were these painters of the Middle Ages? They were certainly wonderful artists, but at the time a
painter was not only thought of as an artist. He was an artisan who went through a twelve-year apprenticeship to
acquire the rules and techniques of his trade. Artists belonged to the same Guilds as doctors pharmacists,
and their studios resembled chemist's laboratories.
The art of painting was usually passed from father to son and a painter began his apprenticeship
very young. The contract between master and pupil provided for the food and shelter of the apprentice and he
was given an annual sum of money. During the period of apprenticeship, the master was to transmit all he
knew to the pupil. In return, the young man cleaned the studio and his master's brushes and mixed the paints.
He copied drawings and painted the secondary areas of a work for, in those days, a painting was often the
work of several people and was not signed.
A painter was in the service of the Church, or more rarely, of a king. A monk would commission a
painting of a Biblical scene, usually a Madonna and a Child or a Crucification. Everything was predetermined: the
subject, the size, the colours, the price... It was out of the question for a painter to improvise or use his
imagination. If the painting did not conform to the purchaser's specifications, he had the right to refuse it.
Medieval painting was quickly deemed clumsy and was forgotten in the 15th century, when the
Renaissance brought fascinating new techniques into being. In the 19th century, the painters of the Middle
Ages were disparagingly dubbed "primitive painters". This name remains today, now it stands for the fresh
purity of their colours and the sensibility of the artists of the period.
Artists of the High Renaissance
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The history of western civilization records no other man as gifted as Leonardo da Vinci. An
outstanding painter, sculptor, musician, architect, engineer, scientist and philosopher, he was
unquestionably the most glittering personality of the period that produced such giants as Raphael,
Michelangelo and Titian.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in Tuscany, the illegitimate son of a successful notary and a peasant
mother. Leonardo served an apprenticeship with Verrocchio, who, to quote an old story, “gave up the
brush when his pupil proved a greater artist that he”.
Few of Leonardo’s paintings have come down to us: only about 18 in all, some left unfinished,
some damaged or deteriorated as a result of his experimental techniques.
Before Leonardo, there had been two parallel trends in Italian painting. He achieved a combination
of these two trends, using scientific knowledge and giving his subjects an aura of poetic sentiment.
Leonardo’s first masterpiece “The Adoration of the Magi” was not finished. Unfortunately, he was too busy
with many other projects to finish some of his pictures. One of his greatest pictures is “The Madonna of
the Rocks”, characterised by an idealised portrayal of human beings and a formal arrangement of the
people in the picture.
In Milan Leonardo worked on many important projects, including “The Last Supper”, perhaps the
best known painting in the world. It was painted on the wall of the refectory of the Convent of Dominican
Friars in Milan. “The Last Supper” was painted not in true fresco but in an experimental oil technique, and
in a short time it began to deteriorate because of the dampness of the wall. In spite of this, we can
appreciate the artist’s way of presenting the human drama where Christ discloses to his followers that
soon one of them is to betray him and their cause. Leonardo is concerned with the reaction of the
apostles, their attitude to the shocking announcement. Due to Leonardo’s understanding of light and
shade and of perspective, the figures of the disciples look real being illuminated by a clear light, with
shadow and architectural details of the room and the windows behind them.
No matter how badly preserved Leonardo’s paintings may be, they draw our attention by a strange
fascination. Unlike other Renaissance painters, Leonardo created an enigma. The personality of Mona
Lisa, for instance, impresses us but there is something about her which we can not grasp. “Mona Lisa” is
one of Leonardo’s greatest works because of its plasticity, the delicate rendering of light and shade, the
use of the artist’s “sfumato” to emphasize the gentleness and serenity of the sitter’s face and the beauty
of her hands. It is the supreme example of Leonardo’s unique ability to create a masterpiece which lies
between the poetry and the realism of the portrait.
Little is known about the artist’s colouring, but judging from the recent cleaning of his paintings, it
was generally subdued with occasional brighter shades of cold contrasting tones.
sfumato [sfuːˈmɑːtəʊ] – the technique of blending “smoky” contours and volumes into the
atmosphere, creating a sense of mystery.
Proper Names:
Leonardo da Vinci [ˌliːəˈnɑːdəʊ də ˈvɪntʃɪ]
Magi [ˈmeɪdʒaɪ]
Raphael Santi [ˈræfeɪəl 'sa:nti]
Michelangelo [ˌmaɪkəlˈændʒɪˌləʊ]
Titian [ˈtɪʃən]
Mona Lisa [ˈməʊnə ˈliːzə]
Raphael (1483-1520)
Raphael was born in Urbino. At an early age he must have come under the influence of Pietro
Perugino’s art. In the inspired beauty and tranquil flowing lines of Perugino’s compositions Raphael found
the perfection of his own artistic aspirations.
Raphael painted his world-famous Madonnas, many of them in Florence. In his Madonna
compositions the persons are ingenuous and natural. In 1508 Raphael left Florence to participate in the
decoration of the Vatican. Raphael achieved a great triumph, having painted several frescos. Later he
executed numerous altarpieces, mythologies, portraits, engravings, studio paintings.
During several years before Raphael’s death an astonishing number of masterpieces were created,
among them the most famous Madonna representation of all times: the “Madonna with St. Sixtus & St.
Barbara”, which is in the Dresden Gallery. This was the last Madonna which Raphael painted. It was
executed entirely by his own hand on canvas of very fine texture, while all the other Madonnas were
painted on wood. Apparently neither Raphael nor his contemporaries were aware what a unique painting
they sent to the Black Monks of St. Sisto.
This masterpiece has been regarded by many critics as the best painting in the world. It has hardly
an equal in force and sentiment and harmony of its composition, no work can be compared with it in the
dignity and grandeur of the Divine Mother.
Raphael was born with an uncommonly keen eye and a sensitive hand. Each picture by Raphael
seems to tell that he searched for perfection even in the smallest detail.
Proper Names:
Pietro Perugino ['pjetrou ¸peru'dzi:nou] an Italian painter, 1446-1523
the Vatican [ˈvætɪkən] the palace of the popes in Rome and their principal residence there since 1377,
which includes administrative offices, a library, museum, etc, and is attached to the basilica of St Peter's
Dresden [ˈdrɛzdən] an industrial city in SE Germany, the capital of Saxony on the River Elbe
Urbino [Italian: [urˈbiːno] a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World
Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture
Michelangelo Buonarrotti (1475-1564)
Michelangelo was born in a small town near Florence. When he was 13, he became an apprentice
to an artist for 3 years, during which time he showed a definite preference for sculpture.
In 1494 he went to Rome to execute his Pieta for Saint Peter’s. The subject is a very difficult one,
but Michelangelo created a monument of extraordinary emotional force and majestic dignity.
On his return to Florence in 1501 Michelangelo signed a contract to make the famous statue of
David, which was to commemorate the liberation of the city from the enemies. At the age of 30
Michelangelo was called to Rome and for the next 30 years he worked there for a succession of Popes.
The most important work of this period is the magnificent and elaborate painting on the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
The Prophet Jeremiah on the Sistine ceiling is one of the most expressive figures. His bent
shoulders and sunken head symbolise sadness. Great care has been given to the anatomical structure of
the figure. What is especially striking and characteristic of Michelangelo in the portrayal of Jeremiah is the
illusion of a three-dimensional space in which the figure can actually move.
Proper Names:
the pietà [pɪɛˈtɑː] oплакування Христа
the Sistine Chapel [ˈsɪstaɪn ; -tiːn ˈtʃæpəl] the chapel of the pope in the Vatican at Rome, built for Sixtus
IV and decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo and others
the Prophet Jeremiah [ˈprɒfɪt ˌdʒɛrɪˈmaɪə]
Titian (1485/90–1576)
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During the 16 century Venice occupied a dominating position in the art world. Great importance
was given to colour. It was in the art of Titian that Venetian art reached its peak. Titian’s portraits are
astonishing in their penetration of character. The formal and closely knit composition of his portraits
enhances the fantastic quality of the colour which is lit by an inner light. Painting in broad, sure strokes
and de-emphasising details, the artist achieves an impression of genuine three-dimensionality and
volume. In his later work, the delicacy and richness of Titian’s colour reaches a new height.
Titian worked in different genres: he painted portraits, landscapes, altarpieces, mythological
subjects. Basing his work on motifs from antiquity, he painted a number of pictures featuring the nude
female picture. Whatever subject Titian set his hand to, he treated it in his rich and sweeping style.
To repeat an old doctrine: from Leonardo one can learn about light and shade, from Michelangelo
about anatomy and movement, from Raphael about expression, and from Titian about colour.
Proper Name:
Venetian [vɪˈniːʃən]
Renbrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
The master of mystery and characterisation, one of the giant painters of the centuries, Rembrandt’s
genius dominated Dutch art during the 17th century.
After receiving a humanist education at the University of Leyden, he worked in a studio and a
workshop in Amsterdam. Winning instant acclaim with his “Anatomy Lessons”, Rembrandt received many
commissions for portraits and soon had many pupils of his own.
Three distinct phases can be distinguished in Rembrandt’s artistic career. His early works, portraits
or biblical subjects, feature fine, smooth brushwork. The second phase, marked by the “Night Watch”, is
more forceful and dynamic, while in the third phase Rembrandt sought textual effects. The culmination of
his period is his “Man in the Golden Helmet”, in which the relief on the helmet is modelled by the paint.
Rembrandt sets himself the aim of recreating in visual terms the intangible essence of man and his inner
world.
When landscape became very popular, the Dutch painters began to depict Holland’s countryside.
Rembrandt also participated actively in Dutch landscape art, and he did it in a very individual manner. He
gained a conception of space and learned how to subordinate the individual form to a larger whole.
Rembrandt achieved a suggestion of air and atmosphere using vibrant tones and lines.
The paintings of Rembrandt’s last years bear the sad imprint on his unhappy old age and
disrepute. His superb collection of paintings was sold at auction in 1657/8 and even his house was put on
the block. The dramatic expression in his last magnificent series of self-portraits reveal an overwhelming
misery and inner tornment.
Proper Names:
Rembrandt van Rijn (or van Ryn) [ˈrɛmbrænt væn 'rain]
Leiden or Leyden [ˈlaɪdən] a city in the W Netherlands, in South Holland province
British Painting
The art of painting started by Renaissance began to develop in Britain. However, for two centuries
art in Britain was influenced by the styles of Flemish and French artists. In the early 18th century British
art began to develop independently. Thus, the 18th century became the great age of British painting,
when it acquired a distinct national character.
The first major artist who rejected foreign influence and established art with thoroughly British
themes and subjects was William Hogarth (1697-1764). He started as an engraver, then learnt to work
with oils. Hogarth observed the life of the high society and common people and depicted it in a moralistic
and dramatic narrative way. His portraits are truthful and have a fresh vitality. Hogath’s witty and satirical
portrayal of the contemporary society, his protest against social injustice, his attack on the vulgarity of
fashionable society make him one of the most original and significant British artists.
The most accomplished series of moral paintings “Marriage à la Mode” exposes the vulgarity of a
rich aristocratic family hidden under outer glamour and refinement.
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) was a prominent figure in British painting. He went to Italy to
study the Old Masters not to copy them, but to learn the principles of the Grand Style, to master the
secrets of composition, and light and shade effects.
Painting mostly portraits, Reynolds insisted that not only physical features of the sitter should be
depicted, but his inner world should be reflected too. Reynolds tried to fuse portraiture with historical
painting.
Reynolds was the first president of the Royal Academy. His sitters were mostly socially prominent
people of his time. One of the best-known paintings executed by Reynolds is “Mrs Siddons the Tragic
Muse.”
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) painted portraits, popular at that time, but by inclination he was
a landscapist. He successfully tried to combine portraiture and landscape painting. In his pictures the
figures blend with the landscape background, so man and nature become the single whole. Taken as a
whole, Gainsborough’s portraits depict an entire society, though each of them is distinct and individual.
He was a good psychologist, and he rendered the character of each sitter truthfully and subtly.
Gainsborough didn’t paint rich, important people with pleasure, he preferred to portray those persons with
whom he was at ease.
Gainsborough is known as an excellent colourist. Blue predominated in his colour scheme.
Among Gainsborough’s masterpieces are the portraits of Mrs Sheridan, Mrs Graham, “the most
glamorous of his creations”, “The Watering Place”, called “the finest landscape ever painted in England
and equal to the great Masters”.
Joseph Turner (1775-1851), famous for his seascapes, made a great contribution to British art
heritage. He painted about 300 oils and 19,000 watercolours, which now belong to the nation. Turner
painted mainly marine subjects, using colour as the musician uses his tunes and chords. He explored the
luminous effects of the sky reflected in water and of sunlight.
One of Turner’s best paintings is “The Fighting Téméraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to be Broken
Up”, representing the majestic old “Téméraire”, dragged to her last home by a little spiteful steamer. The
ship, the steamer, the river & the sunset are wonderfully united in this powerful riverpiece.
