Joseph Turner

Joseph Turner - the great English landscape painter - was born in Covent Garden in London, April 23, 1775. He was the son of a fashionable hairdresser at that time. As a boy he began to draw. His father sold the boy's drawings to his visitors. In this way he earned money, which was used to pay for his art lessons. At the age of 14 he entered school at the Royal Academy. His watercolor drawings have been exhibited at the Royal Academy since he was fifteen. At the age of 18 he created his own studio. At first he worked in watercolors and then in oils. Between 1802 and 1809 Turner painted a series of seascapes, among them Sun Rising in the Fog. Masterpieces of this period are considered: “Lake Geneva”, “Frosty Morning”, “Crossing the Stream” and others. In 1819 Turner returned from his first trip to Italy. During the trip, he created about 1,500 drawings and the following year, inspired by what he saw, he painted a series of paintings. Turner was a master of air and wind, rain and sunlight, the horizon, ships and sea. The contours of his landscapes dissolved in the play of light and shadows, in this he was the predecessor of the French impressionists. Throughout his life, Turner painted hundreds of paintings and thousands of watercolors and drawings. After his death, the collection of his paintings, according to his will, passed to the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery.

Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough was a master English school painting. He painted portraits and landscapes. He was born in Sudbury in 1727, the son of a merchant. His father sent him to London to study painting. He spent 8 years in London working and studying. There he became acquainted with the Flemish traditional school of painting. His portraits are dominated by green and blue colors. He was the first English artist to depict nature and the British countryside. He depicted a haystack, a poor house, poor peasants. His landscapes are filled with poetry and music. His best works are “The Blue Boy”, “Portrait of the Duchess Beaufer”, “Sarah Siddons” and others. Gainsborough's important discovery was his creation of a form of painting where the characters and the landscape form a single whole. The landscape is not just a background, but in most cases man and nature merge into one in an atmosphere of harmony of moods. Gainsborough emphasized that the natural background for the characters should be nature itself. His works, executed in clear and transparent colors, had a significant influence on the artists of English painting. He was ahead of his time. His art became a harbinger of the Romantic movement.

John Constable

John Constable, one of the most famous landscape painters, was born in Safford, June 11, 1776. He was the son of a wealthy miller. He began to be interested in painting as early as primary school. His father did not approve of art as a profession. As a boy, Costable worked in secret, painting in the home of an amateur artist. His interest in painting convinced his father to send him to London in 1795, where he began to study painting. In 1799, Constable entered school at the Royal Academy in London. He was the first of the landscape painters who believed that it was necessary to make sketches from nature, that is, to work in the open air. Constable's skill developed gradually. He began to make a living by painting portraits. His heart was never in it, and therefore he did not achieve popularity. Constable was a realist. On his canvases he depicted cattle, horses and people working there. He painted meadows glistening with dew, sparks of the sun in drops of rain and harsh thunderclouds. Constable's most famous works are “The Mill at Flatford”, “The White Horse”, “The Hay Wain”, “Waterloo Bridge”, “From the Steps of Whitehall” and others. In England, Constable did not receive the recognition he rightfully expected. The French were the first to publicly recognize Constable. His influence on foreign schools of painting was enormous. Constable can rightfully be recognized as the founder of the landscape genre.

Translation into English:

Joseph Turner, the greatest English romantic landscape painter, was born in Covent Garden, London, on the 23rd of April in 1775. He was the son of a fashionable barber. He started drawing and painting as a small boy. His father used to sell the boy’s drawings to his customers. In such a way he earned money which his father paid for his lessons in art. At the age of 14 he entered the Royal Academy School. His water-colors were exhibited at the Royal Academy from the time he was fifteen. At 18 he had set up his own studio. Turner worked at first in water-colours, then in oils. Between 1802 and 1809 Turner painted a series of sea-pieces, among them “Sun Rising in Mist”. The masterpieces of this period are “The Lake of Geneva”, “Frosty Morning”, “Crossing the Brook”, etc. In 1819 Turner got out on his first visit to Italy. During the journey he made about 1500 drawings and in the next few years he painted a series of pictures inspired by what he had seen. Turner was the master of the air and wind, rain and sunshine, horizon, ships and sea. He dissolved the forms of his landscape in the play of light and shade, he anticipated the work of French Impressionist paintings. During his life Turner painted some hundreds of paintings and some thousands of water-colors and drawings. On his death Turner’s own entire collection of paintings and drawings was willed to the nation and they are in the National and the Tate Galleries.

Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough was a master of English school of painting. He was a portraitist and a landscape painter. He was born in Sudbury in 1727 and was the son of a merchant. His father sent him to London to study arts. He spent 8 years working and studying in London. There he got acquainted with the Flemish traditional school of painting. In his portraits green and blue colors predominate. He was the first British painter who painted British native countryside. He painted a wagon of hay, a poor cottage, poor peasants. His works of landscape contain much poetry and music. His best works are “Blue Boy”, “The Portrait of the Duchess of Beaufort”, “Sara Siddons” and others. The particular discovery of Gainsborough was the creation of a form of art in which the characters and the background form a single unity. The landscape is not kept in the background, but in most cases man and nature are fused in a single whole through the atmospheric harmony of mood. Gainsborough emphasized that the natural background for his characters should be nature itself. His works, painted in clear and transparent tones, had a significant influence on the artists of the English school. He was in advance of his time. His art became a forerunner of the Romantic Movement.

Artists from which country made a special contribution to the development of world painting?

When asked this question, French artists are often remembered. More . And no one doubts the influence at all.

But if we take the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, then it is important to note the merits English artists.

During this period, several bright masters worked in the country of Foggy Albion, who radically changed world art.

1. William Hogarth (1697-1764)

William Hogarth. Self-portrait. 1745 Tate British Gallery, London

Hogarth lived in difficult times. At the beginning of the 18th century, bourgeois society was just emerging in England, which replaced the feudal one.

Moral values ​​were still shaky. In all seriousness, self-interest and enrichment by any means were considered virtues. Just like in the 90s of the 20th century in Russia.

Hogarth decided not to remain silent. And he tried to open the eyes of his compatriots to the decline of moral values. With the help of paintings and engravings.

He began with a series of paintings called “Prostitute Career.” Unfortunately, the paintings have not survived. Only the engravings remain.

William Hogarth. Prostitute Career: Trapped by a Pimp. Engraving. 1732

This is a true story about a village girl, Mary, who came to the city to seek her fortune. But she fell into the clutches of an old pimp. We see this scene in the first engraving. Having become a kept woman, she spent her short life among social outcasts.

Hogarth deliberately translated his paintings into engravings in order to distribute them widely. So he tried to reach as many people as possible.

Moreover, he wanted to warn not only poor girls like Mary. But also aristocrats. Judging by his series of works “Fashionable Marriage”.

The story described in it was very typical for that time. An impoverished aristocrat marries the daughter of a wealthy merchant. But this is just a deal that does not imply a union of hearts.

The most famous picture from this episode “Tete-a-Tete” demonstrates the emptiness of their relationship.

William Hogarth. Fashionable marriage. Tete-a-Tete. 1743 National Gallery London

The wife had fun with the guests all night. And the husband only stumbled home in the morning, devastated from revelry (judging by the spot on his neck, he was already sick with syphilis). The Countess casually pulls herself up and is about to yawn. Her face shows complete indifference to her husband.

And no wonder. She started an affair on the side. The story will end sadly. The husband will find his wife in bed with her lover. And he will be stabbed with a sword in a duel. The lover will be sent to the gallows. And the Countess will commit suicide.

Hogarth was not just a cartoonist. His skill is too high. Complex and harmonious color combinations. And also incredible expressiveness. You can easily “read” his paintings, understanding what the relationships between people are.

