English school

Dominant school in painting in England from the 18th century to c. 1850. From 1730 to 1750 two distinctive British forms of painting were perfected by William Hogarth: genre scenes depicting the “modern moral subject,” and the small-scale group portrait, or “conversation piece.” Full-scale portraiture was popularized by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough; the landscape tradition was founded by Richard Wilson; and historical painting was practiced by two American-born painters, Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley. The flowering of English Romantic art was embodied in the landscapes of J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. The art of the period rivaled continental art in quality and had great influence on European painting.

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