John Constable (1776-1837) has been regarded as the best British landscape artist. His desire was
not merely to paint “portraits” of places but to give a full impression of the beautiful scenery of the English
countryside, to paint light, dew, breeze, bloom & freshness.
Constable’s “The Hay Wain”, exhibited at the Louvre in 1824, had a great effect on French art. His
pure and brilliant colour was a revelation to French painters. He was able to choose a perfect composition
for a painting to enhance the beauty of a rural view.
Proper Names:
William Hogarth [ˈwɪljəmˈhəʊɡɑːθ]
Joshua Reynolds [ˈdʒɒʃʊə or ˈdʒɒsjʊiːˈrɛnəldz]
Thomas Gainsborough [ˈtɒməsˈɡeɪnzbərə; -brə]
John Constable [dʒɒnˈkʌnstəbəl; ˌkɒn-]
Joseph Turner [ˈdʒəʊzɪfˈtɜːnə]
The Fighting Téméraire [ˌtemə΄reə] Последний рейс корабля «Отважный»
William Hogarth (1697-1762)
William Hogarth was unquestionably one of the greatest of English artists and a man of remarkably
individual character and thought. He did a lot to found a distinctive English school of painting. Among
other achievements, he established the new genre of “Modern Subject”, in which a story from
contemporary life was told in a series of paintings, which were later engraved.
W. Hogarth was a man of many contradictions, he was a shrewd careerist, but at the same time
deeply vulnerable to criticism; prone to high spirits, but also melancholic. These contradictions can be
explained by his upbringing. W. Hogarth was a son of a bankrupt author and school master. The family
was imprisoned for debt for 5 years, so William didn’t have a chance to get education. At the age of 17 he
became an apprentice to a silver engraver. He set up as an independent engraver in 1720, enrolling also
at the Vanderbank Academy, where he met well-known painters and picked up some instruction in
drawing. In the following years, Hogarth rose steadily through his profession, making funeral tickets, book
illustrations, social and political satire.
The painter’s made rapid progress on his own by learning new painting techniques. In 1729 W.
Hogarth achieved a major success with his painting “The Beggar’s Opera”, which he was obliged to
repeat at least five times.
The painter established himself as a fashionable portrait painter, but soon he realized that it was
too much work for too little money. The series of 6 pictures under the title “Harlot’s Progress”, telling the
tragic story of a young girl from the country who arrives in London, is lured by an old man with promises
of affluence into keeping, and later descends into prostitution, prison, disease and death, brought the
painter more fame and money. William Hogarth launched a subscription for engravings of the “Harlot’s
Progress”, and that idea of his was a success – nearly 2,000 sets were subscribed for at a guinea each.
The other “comic story” paintings followed by engravings were “The Rake’s Progress”, “A Midnight
Modern Conversation”, “The Distressed Poet”, “The Four Times of the Day”, and others.
Soon William Hogarth painted a new “comic history” cycle “Marriage a la Mode” consisting of
eight paintings about a high society family. Negotiations of a marriage contract, weariness and disillusion
of the married couple, the estrangement between the Earl and Countess, the Earl’s visit to a quack doctor
about his venereal disease, the Countess’s diversions, her affair with the “silver-tongued” lawyer, murder,
suicide – these things were depicted by the painter, revealing how rotten the high society was under the
outer glamour. According to the art-critics, “Marriage a la Mode” is the most accomplished of William
Hogarth’s moral cycles.
The other series exposed the corruption and foolishness of polite society and its hangers-on:
aristocrats, merchants, doctors, lawyers, clergymen and foreigners. Besides his paintings on modern
moral subjects, William Hogarth executed a lot of portraits, culminating in the spectacular ceremonial
portrait of Captain Thomas Coram, the philanthropic sea captain who took a leading part in the foundation
of the Foundling Hospital.
Through his art W. Hogarth showed that a painter could be a man of intellect and wit. He
discovered that by using engravings artists could survive economically by appealing to the public beyond
the narrow circle of connoisseurs.
W. Hogarth had no pupils, but almost all subsequent art in England bears the mark of his
personality.
Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)
Joshua Reynolds is historically the most important figure in British painting. He was born in
Devonshire, where his father was Headmaster of the Grammar School, so Reynolds was brought up in an
educated family at a time when most English painters were hardly more than ill-educated tradesmen.
Reynolds had a number of close friends among prominent poets, writers and statesmen, and probably did
more to raise the status of the artist in England through his learning and personal example than by his
quality as an artist.
He was an apprentice to a fashionable portrait painter in London. Later he established his own
studio. In 1746 Reynolds painted the “Eliot Family Group”, which shows the fundamental basis of his art –
the deliberate allusion to the Old Masters or Atique sculpture.
In 1749 Reynolds went to Italy, were he spent two years making a prolonged study of the
Antique, Raphael and Michaelangelo. There he learnt the basis of Italian art.
In 1768, when the Royal Academy was founded, Reynolds was the only possible choice for the
President. In 1769 he became Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford, an honour that would have been unthinkable
for a painter a generation earlier.
During the following years Reynolds exhibited regularly at the Academy exhibitions, and usually
showed a skilful blend of large portraits painted in a historical manner. Unlike Th. Gainsborough, J.
Reynolds employed many pupils and assistants.
At the Academy, Reynolds delivered lectures, which were published under the title “Discourses
on Art” and became international reading. Reynolds had a consistent theory: “Study the great masters...
who have stood the test of ages”, “study the works of the ancient sculptors”. Don’t be “a mere copier of
nature”, don’t “amuse mankind with... your imagination or impress them by the grandeur of ideas”. Don’t
“strive for dazzling elegancies” of brushwork, as form is superior to colour”. The history painter is the
painter of the highest order, while the portrait painter is inferior, and landscape and still life rank still lower.
This is clearly a consistent theory, but there is a contrast between what Reynolds preached and
what he did. He told the students that they should aim at history painting and the Grand Manner, while he
himself was almost exclusively a portrait painter.
Reynolds’ canvases are exhibited in numerous picture galleries and museums all over Europe,
but many of them are badly preserved on account of his bad technical procedures: the faces of his sitters
are often deathly pale because the carmine that he used has faded out.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
Thomas Gainsborough was one of the founding fathers of the British landscape school, and also
one of the greatest and most original portrait-painters of his day. He was born in a small town of Sudbury
in Suffolk in 1727. His father was a prosperous merchant, of whose nine children Thomas was the
youngest. At the age of 13 he persuaded his parents to let him go to London to study painting. He was an
apprentice to Gravelot, a well-known painter, but at the age of 18 he established his own studio and
began to paint small landscapes. Gainsborough studied hard in the best art school of the time, and he
learned the elements of pictorial composition from Dutch artists.
In 1746 Gainsborough married Margaret Burr, a beautiful girl, a natural daughter of a Duke, who
had a substantial annual income, so they were never in danger of starving. They had two daughters, Mary
and Margaret.
In 1748 they returned to Sadbury, where Gainsborough painted his masterpiece – the double
portrait of Mr and Mrs Andrews. In it he displayed his power as a landscape painter. For the first time in
this type of picture, the sitters were moved to one side of the canvas, and the landscape was given equal
prominence.
Soon the Gainsboroughs moved to Ipswich, a social and cultural center in East Anglia. There he
was liked as a person – sociable, generous and warm hearted, but work was not always easy to come by.
So, he decided to try his fortune in Bath, a small West Country spa. With his arrival at Bath in 1759
Gainsborough made for himself a reputation of a talented portrait-painter. Business came in so fast that
he was soon able to raise his prices. The full-length portrait of Ann Ford, executed during that period, is
distinguished by its grandeur, originality of pose and beauty of brushwork. Gainsborough continued
painting as many landscapes as portraits, though he had \difficulty in selling them.
In summer Gainsborough spent a lot of time out of doors, sketching and working on his
landscapes. He made frequent excursions to the country and brought home roots, stones and mosses,
from which he formed and studied foregrounds in miniature. During these years the painter gained
recognition among his contemporaries. Soon, he was asked to become a member of the newly formed
Royal Academy.
For the first Academy exhibition, in 1769, he painted one of his masterpieces, the full-length portrait
of the young and newly married Lady Molineux. With its aristocratic pose, exquisite softness and
exceptional bravura brushwork, it created a sensation. However, soon Gainsborough stopped sending his
paintings to the Academy, being displeased with the way they were exhibited there.
In 1774 Gainsborough left Bath for London, where he received a lot of commissions, including
some from the Royal family. He executed his portrait of Mrs Graham, the most glamorous of his
creations, “the Watering Place”, called “by far the finest landscape ever painted in England and equal to
the great Masters”. From this time his position as one of the leading British painters of the day was
assured. He was able to buy works of art, and purchased three portraits by Van Dyck, a Rubens and fiftyodd pictures, over half of which were landscapes.
During his life, Gainsborough portrayed a wide range of English society. His portraits are a gallery
of an extraordinary group of people. He captured on his canvases not only the look, but the very spirit of
the Britain’s aristocrats, soldiers, squires, statesmen, and assorted folk. Thus, he immortalized the
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fascinating face of the 18 century England.
However, he considered Reynolds to be more various than he, so in the last decade of his life he
tried to extend the subject matter and deepen his expressive powers. Cottage scenes, with groups of
children, became his most characteristic subjects. Soon he started painting rustic figures against
backgrounds of natural scenery, reflecting a nostalgia for the old country life that was disappearing under
the pressures of agricultural improvements and industrial development. Most pictures were painted from
living models, like “The Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher”, “The Girl with Pigs”.
At the close of his career, Gainsborough’s love of scenery sometimes prevailed over his interest in
human beings, and resulted not so much in a portrait as in a picture of a garden or a park, animated by
gallant men and gracious women. In the famous canvas “Ladies Walking in the Mall”, he ignores the
identity of the fashionable ladies strolling in the park. The rustling of the foliage is echoed, as it were, in
the shimmer of the ladies’ gowns.
Gainsborough died at the age of 61 of a fatal disease. Later this year Reynolds devoted his annual
“Discourse” to the analysis of Gainsborough’s paintings. It was the first time he had ever illustrated his
ideas by reference to a particular artist. “I confess”, he pronounced, “that if ever this nation should
produce a genius sufficient to acquire the honourable distinction of an English school, the name of
Gainsborough will be transmitted to posterity.”
John Constable (1776-1837)
John Constable was born at East Berhold, Suffolk, which is situated near the river Stour in Deham
Vale. The beauty of the surrounding scenery, its luxuriant meadows, its woods and rivers had a great
effect on Constable’s art.
In 1799, with the encouragement of his mother, he went to London to begin his formal artistic
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training in the schools of the Royal Academy. At this time the classical ideal landscape of the 17 century
was the model for the landscape painting in England. Constable was expected to comform to the
principles of formal composition, lighting and detailed finished pictures, but he realized that with such
limitations he could not paint the English countryside as he saw it, so he used new methods and created
his own art.
Constable began the practice of the sketching in oils in the open air. He saw the lovely greens in
nature and painted them using broken brushsrokes and putting the paint on the canvas with a pallete
knife to render the living moving nature, sparkling light and colour. Constable broke with the tradition, but
his originality was soon recognized.
Alongside with landscapes, Constable painted portraits as it was the chief means of earning a
living, then available to an English artist. However, he didn’t succeed in portrait painting, and the only
good portraits were the portraits of people he liked: his family members, close friends, his fiancée Maria
Bicknell.
In 1816 Constable married Ms. Bicknell after a long courtship. The twelve happy years of their
marriage were productive years for Constable as an artist. He began to gain recognition and sell his
paintings. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy. Constable painted a series of large
canvases, the subjects of which were taken from the banks of the River Stour and which he exhibited in
successive years at the Royal academy. They were “Flatford Mill on the Stour” (1817, Tate Gallery), “The
Hay Wain” (1821, National Gallery, London), “View on the Stour near Deadham” (1822, California) and
“The Leaping Horse” (1825, London Royal Academy.
Now Constable was an established painter, and he received a lot of commissions to repeat his
most popular compositions.
Constable and his family spent the summer months in Hampstead, a village on the northern
outskirts of London, situated on a hill surrounded by open countryside. There he made studies of the sky,
as he was convinced that that the sky gave different kinds of illumination to the objects on the ground.
Many of his sketches show the foliage in motion and lit by gleams from a cloudy sky. On the backs of the
studies he usually recorded the date , the time of the day and the weather conditions at the time they
were painted.
In 1829 Constable’s wife died, leaving him with their seven young children. Another sorrow was
the death of his best friend, John Fisher. From this time on Constable had fits of depression. His paintings
reflect his stormy, agitated mood of that time. The only elaborate composition he made from his
numerous sketches was “Arudel Mill and Castle”, on which he was working on the day he died. The
painting was considered sufficiently finished and was exhibited post-humously.
