Clik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 11: The Merry Wives of Windsor
Many of the plays of William Shakespeare are comedies, and of those one comes closest to being a mainstream English farce, The Merry Wives of Windsor, most probably written in 1597 or 1598. Although...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 12: Henry VIII (All Is True)
Successful plays often bring the house down, but in the case of All Is True, co-authored by William Shakespeare, it burned the house down, resulting in London’s Globe Theatre burning to the ground on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Painted Stories in Britain 1: Introduction
Paintings have told stories since the dawn of art, and we’re all familiar with the wealth of narrative paintings during the Renaissance, and in the centuries since. While they’re abundant in works made...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 13: As You Like It
As You Like It has long been a favourite of William Shakespeare’s comedies, although most of us recall its most memorable lines without the context of its story. Its songs include Under the Greenwood...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Knights in Shining Armour: in memoriam Edmund Blair Leighton 1
Tomorrow I commemorate the centenary of the death of a popular nineteenth century British painter, Edmund Blair Leighton (1852–1922), who died on 1 September 1922. He was one of three notable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Knights in Shining Armour: in memoriam Edmund Blair Leighton 2
By the start of the twentieth century, the paintings of Edmund Blair Leighton (1852–1922) were becoming valued. As I described in my first article about him and his work, he continued in his role as an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Painted Stories in Britain 2: Before Hogarth
Narrative painting got off to a delayed and slow start in Britain, compared with France, Italy and other European countries. Reasons for this include: doctrinal suppression because of the religious...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In memoriam Léon Bonnat: Painter 1
This week we have another anniversary to mark, the centenary of the death of one of the greatest teachers of painting in the nineteenth century: Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (1833–1922), whose pupils...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In memoriam Léon Bonnat: Painter 2
In the first of this series of two articles about the career and art of Léon Bonnat (1833–1922), I had reached his orientalist paintings of 1872. Léon Bonnat (1833–1922), Christ on the Cross (c 1874),...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 14: Hamlet 1
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is William Shakespeare’s best-known and arguably his greatest play, and ranks among the greatest literature in the world. Most probably written at some time between 1598 and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 15: Hamlet 2
In the first of these three articles covering paintings of Shakespeare’s greatest play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, I outlined the plot around a selection of paintings of several of the scenes. However,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 16: Hamlet 3
This third and final article covering Shakespeare’s greatest play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, concludes my account of paintings of the death of Ophelia. The first article summarised the play’s plot and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Painted Stories in Britain 3: Hogarth’s early series
By 1720, one British painter had been transforming the art of the nation with his often vast narrative works, James Thornhill (1675–1734). Despite his knighthood, service as a Member of Parliament, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Painted Stories in Britain 4: Hogarth extended
In the previous article, I showed William Hogarth’s first two narrative series, A Harlot’s Progress from 1731, and its compliment, A Rake’s Progress painted and printed between 1732-5. Spurred on by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 17: Henry IV part 1
This week I look at paintings of two of William Shakespeare’s most popular history plays, the two parts of Henry IV. These provide a fairly liberal account of events during the reign of this King of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 18: Henry IV part 2
In the first of these two articles showing paintings of William Shakespeare’s two plays about King Henry IV, I covered the first play. This described events leading to the rebellion against the King...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Painted Stories in Britain 5: Joseph Wright, the enlightened artist
William Hogarth’s death in 1764 brought to an end a new tradition of narrative painting in British art, which had started with James Thornhill (1675–1734) in the early years of that century. Although a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Celebrating the tercentenary of Johann Heinrich Tischbein, painter of Hermann...
Three hundred years ago today, on 3 October 1722, Johann Heinrich Tischbein (1722–1789) was born. He went on to lead a whole family of painters in Germany, spanning three generations. He’s sometimes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paintings of William Shakespeare’s Plays 19: Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night marks the end of the traditional English feast of Christmas, and William Shakespeare’s much-loved comedy Twelfth Night was probably written in late 1601 to be performed after the end of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Painted Stories in Britain 6: Benjamin West and Modern Histories
While Joseph Wright of Derby was painting his unusual chiaroscuro narratives of the Enlightenment, a new American artist stopped off in London, on his way home to Philadelphia. Over the next...
View Article