William Hogarth. Fashionable marriage. Duel and death of the count. 1743 National Gallery London

Hogarth's merits are difficult to overestimate. After all, he invented critical realism. No one before him had ever depicted so many conflicts and social dramas in painting.

Reynolds didn't reinvent the wheel. But he set very high standards for all European artists.

3. Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)

Thomas Gainsborough. Self-portrait. 1758-1759 National Portrait Gallery, London

Gainsborough can rightfully be called the most famous English artist of the 18th century. He lived at the same time as Reynolds. They were rivals.

The difference between Reynolds and Gainsborough is visible to the naked eye. The first has red and gold shades; majestic, solemn images.

Gainsborough has silvery blue and olive green tones. As well as airy and intimate portraits.

Thomas Gainsborough. Portrait of a lady in blue. 1778-1782 , Saint Petersburg

We see all this in the portrait “Lady in Blue”. No intensity of emotions. Just a beautiful, gentle image. To achieve this effect, Gainsborough worked with a thin brush almost 2 meters long!

Gainsborough always considered himself primarily a landscape painter. But the need to earn money forced him to paint portraits to order. Ironically, he became famous and remained in history precisely as a portrait painter.

But the artist compromised with himself. Often depicting subjects in the lap of nature. Combining a hated portrait and a beloved landscape.

Thomas Gainsborough. Portrait of Mr and Mrs Hallett (Morning Walk). 1785 National Gallery London

The clients could not decide which of the two portrait painters they liked more. And aristocrats ordered portraits from both Reynolds and Gainsborough. They were too different. But in terms of the strength of the works they were not inferior to each other.

But unlike Reynolds, his opponent was also attracted simple people. With equal passion he painted both the duchess and the commoner.

Thomas Gainsborough. Girl with pigs. 1782 Private collection

Reynolds exchanged his painting “Girls with Pigs” with a collector for a painting he had. Believing that this is best job his rival.

Gainsborough's works are unique in their quality. There are also unhidden brushstrokes that, from a distance, make what is happening alive and breathing.

These are smooth, shaded lines. It's as if everything happens in humid air, which is what it is in England.

And, of course, an unusual combination of portrait and landscape. All this sets Gainsborough apart from many other portrait painters of his time.

4. William Blake (1757-1827)

Thomas Phillips. Portrait of William Blake. 1807 National Portrait Gallery, London

William Blake was an extraordinary person. Since childhood, he was visited by mystical visions. And when he grew up, he became an anarchist. He did not recognize laws and morality. Believing that this is how human freedom is oppressed.

He did not recognize religion either. Considering it the main restrictor of freedoms. Of course, such views were reflected in his works. “The Architect of the World” is his sharp attack on Christianity.

William Blake. Great architect. Hand-colored etching. 36 x 26 cm. 1794 British Museum, London

The Creator holds a compass, drawing boundaries for man. Boundaries that must not be crossed. Making our thinking limited, living within narrow boundaries.

For his contemporaries, his work was too extraordinary, so he never received recognition during his lifetime.

Some saw in his works prophecies and future upheavals. Perceiving Blake as blissful, the man is not himself.

But Blake was never officially declared crazy. He worked fruitfully all his life. And he was a jack of all trades. He was also an excellent engraver. And a brilliant illustrator. Having created incredible watercolors for Dante's Divine Comedy.

William Blake. A whirlwind of lovers. 1824-1727 Illustration for Dante's Divine Comedy

The only thing that Blake had in common with his era was the fashion for everything terrible and fabulous. After all, in England in the 19th century, romanticism and fairy-tale motifs were celebrated.

Therefore, his painting “The Spirit of the Flea” fit well into the general range of works of those years.

William Blake. Ghost of a flea. 1819 Tempera, gold, wood. 21 x 16 cm. Tate Britain, London

Blake claimed that he saw the soul of the bloodsucker. But it was placed in a tiny flea. If this soul were to inhabit a person, a lot of blood would be shed.