William Turner (1775-1851)
Turner was a short, stocky man with rather striking features, who became through genious,
determination and boundless energy one of the greatest artists of England. The son of a London barber,
he must have spent a lot of time among the warehouses and docks of the busy London harbour. The
sights of England’s naval power, the glimpses of the ships that dominated the sea made a great
impression on Turner. His talent became evident in his boyhood.
At 14 his work was good enough for his father to hang up his son’s drawings in his shop for sale. At
that time he began to attend the Royal Academy Schools, where he drew the antique and also from life.
But copying the works of others and sketching from nature were the main methods by which Turner
taught himself. He travelled much in England and Wales, sketching mountains, ruins, castles and famous
buildings. This kind of work – topographical painting – provided a major source of income thoughout his
life.
The watercolours exhibited at the annual exhibitions at the Royal Academy in 1790 and 1791
showed that he had attained an absolute mastery of light and shade. In 1791 he also showed his first oil
painting “Fishermen at Sea”.
Turner’s home life was far from happy – his mother had emotional and mental problems and was
soon sent to an asylum, but his artistic career flourished. He was generally known as the most promising
of the young artists and was elected first Associate, then in 1802 a full member of the Royal Academy.
Turner never married, but he had children with a widowed singer and actress Sarah Danby.
Turner tried painting various subjects – classical, historical, but the sea appealed to him most of all,
especially the sea with ships. Turner painted in oils, but he always preferred working in watercolours. The
artist was a reckless technician, using any materials to gain an immediate effect, and he loved to astonish
people by entirely repainting his pictures the day before the exhibition opened. This has done much harm
to his pictures, as they have now darkened, and connot be cleaned without damage because of the
technique he used. More over, many of them hung for years in Turner’s private gallery, established in
1804 where the roof leaked and the canvases rotted. His sketches, however, are well preserved. They
show the way he rendered light and colour of the sea and from them we may follow the development of
the painter’s style.
In 1802 Turner departed for the continent to study the Old Masters in the Louvre. In 1807 he was
elected professor of Perspective at the Academy, by a vote of 27 to 1, an indication of the esteem he was
held in. Turner retained the title, which he greatly valued, until 1837, when he retired at the age of 62.
In 1819 Turner visited Italy for the first time The trip was a turning point in his life. At the age of 44
he found the light he had always sought – the dazzling orange sunlight of the Mediterranean, the blue of
the sky and the azure of the tranquil sea. This brilliance was a contrast to the greyish light of England.
Turner made some 1500 drawings and watercolours, later serving as the basis for his canvases.
The fantastic interplay of the sky and water can be seen in many of Turner’s paintings – an early
one “The Shipwreck” (1805), “Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus” (1829), “Child Harold’s Pilgrimage” (1832),
“Grand Canal, Venice” (1835). In 1834 Turner showed one of his several recordings of “The Burning of
the Houses of Parliament”. The scene is an almost superhuman vision: the world is no more than a
reflection of fire, the twin towers of Westminster Abbey seem to float in the flames and the far end of the
bridge to disintegrate into them. A critic wrote about it, “The execution of the picture is curious; to look at it
close, it appears a confused mass of daubs and streaks of colour. Turner seems to paint slovenly, yet
what other painter preserves equal clearness of colour?
But “The Snow Storm” (1842), which now seems one of his most original paintings, was not warmly
greeted. He had gone too far ahead of his time, he anticipated ad the purely abstract painters of the
twentieth century. In this, as in his other works “Rain, Steam and Speed (1844) and “The Fighting
Témeràire” (1838), we can see Turner’s realisation of an interplay between dark and light, warm and cold
masses. “The Fighting Témeràire” Tugged to the Last Berth to the Broken Up” (1838) was Turner’s
marine masterpiece, he most continuously admired late work. Turner himself considered it his special
favourite, even referring to it as “my darling”, and refusing repeated generous offers of purchase.
Towards the end of his life the artist became secretive and withdrawn. He took a house in Chelsea
and concealed his address. In Chelsea he pretended to be a retired naval officer.
Turner painted to the very end. Just before his death the sky cleared, and a ray of sunshine fell
upon him. It was as though some lifelong heliotropist made him seek the radiance of the sun to his last
breath.
Modern Painting
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Pablo Picasso, the famous Spanish painter, the initiator of Cubism and probably the paramount
influence on the art of the 20th century, was born on October 25, 1881. His father was an artist and
professor at the academy of Fine Arts at Barcelona, so Picasso received his first lessons in art from him.
During “the blue period” of his work (1901-1904) Pablo Picasso concentrated almost exclusively on
the human figure which he placed against a simple background. The paintings of this period, with their
predominant cool tones of blue and blue-green, usually depict sad or desolate people beggars, blind men,
the poor, the unhappy: “The Tragedy”, “The Old Guitarist”, etc.
Around 1905 Picasso brightened his palette with pink and rose, yellow-ochre and grey. He painted
circus performers, harlequins and acrobats in a graceful manner, with extraordinary subtlety and
sensibility.
In 1906 Picasso returned from Paris to Spain. Under the influence of Iberian sculpture, which had
simple, unrefined, unconventional proportions and yet great strength, Picasso abandoned his “rose
period” and experimented in a simplified new style. The pictures were arrangements of figures. Realistic
details, atmospheric effects and naturalistic colours were abandoned. Attention was focused on
movement in space, on seeing things from diverse angles, on artistic means rather than on subject
matter. The design was mainly abstract, though here and there realistic fragments of recognisable objects
were introduced. The gradation of light and dark suggested shading and space.
In 1937, when the Basque town of Guernica was destroyed by German bombing planes, Picasso
went into action, using his art to condemn brutality of modern times. “Guernica”, a huge canvas, is one of
Picasso’s greatest creations. The artist used the ancient symbols of Spain to spell out the terrible
catastrophe. A woman with arms raised, falling from a burning house, a mother with a dead child, on the
ground the hollow fragments of a warrior’s figure, one hand clutching a broken sword near which a flower
is growing, a disemboweled horse with a spear-pointed tongue, a woman who is crazed and cross-eyed
with pain and grief – all these images and the expressive distortions suggest cruel affliction.
The wartime agony of death and senseless destruction is emphasised by the black, white and grey
composition; there is no colour. Picasso explained the symbolism of the work, declaring that the bull is
“brutality and darkness”, “the horse represents the people”. The painting has an impact of a nightmare
and extreme psychological subtlety.
Pablo Picasso created over 6,000 paintings, drawings and sculptures. A dove painted by Picasso,
was adopted as the symbol of peace movement by the Paris World Peace Conference in 1949.
Proper Names:
Pablo Picasso [ˈpæbləʊ pɪˈkæsəʊ]
Guernica [ɡɜːˈniːkə; ˈɡɜːnɪkə; Spanish ɡɛrˈnika] a town in N Spain: formerly the seat of a Basque
parliament; destroyed in 1937 by German bombers during the Spanish Civil War, an event depicted in
one of Picasso's most famous paintings. м. Герніка
Basque [bæsk; bɑːsk] баскський
Iberian [aɪˈbɪərɪən] іберійський
Artists in America
Art developed in America in conditions such as existed in no European nation, there being no
civilized society, inhabiting the same region for centuries. For the first century and a half, conditions were
unfavourable to the growth of any art. Historical art required official patronage and a long background of
history. Classical themes might have seemed even more foreign and should have involved the forbidden
motive of the nude. Pictures of daily life being of no interest to the mercantile aristocracy, it was useless
to paint them. Though there was some landscape painting of a naive kind, people, engaged in fighting
the wilderness, had little use for the romantic sentiment for nature. Up to the eighteenth century, the only
kind of art which people of wealth and position considered necessary was portraiture. And it was in
portraiture that American artists made their first achievements.
Many native-born artists began as craftsmen, carriage painters, carpenters and cabinet makers.
With the United States emerge from colonialism into nationhood, the more intelligent artists were
drawn increasingly to Europe. It was in London in Benjamin West's studio that the first Americans
attempted at the grand style, originated in West's own innovation. From his studio Charles Wilson Peale
came home to paint his invaluable record of the revolution and its leaders. Being under West's influence,
John Trumbull painted his revolutionary battle scenes, still the finest American historical paintings in the
grand style. On his return Trumbull might have made a career or history painting, but America was not
ready for this. The federal government had advanced little beyond the colonies in recognition of art and
by the time Trumbull finally secured a commission for his Capitol murals, his youthful fire was gone. The
same fate overtook others who attempted like subjects, John Vanderlyn, Allston and others.
The first definite school of painting must have appeared. And it was landscape painting which
appeared in the eighteen twenties. The Hudson River School founded around 1825 by Thomas Cole
expressed the immensity, solitude and open skies of the New World in enormous romantic canvases.
The late nineteenth century was a brilliant period for American-born painters. Cassatt and
Whistler cast their lot with the Old World. Although not the most profound member of the French
Impressionist movement, Mary Cassatt applied the Parisian technique to personal themes and made a
lasting mark. Whistler developed in England a style, allied to Impressionism yet very much his own, that
was one of the most individual aesthetic achievements of the time. The artists who worked in the United
States were less graceful and more powerful. The self-taught Homer painted the aspects of American life
that appealed to them with the realism that had been made into a national characteristic by the need to
create prosperity in a wilderness.
Winslow Homer was a magazine illustrator depicting rural gaieties and then, during the Civil War,
an artist-correspondent interested not only in battles but in the loneliness of boys far from home. When
he was twenty-seven, he began painting in oil but almost without instruction.
No man ever worked harder to perfect technique, but he was determined to accept no outside
influence. Since personal invention is a more laborious method than study, he matured slowly. Although
he did not begin to use watercolour until he was thirty-eight, he became one of the most brilliant watercolourist the world has known. He was sixty before his oils reached their full grandeur.
Ukrainian Painting
Ukrainian pictorial art is an integral part of world culture. It goes back to the art of Kyiv Rus’. Even
now you can admire the mosaic & fresco images on the walls of St. Sophia’s Cathedral in Kyiv – “The
mother of God”, “Jesus Christ with the Apostles”, “Jesus Christ the King of Heaven”. Icon painting
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predominated in Ukrainian pictorial art till the 17 century. Among the best known icons of the 14 – 16
centuries are “St. George the Dragon Slayer” and “Virgin Mary of Volyn’“. The European Renaissance
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influenced Ukrainian culture in the second half of the 16 century. A new genre – portrait painting – was
developed as evidence of the maturity of humanistic ideas in the society. Realistic portraits were
sometimes a part of an icon composition, for instance “The Virgin Mary’s Protective Veil”.
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In the 17 – 18 centuries a new style, known as Ukrainian or Cossak Baroque, appeared in this
country. Using various artistic techniques, the painters tried to convey their subject’s psychological state,
their attitude towards reality.
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During the 17-18
centuries, many artists painted their versions of “Cossack Mamay”,
representing a fearless cossack playing the bandura and smoking a pipe. Real masterpieces were
executed by Ivan Rutkovych (the “Prayer”) and Iov Kondzelevych.
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The art of the late 18 century definitely broke with the icon-painting traditions of the earlier times.
The trends toward realism and romanticism took up a leading place in Ukrainian painting at the beginning
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of the 19 century. Vasyl Tropinin’s portaits of peasants clearly demonstrate these trends. A new stage in
the development of Ukrainian art began. Historical themes and scenes of common life became the
subjects of paintings. Democratically minded artists truthfully depicted the life of common people.
Ukrainian painters shared the opinion of the “peredvyzhnyky” society, “The beautiful is what is real”. Kiriak
Kostandi, Mykola Kuznetsov, Petro Levchenko, Mykola Pymonenko introduced some democratic features
into Ukrainian art. The artists began to touch upon the social problems of the time.
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Taras Shevchenko, undoubtedly, stands out from the other Ukrainian painters of the 19 century.
Trained by Brullov’s school of Romantic Classicism, he worked in the romantic trend and then moved
towards realism in his work. Taras Shevchenko’s oil paintings and drawings, among which there are
portraits, landscapes and genre paintings, are characterised by a deep love for his people and a romantic
attitude to his native land.
The poetry of national costumes and old homesteads, the beauty of the Ukrainian landscapes,
sentimental scenes of everyday life were reflected in the paintings of T. Shevchenko’s contemporaries
and followers, such as Vasyl Sternberg, Ivan Sokolov, Konstantyn Trutovsky. Ivan Trush is known and
appreciated for his lyrical canvases, depicting both nature and Ukrainian peasants in their traditional
costumes.
Several generations of contemporary painters continued the traditions of their predecessors.
Nowadays, along with realistic art, Ukrainian painters work in other trends – abstractionism,
expressionism, cubism, surrealism, etc.
