Artists in early nineteenth century England celebrated nature at its most humble, and its most grand.
c. 1780 - 1848
videos + essays
We're adding new content all the time!
J.M.W. Turner, Snow Storm
Like a disaster movie, Turner’s painting transforms a natural catastrophe — with death a near-certainty — into entertainment.
John Constable, The Hay Wain
Landscape painting was considered lowly subject, but Constable gives them the six-foot treatment.
John Constable, Wivenhoe Park, Essex
Can you paint a portrait of place? Constable makes a case for it with this idyllic depiction of a country estate.
J.M.W. Turner at Tate Britain
Fancy a trip to Tate Britain? Visit the largest collection of work by Turner anywhere—no passport required.
William Blake, The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
There are two types of people in the world: those who preserve their lamp oil, and those who don’t. Which are you?
J. M. W. Turner, The Harbor of Dieppe
Beautifully rendered details of the Dieppe harbor are second only to Turner’s true love—the sublime sun.
John Constable, View on the Stour near Dedham
Refusing to idealize, Constable fills his landscapes with the specificity of a fleeting summer day.
J. M. W. Turner, Slave Ship
A beautiful sunset, but look closer. One of humanity’s most hideous acts—seen in the waves of the indifferent sea.
Henry Fuseli, Titania and Bottom
Fuseli’s fairies resist his era’s embrace of the rational in favor of the emotive and fantastic.
J. M. W. Turner, Rain, Steam, and Speed — The Great Western Railway
In a time when horses were the fastest mode of transit, the railroad was as radical as Turner’s abstraction.
John Nash, Royal Pavilion, Brighton
A prince-regent with a private architect builds a fantasy seaside home mixing all the metaphors of empire.
John Martin, The Great Day of His Wrath
People paid to see this apocalyptic painting performed with light and sound—as much theatre as work of art.