Blake was clearly born before his time. His work is eerily similar to the work of the Symbolists and Surrealists of the 20th century. They remembered this master 100 years after his death. He became their idol and inspirer.

5. John Constable (1776-1837)

Ramsay Reinagle. Portrait of John Constable. 1799 National Portrait Gallery, London

Despite his aristocratic appearance, Constable was the son of a miller. And he loved to work with his hands. He knew how to plow, build fences and fish. Maybe that's why his landscapes are devoid of pathos. They are natural and realistic.

Before him, artists painted abstract landscapes, often Italian. But Constable was writing about a specific area. A real river, a cottage and trees.

John Constable. Hay cart. 1821 National Gallery London

His “Hay Wagon” is the most famous English landscape. It was this work that was once seen by the French public at the Paris Exhibition of 1824.

The young people were especially impressed. Who saw in this picture what they themselves were striving for. No academic pomposity. No ancient ruins or spectacular sunsets. But only everyday life in the countryside. Beautiful in its naturalness.

After this exhibition, Constable sold as many as 20 of his paintings in Paris. In his native England, his landscapes were almost never bought.

But unlike Gainsborough, he rarely switched to portraits to earn money. Continuing to improve in landscape painting.

To do this, he studied natural phenomena from a scientific point of view. And he knew how to select shades very close to those found in nature. He was especially good at the sky, the contrasts of light and dark clouds.

John Constable. Cathedral Salisbury. View from the bishop's garden. 1826 Frick Collection, New York

But Constable is famous not only for his amazingly realistic paintings. But also with my sketches.

The artist created a sketch of the same size as the future painting. Working right out in the open air. It was know-how. And it was precisely this method of work that the Impressionists would later pick up.

John Constable. Boat and stormy sky. 1824-1828 Royal Painting Collection, London

But Constable often wrote completed works in the studio from these sketches. Although they were more popular with the public of that time, they were not as lively and full of movement as the sketches.

At home, the greatness of the Constable was realized only in the 20th century. To this day he is one of the most beloved artists in England. We can say that Russians treat with the same trepidation.

6. William Turner (1775-1851)

William Turner. Self-portrait. 1799 Tate British Gallery, London

The English artist William Turner managed to become famous in his youth and become an academician of arts. Almost immediately he began to be called the “artist of light.” Because the sun was often present in his canvases.

If you look at the landscapes of other artists, you will rarely see the sun. It's too bright.

This brightness is difficult to portray. It hits your eyes. Distorts everything around. But Turner was not afraid of this. Drawing the sun both at its zenith and at sunset. Boldly enveloping everything around it with light.

William Turner. Port in Dieppe. 1826 Frick Collection, New York, USA

But Turner, although he was an academician and valued his title, could not help but experiment. He had an extraordinary and agile mind.

Therefore, after a couple of decades, his work evolved greatly. There are fewer and fewer details in them. More and more light. More and more sensations.

One of the most famous paintings of that time is “The Last Voyage of the Brave Ship.”

Here we see a bit of allegory. Sailing ships are replaced by steam ones. One era replaces another. The sun sets, and the month comes out to replace it (above left).

William Turner. The last voyage of the Brave ship. 1838 National Gallery London

Here the sun still dominates. The sunset takes up a good half of the picture. And in subsequent works the artist reaches almost abstractionism. Exaggerating all your previous aspirations. Removing details, leaving only sensations and light.

William Turner. The morning after the flood. 1843 Tate Museum, London

As you understand, the public could not appreciate such works. Queen Victoria refused to knight Turner. The reputation has been shaken. Hints of madness were increasingly heard in society.

This is the lot of all true artists. He takes too big a step forward. And the public “catch up” with him only decades, or even centuries later. This is what happened to the great Turner.

7. Pre-Raphaelites

When talking about English artists, it is difficult to ignore the Pre-Raphaelites. Moreover, in the 21st century they have become very popular.

Where did such love for these artists come from?