Shevchenko in the Uniform of the 3rd Company (3 P on the cap) of the Fifth Batalion. Ors'k Fortress (23
June - December, 1847). Національний музей Тараса Шевченка, Київ.
Taras Shevchenko
Among the outstanding figures of Ukrainian culture, a place of special importance belongs to
Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861). He reflected the age-old freedom-loving aspirations of the Ukrainian
working people through his inspiring works of poetry and visual art. Shevchenko lived a short, yet highly
dramatic life. As a poet, artist and thinker of a revolutionary-democratic trend, Shevchenko ardently
fought against the social and national oppression of his people.
Taras Shevchenko was born into the family of a serf peasant in the village of Morintsi (today in
Cherkassy Region). In his childhood he took a great interest in drawing pictures and writing poems.
However, the development of Shevchenko's talents was hindered by the fact that he, a serf, was at the
mercy of whims of his master Engelhardt. One such whim turned into a great opportunity for Shevchenko
when Engelhardt took him as a lackey to accompany him on his journey to Petersburg in winter of 1831.
In Petersburg young Shevchenko met a fellow-countryman of his, Ivan Soshenko, who introduced him to
the democratically-minded and prominent figures of Russian culture. They discerned that Shevchenko
had a rare gift for literature and art and bought him out of serfdom in 1838.
From 1838 to 1845 Shevchenko was a student at St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts where he
showed an unusual aptitude for oil and water-colour painting and pencil drawing. His instructor was Karl
Bryullov, a prominent Russian artist. It was also at that time that Shevchenko became a poet of national
recognition who raised the beauty and melodiousness of the Ukrainian language to unprecedented
heights of poetic art. Shevchenko's poetry is full of truth and power for it comes from the very depths of
experience. Filled with feelings of civic duty and directed against serfdom and autocracy, his poems
attracted the attention of progressively-minded people in Russia.
On graduating from the Academy in 1845, Shevchenko returned to Ukraine and began to work as
an artist for the Archaeographic Commission of Kiev University. Two years later he was arrested as a
member of the Society of Cyril and Methodius, a secret political organization. Shevchenko's writings,
vividly exposing the unpopular state system of Russian empire, fell into the hands of the police,
Shevchenko was exiled to Orenburg to serve thereas a private for many long years in a military corps.
Approving the sentence, the Czar wrote with his own hand an order on the file: the exiled poet and artist
to be kept under strict surveillance, forbidden both to write and to paint. However, due to the assistance of
the local progressively minded intellectuals, he was able, on semi-legal grounds, to engage in creative
work over the whole ten-year period he spent on the Kazakh steppes.
Progressive Russian and Ukrainian cultural figures fortunately interceded for him and
Shevchenko was released in 1857. During the last years of his life he produced his most important works
of poetry, painting and graphic art. His achievements in the field of engraving were particularly impressive
and widely recognized. In September 1860 the council of the Academy of Arts bestowed upon him the
title of academician.
In the winter of 1860-1861 Shevchenko's health, fragile since the exile, rapidly deteriorated. On
March 10, 1861, he died and was buried at the Smolensky cemetery in Petersburg, but in the spring of
the same year, according to his will, his remains were transferred to the Ukraine and interred on a high
Dnieper bank in Kaniv, not far from the village where he was born and grew up.
In Ukrainian visual arts Shevchenko is a brilliant representative of romanticism. His works at the
Academy, as well as those from the first two or three years after his graduation, demonstrate the author's
poetic and profoundly humane perception of life and of man's inner state (this is particularly obvious in his
Self-Portrait, 1840). A number of paintings and watercolours are distinguished for their typically romantic
means of expression. A certain impact on the development of Shevchenko as an artist was exerted by his
instructor Bryullov, an artist who was well known both in Russia and Europe.
During the late 1840s Shevchenko the artist developed a method of research approach to depict
the most typical and characteristic in man, and a particular state of nature. His creative works gradually
acquired a social and critical stance. His early works, embodying the dreams and impulses of youth, the
works of the exile period, and, finally, the profoundly psychological works he did after his release — such
is Shevchenko's evolution from romanticism to critical realism.
In themes and genres, Shevchenko's creative legacy is extremely broad and diverse. As an artist,
he had a perfect command of various art techniques, in particular: oil and watercolour painting, sepia,
pencil and charcoal drawing, engraving and etching. He produced about 150 portraits, never failing to
emphasize in the models the feelings of dignity and civic duty. Through a number of his self-portraits —
beginning with a young man of Byronesque mood and appearance (1840) up to a melancholy man worn
out with suffering, but not crushed in spirit (1861) — he related not only his own life but the dramatic lot of
the personality under conditions of Russia with her serfdom-exploiting system. With special subtlety and
precision Shevchenko conveyed the characters of outstanding cultural figures in graphic portraits he
painted between 1858 and 1861 (I. Aldridge, M. Shchepkin, M. Maximovich, F. Tolstoi, F. Bruni, P. Klodt).
These famous personalities were among Shevchenko's acquaintances and well-wishers who had feelings
of deep respect for the Ukrainian poet and artist. Sincere friendship connected Shevchenko with some of
them, for instance, the celebrated Russian actor M. Shchepkin, and the Ukrainian scientist and first rector
of Kiev University, M. Maximovich.
Shevchenko's pencil drawings, watercolours and sepias on historical themes are noted for their
great originality. Most of them are based on the motifs of Ukrainian, Russian and world classic works.
Shevchenko turned from antique mythology, literature and history (Dying Gladiator, Narcissus and Nymph
Echo, Diogenes), to biblical motifs Blessing the Children, The Parable of Vineyards, The Holy Family), to
outstanding events in the history of Ukraine (Picturesque Ukraine), and illustrated the works of N. Gogol,
D. Defoe, N. Polevoi, A. Pushkin, and W. Shakespeare.
Paintings and graphic works of everyday life reflect Shevchenko's moral and social views. His
criticism of contemporary life can be traced in many of his works, for example in Katerina (1842) on the
subject of a village girl insulted by an army officer, as well as in scenes from the life of the Kazakhs, and
in the series of sepias veiled as a gospel parable which actually depicts the crippled life of a young man in
czarist Russia. Another theme of Shevchenko's works on everyday life is glorifying the common working
people (Peasant's Family, 1843; The Apiary, 1843; Kasalchs by the Campfire1848-1849).
Shevchenko's landscapes also show his stylistic development from romanticism to realism. A
comparison of paintings and pencil drawings of various sites, architectural and archaeological
monuments in the Ukraine with landscapes depicting the steppes and mountains in Kazakhstan, or the
Aral Sea, demonstrates the fact that his expressive approach to the landscape changed, giving place to
growing epic, dramatic and monumental approach in his perception of the surrounding world.
The creative works of Shevchenko the artist are all permeated with an idea of the beauty of man
and the world. Each of the artist's brush or pencil strokes displays his aspiration for harmony, his call for
the struggle for the happiness of the people. The creative legacy of Shevchenko is a source of national
pride for the Ukrainian people and belongs to entire mankind.
ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS
London's public art galleries include the National gallery, the National portrait Gallery, the Tate
Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Art exhibits are held at the Royal Academy of Arts and at the
Hayward Gallery.
The National Gallery houses are one of the finest collections of masterpieces in the world. In 1824 the
government bought the collection of pictures accumulated by John J. Angerstein. The specially built
gallery in Trafalgar Square was opened in 1838. It was visited by newly crowned Queen Victoria. The
main collection of more than 2,000 pictures is arranged chronologically in 4 wings. Sainsbury Wing (12601510), West Wing (1510-1600), North Wing (1600-1700), and East Wing (1700-1920). Italian painting
includes works by Botticelli and Leonardo Da Vinci. Paintings of the Dutch and Flemish schools include
the works of Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck. French and Spanish paintings include works by
Velazquez and Goya, Manet and Renoir. British paintings include selection from Hogarth to Turner.
There are Gainsborough's superb Mr. and Mrs. Andrews and Constable's famous Haywain. Admission is
free.
The National Portrait Gallery includes pictures of historical personalities, sculpture, miniatures,
engravings and photographs. It was established in 1856 with the aim of illustrating British history. The
Gallery does not display portraits of living persons, apart from members of the royal family. Items in their
historical context accompany the portraits.
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The Tate Gallery houses the national collection of British works of the 16-20 cc. Sir Henry, Tate, the
sugar magnate, offered to finance the building of a new gallery. He donated his own collection of 64
paintings. The British works begin with Man in a Black Cap pained by John Bettes in 1545. Hogarth,
Blake, Turner and Constable are particularly well represented. There is a collection of kinetic and optical
art.
The British Museum is one of the most famous museums in the world. It was founded in 1753 by an Act
of Parliament. It houses a collection of ancient civilizations and 15-million-volume national library. In 1973
the library became part of the newly formed British Library. There are many giant statues in the Museum.
The Museum is famous for Egyptian mummies of kings and queens. In Room 25 there is the Rosetta
Stone, which was the key to understanding Egyptian picture writing, hieroglyphs. The writing tells of
battles of the time. Free introductory tours include The World of Asia, Europe, The Ancient Near East,
Early Egypt and Nubia, and Treasures of the Islamic World. Admission is free although donations are
welcome.
The Victoria and Albert Museum (The V&A) has the largest collection of decorative art. The English
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costumes dating from the 16 century are displayed here. The oldest is a boy's shirt from the 1540's.
There are also outstanding landscapes of John Constable and English and Continental sculpture. There
is a special collection of tiny miniature portraits. The Great Bed of Ware was made of oak in 1580 is kept
at V & A. It is big enough to hold 8 people. The people who slept in it, by tradition carved their names on
it.
The Louvre, national art museum of France and the palace in which it is housed, located in Paris, on
the right bank of the Seine River. The structure, until 1682 a residence of the kings of France, is one of
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the largest palaces in the world. It occupies the site of a 13 century fortress. In 1793 the Louvre was
opened as a public museum, and the French painter Jacques-Louis David was appointed head of a
commission to administer it. In 1848 it became the property of the state.
The nucleus of the Louvre collections is the group of Italian Renaissance paintings — among
them several by Leonardo da Vinci — which were owned by Francis I, a collector and patron of note.
Among its greatest treasures are two of the most famous sculptures of the ancient world, the Victory of
Samothrace and the Venus de Milo, and Leonardo's famous portrait, Mona Lisa. The Louvre also holds
works by the other Italian masters Raphael and Titian and paintings by the northern artists Peter Paul
Rubens and Rembrandt. Protection of all the Louvre's priceless masterpieces during the two world wars
was effected by their removal to secret depositories outside Paris.
The Prado, art museum located in Madrid, Spain. Also called the National Museum of Painting and
Sculpture, the Prado houses nearly 3000 paintings and many other sculptures, drawings, and pieces of
furniture and decorative art.
The collection consists mainly of works added to the Spanish royal collection from the 16th
century to the early 19th century. Artists from countries that were friendly with Spain contributed to the
royal collection, so many outstanding examples of the Italian and Flemish schools of painting are
represented. Of particular note is a series of paintings by Titian commissioned by Charles V and Philip
II in the 16th century, and a series painted by Rubens for Philip IV in the early 17th century. In addition,
the Prado houses an outstanding collection of paintings from the Spanish school, including works by
Goya and El Greco.
The Prado was founded in 1810 by King Fernando VII at the initiative of his wife, Doсa Isabel of
Braganza. The original building, a great work of neoclassical architecture by the Spanish architect D.
Juan de Villanueva, has had several extensions added to it during the 20th century. Today the
collection is divided between the Villanueva building, which houses paintings from the Middle Ages to
the 19th century, and the Casуn del Buen Retins, which houses 19th century works formerly displayed
in the Prado and the Modern Art Museum.
The State Hermitage Museum, museum of art in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Hermitage is the largest
public museum in Russia and home to one of the greatest art collections in the world. Russian Empress
Catherine the Great founded the Hermitage in 1764 as a museum for the royal court. The holdings
originally consisted of Western European works of art that she purchased from private collections. These
were housed in a private gallery called the Small Hermitage that was connected to the Winter Palace, the
vast, ornate winter home of the Russian tzars. The tzars who succeeded Catherine substantially
increased the collections, which expanded into the Old Hermitage, another private gallery adjoining the
Winter Palace. The buildings comprising the Hermitage were rebuilt after a fire in the Winter Palace in
1837. The museum opened to the public in 1852 and became public property known as the State
Hermitage Museum in 1917, following the Russian Revolution.
The collections are now housed in five magnificent interconnected buildings, including the Winter
Palace. The lavish exteriors and interiors of these buildings are of architectural and historical importance
in themselves. They provide a rich setting for collections that cover virtually every aspect of the fine arts,
from classical antiquity to 20th-century painting. The collection also includes examples of Russian art,
artifacts from non-Western cultures, Oriental art, coins, and jewelry.
