Landscape stretching Artistic Genrés at London's National Gallery

This weeks visit to London's National Gallery as part of the CityLit class on looking at paintings was another opportunity to spend some time appreciating what are considered by many to be the cream of the 'Art World'

The National Gallery continues to delight

In fact as we continue down the hierarchy of paintings it becomes increasingly clear that the classification structure is rather a blunt tool for placing a work.

Julia tells us about Constable's use of Red

This week our genré was 'landscape' and unsurprisingly some of the works we looked at encroached on other genrés - was this actually a painting of people/ Did it have a narrative?


 Early works we looked at like Bellini's Madonna of the Meadow felt like a Portrait - (This painting I found a little odd as the building in the background had the feel  to me of a modern Power Station or Multi-storey Car Park) and The Embarkation of Saint Ursula by Claude was surely a Narrative work?


Far more 'Traditional' were landscapes like  Constable's Hay Wain and Cézanne's Landscape with Poplars (1885-7).

Poplars were Popular with Cézanne in the late 19th Century 

We also looked at Some of Turner's paintings both Sea and Land - here's Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway It was interesting to think what of his work was actually finished?

Turner's Rain Steam and Speed - What was finished?