The Pre-Raphaelites started with lofty goals. They wanted to find a way out of the dead end of academic, too rigid painting. They are tired of writing myths and historical stories little known to the general public. We wanted to show a real, living beauty.

And the Pre-Raphaelites began to write female images. They turned out to be very beautiful and attractive.

Just look at their red-haired beauties. As a rule, they were their lovers in real life.

The Pre-Raphaelites began to actively glorify female beauty. As a result, apart from this, there was nothing else left in them.

It began to look like staged, luxurious photographs for glossy magazines. It is precisely such images that are easy to imagine for advertising women's perfumes.

That is why the Pre-Raphaelites were so popular with people of the 21st century. In the age of glamorous, very bright advertising.

John Everett Millais. Ophelia. 1851 Tate Britain, London

Despite the obvious emptiness of many works, it was these artists who stood at the origins of the development of design, which broke away from art. After all, the Pre-Raphaelites (for example, William Morris) actively worked on sketches of fabrics, wallpaper and other interior decorations.

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I hope that after this article, English artists have opened up a new side for you. It was not always only the Italians and the Dutch who influenced world art. The British also made a significant contribution.

Famous English Artists - Famous English artists

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was the first man to raise (1) British pictorial art (2) to a level of importance. He was born in London. His father was a schoolmaster. His early taste for drawing (3) was remarkable and after schooling normal for his day he was apprenticed (4) to a silver-plate engraver (5).
His success he attributed to hard labor, ‘I know of no such thing as genius’, he wrote - ‘genius is nothing but (6) labor and diligence (7)’.
Hogarth painted many pictures. The Marriage Contract is the first of the series of his pictures forming the famous ‘marriage a la mode’ (8). Both fathers in the picture are seated to the right. One, an Earl, with points of pride to his family tree; the other, probably an alderman of the City of London, examines the marriage settlement. The Earl’s son admires himself in the looking-glass; the alderman’s daughter trifles with her wedding ring and listens to the pleasantries of a young lawyer.
The subject of the picture is a protest against marriage for money and vanity (9). Hogarth was the first great English artist.
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), the first President of the Royal Academy, was not only a 236 painter but the founder of the academic principles of a British School.
His own work was influenced by the Venetians, Titian (10) and Veronese (11). His passion for rich depth of shadows (12) was fortunate; to obtain it he used bitumen.
The third great figure, of the 18th century painting - Thomas Gainsborough (1727- 1788) - was born in 1727 in the small market town of Sudbury in Suffolk.
Gainsborough had little academic training, he learned to paint not by plodding in the studio, but by observing the actual world. Van Dyck’s graceful poses and silvery tones fascinated him and played a large part in determining the development of his skill. Perhaps the best known to-day of all Gainsborough’s portraits is the famous Blue Boy.
But curiously (13) enough it was little known in Gainsborough’s day and there is no definite information (14), about the date of the painting. It is a portrait in a Van Dyck habit (15). There is an opinion that Gainsborough painted The Blue Boy in order to establish the point which he had made in a dispute (16) with Reynolds and other painters, when he maintained (17) that the dominant (18) color in a picture should be blue. His picture The Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher attracted general attention (19). The picture representing a small country girl was first exhibited in 1814; the easy pose of the girl, the natural turn of her head and the expression of her face make a true to life (20) picture.
Gainsborough always thought of himself as a landscape painter, but torn away from his real love by the necessity to paint portraits in order to earn his living (21).
He was the first to introduce (22) lyrical freedom into British painting. His achievement lay in the discovery of the beauty of his native landscape.