The Hermitage’s collection of Western European art is particularly strong in Italian, Spanish,
Flemish, and Dutch paintings and includes major works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione,
Caravaggio, El Greco, Rembrandt, and Peter Paul Rubens. The Schukin and Morozov Collections of
impressionist, postimpressionist, and modern paintings contain many of the finest works by Henri
Matisse, as well as major paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Henri Rousseau, and Pablo
Picasso.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, art museum in New York City, one of the largest museums in the
world. Founded in 1870 by a group of public figures, philanthropists, and artists, the museum has
occupied its current location in New York City's Central Park since 1880 in buildings designed by the
American architect Richard Morris Hunt.
The museum's collections, among the finest in the world, are divided into 18 curatorial
departments. Each department is responsible for the acquisition, preservation, and exhibition of its
works. A description of each department follows.
American Art
This department focuses on artworks from the Colonial period to the present-day United States.
It houses paintings, textiles, glass and ceramic work, furniture, and household furnishings. Among the
artists featured are the American painters Thomas Cole, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, and
Winslow Homer.
Drawings, Prints, and Photographs
4000 drawings, particularly French and Italian works from the 15th through the 19th century;
photographs; and a print collection that includes prints used as book illustrations make up this
department's collections.
European Paintings
Over 3000 paintings, including works by masters such as the Italian painters Andrea Mantegna,
Sandro Botticelli, and Agnolo Bronzino; Flemish painters Jan van Eyck, Peter Paul Rubens, and Sir
Anthony van Dyck; Dutch painters Rembrandt and Jan Vermeer; and Spanish painters El Greco and
Francisco Goya make up this department's collection.
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20 Century Art
Pierre Bonnard, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Abstract Expressionism, Color Field, art
nouveau, and art deco are represented in a collection of 8000 pieces including paintings, works on
paper, sculpture, architecture, and works of design.
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. What purposes does true art serve? Can art be great if it is not linked with the life of people, their
interests and ideas?
2. Is it worthwhile creating pictures intended for a select few? Apart from the artists' desire to create a
work of visual beauty, there are other reasons for making pictures. Can you point out some of them?
3. How does art help us to understand the outside world and ourselves? What does the artist convey
through his art?
4. What is the chief value of the art of painting as you see it? What service do you think the artist/ painter
performs for mankind? How does the pictorial art serve as a valuable historical record for the generations to
come? Can you supply examples?
5. What are the most essential qualities every artist must necessarily possess?
6. What is the high vocation of art? What is the prime responsibility of the artist? Which is your favourite kind
of art?
7. Why was it that an artist was sometimes unappreciated in his own lifetime yet highly prized by the
following generations? Give examples.
8. Is it possible to learn how to appreciate paintings? The ability to appreciate a work of art is an acquired
taste, isn't it? How is one to gain a better understanding of art? Should one be shamed of one's apparent
dullness in this respect?
9. How are the paintings to be viewed? Is the excellency of the artist's style on the surface and seen at the
first view?
10. How do you work at developing your own artistic taste? Are you in the habit of reading the articles on art in
the newspapers and magazines which devote considerable space to art?
11. What is meant under the Fine Arts? What kinds of pictures are there according to the techniques and the
subject matter?
12. What is a still life/ landscape/ portrait/ genre painting? Speak on the genres and their development
in art history. Which genres are most appealing to your taste?
13. What national schools of painting are usually distinguished in European art? What trends and styles
can you name?
14. What is typical of realism/ impressionism/ cubism/ expressionism/ surrealism?
15. What outstanding art museums do you know? Which of them would you like to visit first and foremost
and why? What artistic attractions are there on display in the art museums of our capital /in our local art
museum/, in the art museum of your native town?
16. What are the superb heights of British paintings? Get ready to speak on your favourite English painter.
17. Who is your favourite painter? What is he famous for? Describe a masterpiece belonging to his
brush. Make use of the scheme for describing a picture. Try to make the most of the suggested topical
vocabulary. (See and practice the outline for describing a given painting).
NOTE ON USAGE
The Arts
The Arts include:
- Fine Art(s) – painting, sculpture
- Performing Arts – opera, dance, theatre, cinema, ballet, concerts: classical, rock, country etc.
- Literature – drama, poetry, novels, short stories, biographies.
(Architecture & Ceramics are often included within the arts)
The noun in plural “the arts“ covers everything listed above. “Art“ (singular, uncountable ) usually
means fine art, but can also refer to technique and creativity.
E.g. Have you read the arts page in the “Times“ today? (the part of the newspaper that deals with all
things coming under the heading “the arts”)
She is a great art lover (loves painting & sculpture )
Shakespeare was skilled in the art of poetry (creative ability)
WRITING
1. Give Ukrainian equivalents, make up sentences of your own.
a) artistic aim, treatment of light and atmosphere, tinted drawing, rapid pencil sketches, local
colouring, immediate studies from nature, to arrive at a perfect mastery of one's means;
b) plein air technique, exquisite sense of colour and composition, unerring draughtsmanship, riot of
colours, brushwork, diffused light, visual impression, deftness of handling, attain a truthful treatment;
c) line drawing, with infinite skill, relation of tone and colour, reticent in style, gaudy and fierce colouring,
masterly execution, add a few finishing touches, finished technique, varnishing day.
2. Give English equivalents make up sentences of your own.
Модний художник, малювати з пам'яті, малювати міфологічні сюжети, натюрморт, сцени
повсякденного життя, випереджати свій час, відображати темні сторони життя, померти бідним і
забутим, акварель, виразити людини, уловити швидкоплинний стан, полотно, сімейний портрет,
портрет в повний , морський пейзаж, на задньому плані, в нижньому лівому кутку картини,
навмисно яскраво обкреслити контури, показати професію персонажа, приглушена палітра, дешева
і вульгарна робота, неперевершений шедевр.
3. Give synonyms.
a) art colour painterpainting colour scheme show (n) arrangement graphic art model studio touch -
b) canvas light and shade flagstone artist fresco life-like nude seascape depict exhibition halls transcript attitude -
c) genre painting cityscape sceneportrayal portrait rough in portray sit for convey theme skill -
4. Translate into Ukrainian.
1. Art is called upon to nurture what is of the very best in human nature. Furthermore, it must instill in
people confidence in the triumph of Reason, of Good over Evil. It must imbue people with noble feelings and
aspirations. 2. True art elevates the mind and soul of people. 3. Live art appeals to the feelings and ideals of
man. 4. Art is truthful only when the artist hopes to stir a warm response in the heart of man. J. Life around
us cries for the brush. 6. This canvas awash with light appeals to my taste. 7. The museum contains some
priceless works of art. 8. Red and violet are at opposite ends of the spectrum. 9. The furnishings were chosen
with impeccable taste. 10. The Tate is an art gallery in London especially known for its encouragement of
modern art. 11. There's a lovely Corot in the next hall. 12. The guide promised to show a late Murillo. 14.1.
Grabar's picture "March Snow" represents a peasant woman against the brilliant background of a snowed village
street. The bright March sunlight, the blue shadows of the snow, the chilly early-spring air are beautifully rendered
by theartist.
5. Paraphrase each sentence in the text below.
Still life painting was widely practised in Holland during the 17th century. With brilliant mastery the artists
convincingly reproduced the beauty of the objects surrounding us in our daily life. All the riches of the earth
and of the depths of the sea are found in the amasing wealth of these paintings. The picturesque heaps of fruit,
vegetables, game and fish displayed in an unusual array set each other off to a great effect. Each composition
is built up around some particular highlights of colour. Some painters are fond of introducing the figures of
people or animals, insects, which includes some narrative element.
6. Insert prepositions. Define the -ing forms. Get ready to speak on the topic.
THE IMPRESSIONIST PAINTERS
It was ... 1867 that the academic salons rejected a painting entitled "Impression: Sun Rising" by
Claude Monet (1840-1926). Before long impressionism was being applied as a term to the painting of Monet
and his associates, such ... Camille Pissaro, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and August Renoir. These
painters rejected the traditional manner... painting. Their idea consisted ... making art free ... everything
academic that had lost freshness. Their main task consisted ... rendering not the exact representation ...
things, but the artist's momentary impressions ... them and ... conveying them ... all their spontaneity. They
took painting ... ... the studio ... the open air to reflect the world ... its continual state ... flux, to show the world
melting ... the light ... the air, light becoming the main subject... their pictures. The main device ... their
painting was ... putting bits ... pure colour ... the canvas leaving it ... the eye to do the mixing, instead ...
mixing it ... the palette. The result ... this was fluidity ... line, freshness ... colour and the image ... the world
represented ... smiling or mysterious. People ... first were accusing the impressionists ... their mocking ... art.
But the daring pioneers relentlessly criticized ... the public... the end... century had been recognized ... the
leading school... European painting.
7. A. Translate the dialogue
K. Вибачите, будь ласка.
M. Так?
K. Мене цікавить англійський живопис. Чи у вас є у музеї картини англійських майстрів?
M. Так, у нас є невелика, але вишукана колекція англійського мистецтва. От спустіться по цим
сходам, перетніть зал імпресіоністів, і ви будете там.
K. Спасибі. Ви, звичайно, знаєте "Портрет герцогині де Бофор" знаменитого художника Гейнсборо?
N. О так. У нас є оригінал цієї картини. Це справді шедевр світового мистецтва.
K. Пощастило! Я бачила тільки копію цієї картини і так хочу подивитися оригінал. Гейнсборо –
блискучий портретист.
N. Так, я знаю. Він був улюбленим портретистом аристократії і написав чудесні портрети. Але
"Герцогиня де Бофор”, звичайно, його шедевр.
K. Так, художник мав здатність зображати подібність, а також передавати поетичну експресію
особистості.
N. Так, я згідна з вами. Глибокий психологічний підхід художника дає йому можливість створювати
правдиве зображення натури. У нас таке відчуття, що дама дивиться на нас.
K. Спасибі. Було дуже цікаво поговорити з вами.
N. Бажаю успіху.
B. Translate into English using the Topical vocabulary:
1.
Більшість великих художників зображали релігійні та міфічні сюжети, приділяючи велику увагу
композиції своїх картин.
2. Томас Гейнсборо надавав перевагу малюванню пейзажів, але він був вимушений писати
портрети багатих людей.
3. Тільки талановитий художник може розкрити характер моделі, вловити її життєву енергію та
скороминучий вираз обличчя.
4. Т. Шевченко зображав сцени буденного життя, і змалював українських селян із зворушливою
щирістю. Його пейзажі поетичні за тоном та атмосферою.
5. Гейнсборо, бувало, блукав полями, лугами та лісами, спостерігаючи за природою, а потім у
своїй майстерні з пам’яті малював пейзажі.
6. Констебль, видатний англійський пейзажист, виробив свій власний стиль малювання. Він став
моментально відомим після того, як його полотно “Віз сіна” було виставлене у Парижі.
7.
Багато художників випереджували свій час, тому їх картини не користувалися популярністю у
сучасників, і вони помирали забуті і без копійки за душею.
8. Уільям Хогарт був сатиричним художником. Він намалював декілька розповідей у картинах, у
яких викривав темні сторони життя, дволичність і вульгарність вищого суспільства.
9. Мона Ліза, зображена Леонардо да Вінчі, намальована сидячи на балконі, на фоні пейзажу.
Багато поколінь милувалися її загадковою посмішкою і намагалися розгадати її таємницю.
10. У картинах Констебля фігури людей зливаються з пейзажем. Талановитий художник вмів
передати відчуття простору та красу англійської сільської місцевості.
11. Уільям Тернер малював переважно морські пейзажі. Він зображав море у всіх його проявах
(настроях), передавав переливи кольорів на його поверхні. Коли Тернер малював ескізи з натури,
він використовував акварелі.
12. Гейнсборо любив поєднувати малювання портретів та пейзажів Художник розміщував фігури
людей на передньому плані картин на фоні пейзажу. Він малював картини у прозорих тонах. У
його гамі кольорів переважають синій та зелений кольори.
13. Рейнольдс намалював багато парадних портретів у повний зріст. Оскільки він намагався
поєднати портрети з історичними сюжетами, Рейнольдс часто зображав античні статуї у верхньому
лівому чи правому кутку полотна.
14. Імпресіоністи не підкреслювали контури предметів та людей. Замість того, вони намагалися
передати вплив світла і тіні на кольори. Художники – імпресіоністи, як правило, використовували
червоний, золотий, синій та зелений кольори і їх відтінки.
15. Класичні художники надавали великого значення композиції картин і змалюванню фігур.
Художники-романтики хотіли передати характер та емоції людей.
16. “Тайна вечеря”, фреска Леонардо да Вінчі – неперевершений шедевр, який відзначається
чудовим відчуттям кольору і композиції.
17. Рейнольдс багато експериментував, готуючи фарби для своїх картин. Через це його полотна
вицвіли, потріскали і втратили свою красу.
18. Художники Відродження зробили революцію в образотворчому мистецтві. Кажуть, що і сучасні
митці можуть навчитися композиції у Леонардо да Вінчі, анатомії у Мікеланжело, виразу обличчя –
у Рафаеля.
19. Експресіоністи часто вдавалися до перебільшення і спотворювали фігури, щоб передати
почуття тих, кого вони зображали, і своє ставлення до них.
20. Пабло Пікассо – один з найвидатніших художників 20-го століття, який спробував себе у
малюванні картин в різних жанрах мистецтва: експресіонізмі, кубізмі, реалізмі.
SPEAKING
DO YOU KNOW THAT...
...In the six colours of the spectrum the three primary colours (red, yellow and blue) are not derivable from
other colours and form the basis of every hue. The three secondary ones (green, purple and orange) are
formed by mixing two primary colours in equal quantities.
...the effect of a primary colour will be heightened when it is placed next to the two others united into their
secondary colour. Thus, green is the complementary of red, violet of yellow and orange of blue.
...pure colours closely approximate those in the spectrum, applied to the canvas "straight from the tube", not
mixed on the pallette.
Complete the following dialogues developing the idea and using topical vocabulary as well as
conversational formulas.
1. Oh, what a still life! It has such an ungaily look.
Yes, it's a bit lopsided and crude. But still...
2. Don't you find this picture wonderful?
Oh, yes. I'm so excited and interested that any words are powerless to express my impressions.
3. Are you impressed by this portrait?
To tell the truth, I'm puzzled...
4. A. Do you like this painting?
B. (Indecision).
A. You don't find it obscure, do you?
B. (Emphatic denial).
Which branch of the arts are these people talking about?
1. It was a strong cast, but play itself is weak.
2. It is called “Peace“. It stands in the main square.
3. Animation doesn’t have to be just Disney.
4. It was just pure movement, with very exciting rhythms.
5. It doesn’t have to rhyme to be good.
6. Oils, in my opinion, don’t have the delicacy of watercolours.
7. Her design for the new shopping centre won an award.
8. I read them and imagine what they would be like on stage.
9. The first chapter was boring, but it got more interesting later.
10. I was falling asleep by the second act.
Situations to be developed:
1.You talk with an artist in his studio on his understanding of art, artist's tasks in the society, his creative
activities and plans.
2.Two amateur painters exchange practical advice on the pictures they are working at now.
3.You talk with a friend of yours about your favourite painters and their works, you are both very keen on art
in general.
4.You discuss different trends in painting focusing your attention on the most celebrated representatives and
find out your friends likes and dislikes in this respect.
5.You make an arrangement with your friend to visit a newly opened exhibition of Ukrainian artists.
6.You tell a stranger about the Art Museum of Drohobych and how to get there.
7.You discuss the picture of your fellow amateur painter praising his work to the skies to encourage him (or
mildly criticizing his work not to discourage him).
8.You are collecting material and making notes for a report on English painters at the university Fine Arts
Club. Your friend, an art student, gives you some useful hints.
9.You discuss arts history and different genres with your friend.
10.Your friend eagerly shares his impressions of a) London art galleries; b) the Metropolitan; c) the
Louvre; d) the Prado.
Make up a dialogue.
1. You are students of the Academy of Fine Arts. Discuss what genre of painting you prefer.
2. A school-leaver is asking questions about peculiarities of being an artist. A professional is sharing his
experience.
3. Art dealers exchange opinions about a fashionable artist.
4. You are at the discussion club. Today's topic is 'Fine and Applied Arts – what is more important?'
5. You are standing before an abstract painting. Your opinions are completely different.
6. You want to take up painting. You've come to the shop to buy everything you need for this activity.
7 . You are a mature artist and a beginner. Ask your teacher to give you advice how to create lively,
brisk, true to life images of your models.
8. Artists discuss what component of painting is the main to shape the best image: skill, inspiration,
paints, high-quality brushes .. .
9. You are at the art gallery choosing a birthday present for your friend.
10. You speak about a role of an artist in the society.
Make up a situation using the given words and word combinations.
1. to capture the sitter's vitality, to place the figures against, gaudy
colouring, distinguished by, complicated colour scheme, simple composition, inspired by.
2. a watercolour, poetic in tone and atmosphere, inconspicuous place, to conform to the taste of the
period, the colour scheme where .. . predominate.
3. chiaroscuro, low-keyed colour-scheme, disappointing, brushstrokes, influenced by, gouache.
4 . to be in advance of one's tome, to die forgotten and penniless, sensitive eye, governmentally
regulated, effective use of shadow and
light.
5. splendid visual memory, to blend with the landscape, to develop one's own style of painting, to
emphasize the contours purposely, to specialize in . ..
6. a family group portrait, to become famous overnight, full-length, oil-painting, to reveal indebtedness to
th
17 century painters, to give the painting its true dignity.
7 . bright national peculiarities, a two-dimensional image, anonymous portrait, an important contribution
to the great realist tradition, to rank with.
8. canvas, oils, to devote the inspired brush to, complicated colour scheme, delicate tone transitions, to
win wide acclaim.
9. a long and fruitful artistic career, harmony, cool and restful colours, to seek inspiration, sophisticated
images, obscure ideas.
10. to paint from mythological subjects, self-taught, national peculiarities, brush strokes, original, to blend
with the landscape, in a vertical format, to be scarcely discernible.
Comment on the following proverbs and sayings:
a) 1. Art is long, life is short. Art is long and time is fleeting. (H. Longfellow). 2. Art lies in concealing art. 3. The
highest art is artlessness. 4. Art demands sacrifices. 5. When one loves one's art, no service seems too hard. 6. Art
has no enemy except ignorance. 7. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. 8. The devil is not so black as he is painted. 9. A
blind man can judge no colours. 10. That's a horse of another colour.
b) "Fine art is that in which the head, the hand and the heart of the man go together". (John Ruskin).
"To understand art one must possess sense for beauty, imagination and knowledge". (William S. Maugham).
"A good painter is to paint two things, namely, man and the working of man's mind. The first is easy, the second
difficult, for it is to be represented through the gestures and movements of the limbs". (Leonardo da Vinci).
"A painter's monument is his life. The most interesting thing in art is the personality of the artist (William S.
Maugham).
"Art as a social force has grave responsibilities and will be judged by its discharge of them". (R. Kent).
"The artist is the creator of beautiful things". (O. Wilde). "Painting is a work of love and imagination". (W. Blake). "I
know of no such thing as genius, genius is nothing but labour and diligence". (W. Hogarth).
"All art is quite useless". (O. Wilde). "Every portrait is a self-portrait" (/. Murdoch). "Man never gets out of date".
(Siqueiros). "Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex and vital". (O. Wilde).
"A man that has a taste of music, painting or achitecture is like one that has another sense, when compared
with such as have no relish of those arts". (/. Addison).
READING 1
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR?
When your eye receives light it sends messages to your mind. Then your mind translates these messages into
colours which vary according to the wavelengths of the light. You are all aware of the strange tricks your mind can play on
you. Colours become linked with memories, associations and emotions. Green begins to mean trees and leaves,
red subconsciously reminds you of fire. This is why over the centuries and throughout the world colours have
been given special significance, or even ascribed magical properties. Every colour in the visible spectrum has a
superstition associated with it. The great abstract artists of this country have studied the symbolism and psychological
effect of colours. And recently scientists have begun to discover that colours can deeply influence our lives. Here are
some meanings attributed to basic colours.
Red is the colour of fire usually associated with passion. If it's your favourite colour, your heart rules your life. In
China red is a lucky colour for brides. Scientists believe that red stimulates the nervous system. Don't paint your
walls red, it could drive you mad or crazy. They have also found that red light can help you solve mathematical
problem.
Yellow is the colour of the sun, a joyful colour, and in some parts of the was associated with fertility
because of yellow harvests. Yellow is also a musical colour. It is a high note, and according to some painters, it
can cause a sharp pain in the eye, just as a high pitched musical note can hurt your ear.
Green is the colour of trees and leaves. It is always thought of as a harmonious colour because it
symbolizes growth in nature. It is a peaceful colour which can make you feel calm and rested. In some schools
blackboards have been replaced by greenboards because green wavelengths do not cause strain to the
eyes. Besides, as an experiment, a black "suicide bridge" was painted in bright green. As a result, the
number of suicides decreased by a third.
Blue is the colour of the sky. It is a spiritual colour and is normally associated with the mind. If this is your
favourite colour, you are either very spiritual or very intellectual or both. Blue light is cold. It can make you
shiver and may dull your emotions. Perhaps, it is no coincidence that scientists believe that in blue light
seems to pass quicker for you – because you are daydreaming.
Black and white are not really colours, but to most people black symbolizes death and evil while white
means innocence and good. But in many Oriental countries and cultures black is good and white is for widows and
the devil.
And now speak on your associations concerning colours or discuss the topic with your friends. The
following expressions might be very helpful:
To begin with...
Frankly speaking...
As far as 1 can judge/ see...
What's more/ Moreover...
It is more like... than...
In fact I won't deny the fact...
1 should never have thought...
1 am well aware of the fact...
It is possible that...
It is hard to imagine...
Summing it all up...
I think it only fair...
Oddly enough...
On the contrary...
Far from it...
At any rate...
In spite of all this...
On the whole...
To tell the truth...
That is why...
Evidently...
It is doubtful that...
It is no wonder...
I am sorry to say...
READING 2
Genres in painting
A. Read the following text. It will show you how a writer may see a picture. Note the deep
implications that the speaker discovers in a seemingly simple unpretentious still life.
From “Christmas Holiday” by William S. Maugham
“Chardin”, he said. “Yes, I’ve seen that before … I’ve always rather liked his still lifes myself.”
“Is that all it means to you? It breaks my heart.”
“That?” cried Charley with astonishment. “A loaf of bread and a flagon of wine? Of course it’s very well
painted.”
“Yes, you’re right; it’s very well painted; it’s painted with pity and love. It’s not only a loaf of bread and a
flagon of wine; it’s the bread of life and the blood of Christ, but not held back from those who starve and
thirst for them and doled out by priests on state occasions; it’s the daily fare of suffering men and women.
It’s so humble, so natural, so friendly; it’s the bread and wine of the poor who ask no more than that they
should be left in peace, allowed to work and eat their simple food in freedom. It’s the cry of the despised
and rejected. It tells you that whatever their sins men at heart are good. That loaf of bread and that flagon
of wine are symbols of the joys and sorrows of the weak and lowly. They ask for your mercy and your
affection; they tell you that they are of the same flesh and blood as you. They tell you that life is short and
the grave is cold and lonely. It’s not only a loaf of bread and a flagon of wine; it’s the mystery of man’s lot
on earth, his craving for a little friendship and a little love, the humility of his resignation when he sees that
even they must be denied him.
… And isn’t it wonderful that with those simple objects, with his painter’s exquisite sensibility,
moved by the charity of his heart, that funny dear old man should have made something so beautiful that
it breaks you? It was as though unconsciously perhaps, hardly knowing what he was doing, he wanted to
show you that if you only have enough love, if only you have enough sympathy, out of pain and distress
and unkindness, out of all the evil of the world, you can create beauty.”
The extracts below will show you how paintings are described in art books and picture gallery
guides. Is there any difference between the way art critics analyse the style of a work of art and the way
non-specialists do it, as in text A?
B.
“Ophelia” by J. E. Millais. 1852
Millais’s most celebrated painting, “Ophelia”, represents the artist’s greatest period during which
he experimented daringly with form and concept. “Ophelia” was examined attentively and praised widely
at the Royal Academy. Millais’s youthful sense of artistic curiosity and daring led him to this difficult topic.
Popular as “Hamlet” has always been with painters, the subject of Ophelia’s drowning (Act IV, scene VI)
was generally avoided because of the technical problems in executing the scene. But during his years
with the P.R.B., Millais welcomed the challenge of attempting the unorthodox. He went to the trouble of
posing Elizabeth Siddal in a tub of water so that he could portray the buoyancy of the figure and her
garments. To depict the outdoor setting, he worked out-door at Ewell. “Ophelia” is a stunning realization
of his ability to render scenery.
Yet inherent in this achievement is what has been called the central problem of the picture: the
background does compete with the heroine for the viewer’s attention. However, the encroaching
environment visualizes the fatal consequence of Ophelia’s flight from court to country: thus Millais’s
design is perfect.
With Pre-Raphaelite discrimination, the artist elected to evoke a crucial human experience,
specifically, the very instant when life confronts death. He could have chosen few better subjects, with
which to try it – Ophelia’s concurrent loss of reason reinforces this transitional state – and Millais’s
representation succeeds. Indeed, it is hard to determine whether or not Ophelia has already died: her
mouth is open, her body looks rigid, her gaze unfocused, and her hands powerless. As before, Millais
included a solitary creature which is analogous to the character. In the upper left portion of the painting is
a small bird, a stiffly posed creature with staring eyes, lifelike but inanimate. Symbolically, it implies the
exodus of Ophelia’s soul. This picture is among the finest of all Pre-Raphaelite works; certainly its subject
matter, theme, characterization, and treatment summarize Millais’s interpretation of the intent of the
movement. If there is a masterpiece in his canon, it is “Ophelia”.