William Hogarth was the first to raise British fine art to its proper level. He was born in London. His father was a school teacher. His early drawing ability was impressive, and after his lessons he trained as a silver engraver.
His success is hard work, “I know that there is no such thing as genius,” he wrote, “genius is nothing more than work and diligence.”
Hogarth painted many pictures. " Marriage contract" - the first of a series of paintings that makes up the famous cycle "Fashionable Marriage". In the painting, both parents are depicted on the right. One of them, an earl, proudly points out his pedigree, the other, perhaps a member of the City of London, is studying a marriage agreement. The son of a count enjoys his appearance in the mirror, the daughter of a member of the city council twirls a ring in her hands and listens to the compliments of a young lawyer.
The theme of this picture is a protest against marriage for the sake of money and arrogance. Hogarth was the first famous English artist.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first President of the Royal Academy, was not only an artist, but also the founder of the academic principles of the British School.
on his own paintings The Venetians Titian and Veronese had a significant influence. His fascination with the richness of shadowy contrasts was successful; to achieve this he used rock resin.
The third famous person of the 18th century. There was Thomas Gainsborough, who was born in 1727 in the small town of Sudbury in the county of Safolk.
Gainsborough did not receive a full academic education. He learned to draw not by working carefully in the studio, but by contemplating the real world. The majestic poses and silvery shades in Van Dyck's paintings fascinated him and greatly influenced further development his skill. Apparently, the most prominent among Gainsborough’s works is the portrait “The Boy in Blue.”
Interestingly enough, this work was not widely known during Gainsborough's lifetime, so the exact date of this painting is unknown. This is a portrait in the style of Van Dyck. There is an opinion that Gainsborough painted “The Boy in Blue” in order to defend his point of view in a polemic with Van Dyck and other artists that the color blue predominates in the picture. His painting "Country Girl with a Dog and a Mug" attracted the attention of the public. The painting, depicting a little village girl, was first exhibited in 1814. The simple look of the girl, the natural movement of her head, and facial expression made this picture realistic.
Gainsborough always considered himself a landscape painter, but was forced to abandon his real passion for landscapes and painted portraits to earn a living.
He pioneered lyrical freedom in British art. His success is based on studying the beauty of his native nature.

Vocabulary

1. to be the first man to raise - to be the first artist to raise
2. pictorial art - fine art
3. taste for drawing – inclination to draw
4. to be apprenticed - to be an assistant, a student of a master
5. engraver - engraver
6. nothing but - here: nothing more than
7. diligence - diligence
8. “marriage a la mode” - (French) series of paintings “fashionable marriage”
9. vanity - arrogance, vanity
10. Titian - Titian Vecellio (1477-1576), famous Italian artist
11. Veronese Paolo - Veronese Paolo (1528-1588), famous Italian artist
12. depth of shadows - shadow contrasts
13. curiously - interesting
14. definite information - certain information
15. in a Van Dyck habit - in the manner of Van Dyck
16. dispute - discussion
17. maintain - assert, defend
18. predominant - what prevails, dominant
19. to attract general attention - to attract general attention
20. true to life - here: life-like, realistic
21. to earn one’s living - earn a living
22. introduce - introduce

Questions

1. Who was the first English artist of the 17th-18th centuries?
2. What is the subject of Hogarth’s picture The Marriage Contract?
3. Who was the first President of the Royal Academy?
3. What pictures by Gainsborough do you know?
4. Did Gainsborough paint only portraits?
5. What is the predominant color in his pictures?

At the end of the First World War, British art seemed to become intimidated, as if overcome by a sense of its own insignificance in comparison with such catastrophic events. Continental European artists once again embraced modernism, but British artists remained hesitant. Yet the next four decades gave the country innovators; True, they each worked on their own. For many, the image (figure) of a person, albeit in the most unnatural forms, remained main theme creativity. Several kindred spirits joined their creative efforts. Picasso's abstract expressionism resonated with the artists of the Unit One group from the Cornish town of St. Ives. Masters such as Stanley Spencer, Augustus John and Lucian Freud gradually changed the canons of figurative painting. Francis Bacon made a particularly great contribution to the destruction of tradition with his grotesque portraits. Unit One founder Paul Nash, famous for his World War I paintings, gave viewers a surreal look at the British landscape; John Piper, another war artist, became a pioneer of the neo-romanticism style, experimenting with color in dramatic landscapes.