(Carolyn Merlo. John Everett Millais and the Shakespearian Scene.)
C.
“Dedham Lock and Mill”, Landscape by John Constable. 1820
… This is a brilliant example of Constable’s view painting at its complete maturity. The salient
features of the landscape are treated in sharp relief, yet they merge perfectly under a serene perfect light.
This painting contains, in syntheses, all the elements of landscape which Constable loved best: the river,
the boats, the soaked logs, the river vegetation, the sun shining through the foliage of the tall threes, the
scenes of rural life. The cultural origins of this work are apparent in the traditional composition, in the use
of chiaroscuro (the distribution of light and shade in a picture), in the way the landscape fades into the
distance, after the Dutch manner, and in the complex, laboured palette. The compact tree mass in the
foreground is blocked in against a sky filled with movement, reflected in the calm and transparent waters
over which plays a pallid sun. It was works such as this which were meant to ensure Constable’s place in
official art history.
(Giuseppe Gat. “Constable”)
D.
“Still Life with Soup Tureen” by Paul Cezann. 1883-1885
… Apart from oranges, and above all the apples which he has made famous the accessories
used by Cezanne all have this in common: they were never objects of luxury. On this point Cezanne is
more austere than Chardin, who always painted the more original objects, but ones not lacking in a
certain refinement of shape.
With Cezanne this is never the case. The round jam pots, the plain plates, the pots and jugs of
grit stone, ordinary bottles – these are his favourite materials. Everything is sacrificed to volume and
shape. The decorated and almost luxuriant soup tureen, which appears in this still life, is an exception.
The background in his pictures is always furnished; never, or hardly ever, is it neutral in shade.
Behind these still lifes there is always a second still life: curtains, wallpaper or furniture, serving as
decoration to the objects in the foreground.
In this picture, it is pictures hanging on the wall. Among them on the left is a landscape; it is a road seen
in perspective, giving a depth to the background of Cezanne’s picture.
(Germain Bazin. Impressionist Paintings in the Louvre)
E.
“Picnic” by Claude Monet. 1866
This picture is a study of light on an enormous scale. Monet noticed the pools of colour with which
the light, filtering through the leaves, splashed the clothing and the faces; but he also noticed an effect
contrary to the teachings in the schools, namely that light does not dim but intensified colour, rescues it
from the shadow. Colour, therefore, when submitted to the play of light and shade, tends to break up.
(Ibid. Extract)
F.
“Portrait of Cardinal Bontivoglio” by Antonis Van Dyck. 1621
The portrait, dated shortly after 1621, is ranked as one of Van Dyck’s finest. The influence of
Rubens and the Venetian masters is evident in the treatment of light and brushstroke. Van Dyck’s
emphasis on the cardinal’s aristocratic features and hands and the richness of his ecclesiastical robes
leave no doubt as to the social position of the sitter.
(Claudio Pescio. Pitti Palace)
I.
“The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up” by J. M. W. Turner. 1839
Some of the National Gallery’s most rewarding shows focus on one painting, and set it in the
fullest possible context. The latest offering explores Turner’s most celebrated canvas. “The Fighting
Temeraire” is named after the sturdy ship which fought alongside Nelson’s “Victory” at Trafalgar, and was
taken to her last berth on the Thames in 1838. Turner contrasts the romanticized vessel with the steam
tug towing her. His true theme, though, is mortality. The setting sun reinforces the picture’s elegiac mood,
while Turner confronts his own death as well as the “Temeraire’s”.
***
If we look at his painting unemotionally, we can see that Turner wished to focus our attention on
the tug. Turner has given the proud little steamer lines of grace and beauty, as she glides through the still
sea like a black swan, towing the dim hulk of the warship. The calm of sunset evokes in the spectator a
mood of tranquil melancholy, but it also suggests the end of one day and the beginning of another. Did
Turner look on the tug as a symbol of the New World towing behind it the Old? Is it too fanciful to look on
this seascape as a harbinger of a new but not unwelcome era?
(John Walker. J. M. W. Turner)
PRACTICE 2
1. Reread the texts making up a list of words and cliches which may come in handy in speaking about
painting.
2. Pick out words denoting different genres of painting. Give a brief definition of each genre. What other
genres of painting do you know?
3. Comprehension check. Preserve the wording of the original where possible.
a) What is the essential difference between the description of a picture given in the extract from
Maugham’s novel and the descriptions on the rest of the texts?
b) What is the difference between the still lifes of Chardin and Cezanne so for as can be judged: 1) from
the descriptions; 2) from your own acquaintance with these painters’ work?
c) Why is the composition of “Ophelia” challenging? Does the choice of the subject matter fit the theme?
d) What is Constable’s manner in the treatment of the landscape?
e) How do you understand the words “a study of light” in the description of Monet’s “Picnic”? How did
the Impressionists treat the problem of light?
f) How do you understand the words “A study of human nature” in the description of Van Dyck’s
portrait? Give examples of famous portraits which can be said to be “a study of human nature”.
g) What is the difference between a really good portrait and a colour photograph?
h) What is the subject matter of “The Fighting Temeraire”? What is its theme? What mood does the
painting evoke in a spectator?
i) All great art is believed to be thought provoking. How do you understand this statement? Give
examples of pictures which you think to be thought provoking.
4. In the texts above find sentences which, in your opinion, stress the essential aspects of each picture
(2-4 sentences for each text).
5. When talking or writing about pictures, the following points are often discussed:
subject, theme
brushwork
form, shape
light and shade
composition
technique (oil painting, watercolour, pastel,
colour (ing)
tempera, etc.)
line )work)
style
Composition: in the foreground/background, in the centre foreground/background; in the right
foreground/background; in the centre/middle (of the picture); off centre; on/to the right/left (of the picture);
at the top/bottom; in the top/bottom left/righthand corner.
Colour: pure, vivid, brilliant, intense, luminous, shrill. soft, delicate, subdued, transparent, light,
dark, bright, pale, strong, harsh, pastel, warm, cool, cold colours; primary colours; shade, tint, tinge, tone,
hue; cold and warm tones, delicate/exquisite tints.
6. Find a good reproduction of a) a still life, b) a landscape, c) a portrait.
Give a talk on each of the reproductions descibing their technical aspect. Use the words and cliches
from your list and the previous exercise. Here are some more of them which may prove useful;
the theme/subject of the picture
the faulty/out of line drawing
good/weak line
the picture is saturated with light
the brushstrokes are visible
the brushwork is imperceptible
the effect is accentuated by
7. Using a reproduction of a portrait give a talk on it showing that it is a study of human nature. Through
what technical devices does the painter reveal the sitter’s inner qualities?
8. Describe a landscape. What are the implications of a really good landscape? Is it just a view or is
there a deeper meaning in it? What are the ethical and educational values of this genre? You have
seen in text A what complex implications can be discerned in a modest still life. Can the same apply
to a landscape?
9. Describe a genre painting. Dwell on the subject, the technical aspect and on the implications.
10. Describe your favourite paintings of any genre) and why you like them. If possible, find them in a book
so that you can refer to them or show them to other people. If you can’t, then sit and look through a
book of famous works of art, and decide which ones you like and which ones you don’t. Consider
whether you would want all, any or some of them in your sitting room.
11. Comment on: “… out of pain and distress and unkindness, out of all the evil of the world, you can
create beauty.”
The first impression may be that this statement is a startling and extravagant exaggeration. Yet, it is a
true observation: artists do create beauty “out of pain and distress and unkindness”. Here are some
suggested examples which you may consider: “The Last Day of Pompeii” by Karl Bryullov “Guernica”
by Pablo Picasso; “Ivan the Terrible Kills His Son” by Ilya Repin; battle scenes in the paintings of
numerous artists. Think of other examples.
12. Give a talk/write a report on your favourite genre in painting.
READING 3
STREET ART
American Graffiti
Until relatively recently, graffiti was considered to be an example of antisocial behaviour, the work
of vandals. Nowadays, many of those 'vandals' are treated as respected artists, and some of them have
made it in the world of business.
New Yorkers used to see the graffiti on the walls of poor neighbourhoods and subway trains as
something menacing and an example of urban decay.
The scrawled names and slogans were seen as ugly and aggressive, the work of vandals seeking
to express their identities or even make a political point. Up to the 1970s, most New Yorkers hated graffiti,
considering it as an eyesore that was illegal and punishable by fines.
Since those days, graffiti has changed a lot and it is no longer found only in the subway and the
poor ghetto areas of the city. Nowadays it has the status of 'street art' and you get graffiti in places where
you wouldn't expect to – in advertisements, on clothes, on toys, and even on the Wall Street Journal's
official website! In the early 1980s, there was a real craze for graffiti art and the sophisticated Manhattan
art world had displays of street art in its galleries. The trend was short-lived – until the arrival of hip-hop
music in the late 80s.
In her book, Subway art, Martha Cooper says: "Graffiti came back with hip-hop music and people
are now appreciating it for its style, which they couldn't back then, because they couldn't get beyond the
vandalism thing."
Hip-hop was originally black ghetto music, sung by young African Americans from the poor, rundown districts of American cities. When it suddenly got to the top of the American music charts, hip-hop
culture was spread, bringing graffiti with it.
Today companies are starting to realise the appeal of graffiti in advertising. Kel Rodrigez, who used
to spray New York subway trains, was the artist chosen to design the Wall Street Journal's website and it
is obviously done in graffiti style.
Many of this new wave of artists give lectures on developments in their art. Lee Quinones is having
a lot of success in Europe and feels that European galleries and museums are more open to his art form.
"They want to support an artist as he develops," comments Quinones, who can get up to $10,000
for his paintings.
Indeed, the Groninger Museum in Holland is one of the few museums in the world that displays and
recognizes graffiti as an art form.
Another artist, Blade, has his own website devoted only to the world of graffiti. This website has a
"merchandise page" where Blade sells things with his own original designs all over the world – everything
from baseball caps to yo-yos!
Leonard McGurr, a street artist for 25 years, went from painting subway trains to designing and
marketing graffiti-inspired clothes for young people.
"Graffiti has been a story of survival," he says. "There's a way to benefit from your work without
spoiling public property."
From Opportunities: Upper-Intermediate Student Book by M. Harris, D. Mower, A. Sikorzynska
Did You Know Graffiti Language?
• The term graffiti [ɡræˈfiːtiː] comes from the Greek word "graphein" which means "to write".
• Graffiti was first found on ancient Roman architecture.
• Graffiti is still illegal in many places and you could be fined.
• Most graffiti artists prefer to be called "writers".
• A writer's signature with spray paint or marker is called a "tag"
• Communities of writers who are friends are known as "crews",
• Those writers who are inexperienced or new to an area are called "toys".
Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?
Some people think that graffiti is another form of art; others think that graffiti is vandalism.
1. What is your opinion of graffiti?
2. Make up a list of arguments for and against graffiti.
Role playing
a) A guide explains pictures to a group of tourists. The scene is set in a picture gallery.
b) A young woman finds herself in an artist’s studio for the first time in her life. She does not know much
about painting but does her best to conceal it and expresses her opinion about the pictures she is
shown using the vocabulary the picked from art books. Her praise of the pictures is over-enthusiastic
and exaggerated (e.g. It’s the best picture I’ve ever seen; It surpasses all work of old masters; it’s
thought – provoking; the drawing is divine; I do like this effect; the colour-scheme is strikingly original;
the colours are extremely effective; the composition is wonderfully balanced, etc).
c) A young man shares his impressions about a recent art exhibition. He thinks he knows a lot about
painting and is highly critical of everything he saw at the exhibition. (e.g. the drawing is all faulty; the
colour scheme is muddy; the perspective lacks depth; the greens (reds, yellows) are shrill; the red
(yellow, blue) patch kills whatever effect there might be; light is not rendered at all; a feeble imitation
of Post-Impressionists (old masters); the exhibition is a flop/one big flop; etc).
An Outline for a description of a picture
1. The title of the picture and the name of the artist. The period or trend represented.
2. The subject matter of the picture.
3. The composition and drawing.
4. Colouring, light and shade effects.
5. The general effect. Interpretation of the painting. Evaluation of the painter’s artistic skill.
I. The title of the painting, the name of the artist, the period or trend represented.
The picture belongs to the brush of... a mature/fashionable/self-taught artist... whose fame rests on ...;
to be characteristic of; to be a celebrated/eminent/illustrious/renowned representative of...
trend/style/school; to be a recognized master/supreme genius of; to be unrivalled/unparalleled/unequalled
in; to be inspired; to be painted in oils, ... to employ different devices;/ means/mediums; to evolve a new
method/establish a new trend; to adhere to; to have a deep social message; to be filled with a profound
human content; to be imbued/ pervaded with a belief in the reason/triumph of...; to reach a peak/zenith; to
develop one's own style; to conform to the taste of the period; to break with the tradition; to be in advance of
one's time; to expose the dark sides of life; to become famous overnight, to die forgotten and penniless.
II. Subject, the contents of the picture, the place, time and setting the age, appearance, dress and
other accessories of the portrayed person.
To paint from nature/memory/ imagination; to draw one's subjects from everyday life; to tackle new
subjects; to turn to biblical/religious/mythological/historical/hackneyed subjects or scenes taken directly
from life; to portray social themes; to paint the scenery of one's native land; to keep returning to the same
subjects; to be detached from life; to be the dominant motive of one's art; to concentrate on; to specialize in;
to give a truthful representation of/treatment of; to portray people in historical costumes/in striking attitudes
with moving sincerity/with restraint; to depict the life/history/struggle/scene of; to represent
people/objects/places; to render space/light/mood; to convey a mixture of emotions/an atmosphere of; to
interpret the personality of; to reveal the person's nature; to capture the sitter's vitality /transient expression; to
treat with a dramatic force; to show with keen realistic insight; to observe with a critical eye; to contain an
element of satire; to aim at exactness; to discover a new aspect/beauty; to be (im)partial to the sitter; to be in
the fullest accord with; to be the picture/symbol/embodiment/incarnation of; to enjoy continuous popularity;
to achieve great popularity.
III. Composition and drawing.
To view composition as a key to an idea; to seek new/surprising angles of; to be
arranged/composed/grouped/scattered at the will of the artist with an artful casualness; in the way that
draws the attention/catches/captivates/commands one's eye; to concentrate on the essential and neglect the
secondary elements; every detail serves to reveal the content/artist's vision; to note the freedom of
arrangement/unity of composition; to hold/bring/pull together; to be drawn in perfect (dis) proportion; to be
distorted; to fit figures into a certain geometrical pattern; to arrange symmetrically/in a pyramid/in a vertical
format; to divide the picture space diagonally; to be (placed) in the centre/off the centre/in the lower part/in
the far distance/in full (half) shadow; in the left/near foreground/middle ground/background; to stand/be
silouelted against a dark/light/blurred background; to define the nearer figures/objects more sharply; to
emphasize contours purposefully; to be scarcely discernible; to merge into a single entity; to blendfuse with the
background; to melt into the background; to be represented standing/sitting; to be outlined; well/carefully
balanced composition; a crowded/many-figured/closely-knit/rigid composition; to be of utter
simplicity/complexity; to be (in)conspicuous; to accentuate/suppress/; to be marked by an exquisite sense of
arrangement/composition in accord with the general design.
IV. Colouring, light and shade effects.
Rendering of perspective, space, motion and character. To have/display a complete command/mastery
of colour; to achieve a freshness of colour/richness of hues; to have a fine eye for colours and effects; to be an
instinctive colourist; to be absorbed in/concerned with rendering of colour, light and atmosphere; to admire the
play of colour; a riot of colours; a masterful/subtle/fierce/gaudy/restrained colouring; to combine form and
colour into harmonious unity; brilliant/low-keyed colour scheme where ... predominate; prevailing colour;
to be based on the colour contrast; muted in colour; cool and restful/hot and agitated/soft and delicate/dull
and muted/oppressive and harsh colours; to mark the delicacy of the tones; to be lost in a reproduction; to
use a spotlight effect/violent contrast of light and shade/drama tic lighting; to be bright and full of light and colour;
to be flooded with light/illuminated/irradiated/lit; to be bathed in sun (moon) light; to be aglow/awash with
light; to highlight the essential; to be done in the brightest/darkest shades of; to paint in high/low key; to
emanate from the canvas; the contrast is full of meaning; to create an extraordinary feeling of beauty by
exquisite finish/subtle colouring/rhythmic flow of line/expressive tones/skilful handling of the brush; to
apply the laws of perspective; an open-air feeling is achieved; to make figures solid/three-dimensional;
poetic in tone and atmosphere; meant to be viewed from the distance; to represent in the telling way; to be seen
to advantage; a careful/admirable execution of; to have the true refinement; perfect delineation contributes
to; to lend some feeling to the canvas; to be static/dynamic; to impart animation/motion; to produce/suggest a
sense of movement; to lack technical skill/motion; to attain the desired effect of; to give one's brush a free
reign; to produce/enhance/heighten the impression of; to catch a likeness/mood; to capture the inner life of
the personality; to give a subtle insight into the psychology; to be astonishing in the penetration; to project the
drama of the spirit on the canvas; to give a comprehensive view; to stand out; to be enveloped in; to be imbued
with the aura of.
V. Appreciation, judgment and personal impressions.
To admire (he painting/one's versatile talent; an admirer of; to be greatly/vehemently/deeply
impressed/moved/ stirred/touched/excited by; to stand/be overwhelmed/entranced/spellbound before this
wonderful creation; to come on smb. like a revelation; to touch some secret chord in one's soul; to
reveal/disclose/help to perceive the wonder and beauty of life or the power of the human spirit; to lack words
to express joy/admiration; to teem with tenderness; to evoke/arouse/cause a warm/passionate
response/echo in the heart; the charm/spell/success of the picture is/lies in; to be immersed in; to pulsate with life;
the picture may be moving/lyrical/romantic/original/poetic in tone and atmosphere; an unsurpassed/superb
masterpiece distinguished by; the picture may be dull/crude/chaotic/obscure/unintelligible/gaudy/depressing/
disappointing/cheap and vulgar/devoid of; a colourless daub of paint; (not) to stand the test of time; to
glorify/magnify/prettify; to exemplify the rest of his works; to have a stupendous impact/effect on the world of
art; to have a far-reaching influence on; to have an irresistible fascination/charm for; to be vivid/dramatic/exceptional;
to overcome smb.
Read the description of the picture and try to enlarge it.
Thomas Gainsborough "A Woman in Blue (Portrait of the Duchess of Beaufort)"
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) was an outstanding English painter of the 18th century. He
was a favourite portraitist of the aristocracy. The artist's deep psychological approach enabled him to
impart a poetic expression of individuality.
Gainsborough's "Portrait of Duchess de Beaufort" is an exquisite work of art. The artist depicts a
graceful and attractive young woman. She has a pleasant oval face, straight eyebrows and black eyes, a
straight nose and well-shaped delicate hands. You can see that she is an aristocrat.
Her rather pale complexion is contrasted by the dark colour of the background (the dark
background was traditional in Gainsborough's time). The artist enlivens the face by a little colour on her
cheeks.
Her greyish hair is combed very high and fastened with a comb and a blue ribbon, as was the
fashion in those days. The dress is very low cut, also according to the fashion of the day.
The portrait is painted in cold colours (black, blue, grey, white). At first sight you may think that it
is a traditional ceremonial portrait, but if you look attentively, you will see that her parted lips, fleeting
glance, and graceful gesture of her hand help to create a true impression of the sitter's vitality and
optimism. The woman in the picture is alive, and we have a feeling that she is looking at us.
Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa (Italian: La Gioconda, French: La Joconde)
c. 1503–06, perhaps continuing until c. 1517
Oil. Poplar. Possibly Lisa Gherardini. 77 cm × 53 cm (30 in × 21 in)
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Write the description of the given picture according to the outline and the sample about.
A. Look at these comments on Kandinsky's painting. Do you agree or disagree with them?
It looks very abstract and modern.
I can't see anything that looks remotely like a Cossack.
It looks as if it was painted by a five-year-old.
В. Discuss the following questions using the structures above.
1.Are there any parts of the painting which look calm /dramatic / violent?
2.Can you see anything that looks like a flock of birds / a castle / a lance / a sword?
3.Can you identify two horses rearing up/a battle going on / the sun shining?
Stories about painting and painters
A Good Lesson
One day Turner’s dog broke a leg. The artist loved his dog so much that he decided to send for the
best doctor in London instead of sending for a veterinary. When the doctor arrived, Turner said to him,
“Excuse me for having sent for you. I know of your being a great doctor, but I beg you to help my dog. It is
so important for me”. The doctor was angry but didn’t show it. The next day the doctor asked Turner to
come to his house. When Turner arrived, the doctor said, “Mr.Turner, I am glad that you have come. I am
sorry for having asked you to come, but my door needs painting. I know you are a great painter but I beg
you to do it. It is so important for me.”
An “Old Master”
Once in London a wealthy American came to a painter and said that he had secretly bought a
th
valuable 16 century “old master”. He said, “I know that the English Government won’t let me take it out
of England, but I have a plan how to get round that. I want you to paint a picture – it doesn’t matter what it
is – on top of the “old master”. The American explained that he could easily get the new picture removed
from the canvas when he got to New York, without damaging the painting underneath. So, the painter
painted a picture of a London gas-works on it, and the client got the canvas to New York all right. There
he sent the painting to the firm that could remove the new picture. About a week later he got a telegram
from the firm. It said, “We have removed the picture of the gas-works, also the “old master”, and now we
are down to a portrait of Queen Victoria. When do you want us to stop?”
A Strange Picture
A rich American went to Paris and bought a strange picture painted by a fashionable modern artist.
The American thought the picture was very fine because it cost a lot of money. When he came to this
hotel and wanted to hang the picture up on the wall, he could not tell which was the top and which the
bottom of the picture. The American turned the picture this way and that, but still could not decide which
was the top and which was the bottom.
So he thought of a plan. He hung the painting in the dining room and invited the artist to dinner.
When the artist came, the American said nothing to him about the picture.
When they began to eat soup, the artist looked at the picture many times. When they were having
the second course, he put on his glasses and looked at the picture again. Before he began to eat his
dessert, he got up and walked over to the picture to look at it more closely. At last when they began to
drink their coffee, he said, “Why, my friend, my picture is hung upside down”. “Oh, is it?” said the
American. “Why didn’t you tell me so at once?”
“Well, you see, I was not sure myself at first”, said the artist.
Stories about painters:
1.
When James Whistler, an American painter, had finished a portrait of a well- known celebrity, he
asked the man whether he liked it.
“No, I can’t say I do, Mr.Whistler, and you must really admit it’s a bad work of art”.
“Yes”, replied the artist, looking at the sitter, “but then you must admit that you are a bad work
of nature”.
2. A rich, but ignorant Englishman once came to the famous painter Joseph Turner and ordered a
painting. When it was finished, he refused to pay the price that the artist demanded.
“Why”, he exclaimed, “all that money for a square yard of canvas and a little paint?”.
“Oh!” replied Turner, “if it’s just paint and canvas you want, here is a half used tube and over
there in the corner you’ll find some canvas. I won’t charge you much for them”.
3. A rich London banker asked a well known painter to draw something in his album. The painter did it
and asked for fifty pounds.
“Why”, cried out the banker. “It took you only 5 minutes to do it!”
“Yes”, answered the painter, “but it took me 20 years to learn how to do it in 5 minutes”.
Jokes about art
1
She: “I hear you are a great artist”.
He: “I hope to be. I’ve only just started”.
She: “What are you doing?”
He: “Well, I am living in a studio and growing whiskers”.
2
“You say that I am the first model you ever kissed?”
“Yes”.
“And how many models have you had before me?”
“Four. An apple, two oranges, and a vase of flowers”.
3
Mrs Newrich: “And the portrait will be reall pretty?”
Artist: “Of course. You won’t know yourself”.
4
Father: “This is the sunset my daughter painted. She studied painting abroad, you know”.
Friend: “Ah, that accounts for it. I never saw a sunset like that in this country”.
5
Cubist: “The gentleman, whose portrait this is, has come and asked me to alter his nose a little “.
Friend: “And that makes you cross?”
Cubist: “No, but I can’t remember where I put the nose”.
6
Peck: “Do you think you can make a good portrait of my wife?”
Artist: “My friend, I can make it so life-like you’ll jump every time you see it”.
7
Critic: “Ah, And what is this? It is superb! What soul! What expression!”
Artist: “Yeah? That’s where I clean the paint off my brush”.
8
A painter of the “impressionist” school is now confined in a lunatic asylum. To all persons who
visit him he says, “Look here; this is the latest masterpiece of my composition”. They look, and see
nothing but expanse of bare canvas. They ask, “What does this represent?”
“That? Why, that represents the passage of the Jews through the Red Sea”.
“Beg pardon, but where is the sea?”
“It has been driven back”.
“And where are the Jews?”
“They have crossed over”.
“And the Egyptians?”
“Will be here soon. That’s the sort of painting I like: simple, suggestive and unpretentious”.
Bibliography
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© 2010 Дрогобицький державний педагогічний університет ім. Івана Франка
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