Stanley Spencer shocked his contemporaries by creating canvases depicting biblical scenes framed by idyllic paintings rural life Britain of the interwar period. During the Second World War, he painted a series of paintings depicting the hard work of shipbuilders in the shipyards on the River Clyde. In his later work, the sexual element intensifies. Nude portraits of Spencer's second wife prompted the president of the Royal Academy of Arts to accuse the artist of obscenity. But no matter what Spencer depicts, his figurative style is distinguished by virtuoso precision.

Henry Moore- outstanding British sculptor of the 20th century. Having studied early South American art in the 1920s, Yorkshireman Moore turned to abstract art a decade later. Starting from the art of Picasso, in his work he progresses from shapeless volumetric masses to the creation of fluid female forms, which will be the main motif of his sculpture until the 1980s. “My huge reclining figures,” Moore said, “are generated by nature,” which is perhaps why they look completely natural in a landscape gardening environment.

Girlfriend Mura Barbara Hepworth also loved abstract forms, but interpreted them as symbols of nature rather than as figures. Working with metal, wood and stone, she created biomorphic images with a tangible texture. Hepworth's compositions are characterized by the presence of holes that blend smoothly into the sculpture. Perhaps her most famous work is “Single Form” (Single Form, 1963), located in the UN General Assembly building in New York. Hepworth died in a fire at her studio home in St Ives in 1975.

Francis Bacon was the most important British artist of the 20th century. He had no special education, but in early adulthood he regularly visited all the art galleries of Paris, Berlin and London. The work of Picasso had a huge influence on him. In 1945, he exhibited in London his work Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, 1944 - eerie surreal compositions from anthropomorphic forms, resembling either people, or animals, or God knows who else. The next morning Bacon woke up famous. He painted in the style of figurative art, but his portraits - figures torn apart, as if turned inside out, “deformed and then transformed”, as the artist himself once said, left an indelible impression. Some of his paintings are based on classic works. Such, for example, is his screaming pontiff - the original image of the stern Pope Innocent X from the portrait of Velazquez, distorted beyond recognition. Open, screaming mouths are a recurring motif in his work. Bacon also had a habit of painting faces next to pieces of meat, hinting at their psychological similarities.

Lucian Freud, grandson of Sigmund Freud, emigrated to Britain from Nazi Germany in his youth with his family. Borrowing heavily from the style of Stanley Spencer, he developed a realistic, prosaic approach to depicting the human figure, applying paint in thick layers. With age, Freud gradually changed his interpretation of human images, without any mercy, depicting people more and more naturalistically, with all their bumps and warts. Dirty, unattractive rooms served as the backdrop for his sedentary, usually naked, apathetic figures. Widely known as a skilled artist, Freud continued to write into the 21st century. In 2008, his portrait of a sleeping nude social worker became the most expensive work art by a living artist: it fetched £17.2 million at auction.

Modern English artists little known to Russian art fans. Let me introduce the paintings of the amazing artist Russ Mills ( Russ Mills) from Kingsbridge, UK. His work falls between urban fine art, street art, and contemporary graphics.

Despite his rather progressive painting technique, Russ Mills is by no means young. He was born in 1952, in Yorkshire. This is a fairly versatile and creative personality. Ras, in addition to painting, plays music project"Undark" and creates multimedia installations, and also teaches at the Royal College of Art, Glasgow School of Art. By invitation he lectures at other universities in the UK and abroad.
This modern English focuses primarily on the human form, particularly faces, intertwined with elements from the animal kingdom, often reflecting the absurdity of human nature. During his long creative life, Russ Mills has worked on the graphic design of music albums of such celebrities as Nine Inch Nails, Roger Eno, Japan, Harold Budd and Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Michael Brook and The Overload. His graphic works can be used. as paintings for the interior of music clubs, bars and even offices. Their expressiveness and dynamics will perfectly highlight the interior of a room in which life is constantly in full swing.