When we take a look at art history, we can see that British artists have played a significant role over the last few hundred years in the world of art. The artwork of the greatest British artists and painters has great significance in the cultural heritage of the world, particularly of Great Britain.
Today, it’s time to review the best artists Great Britain has given to the world. Let’s see which artists have left the biggest mark in art history from the 18th century until this day.
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Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Rain, Steam and Speed (1844)
- Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps (1812)
- Calais Pier (1801)
- The Slave Ship (1840)
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William Hogarth
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William Blake
- Songs of Innocence and of Experience
- The Four Zoas
- Jerusalem
- The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
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John Constable
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Francis Bacon
Many people consider Joseph Mallord William Turner the greatest British artist ever. Turner was born in 1775 in Covent Garden, London. In 1789, he entered the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) where at the age of 15 he exhibited his very first artwork. Later, he started working in the studio of Thomas Malton as a reproduction artist.
Since his oil exhibitions caught the eye of the direction of the RA, he became an associate of the academy by the age of 24. In 1802, he was offered a full academician status and 5 years later he gets to the position of Professor of Perspective.
Turner decided to open his shop in 1804. In his revolutionary landscape paintings, he focused on expressing mythological, historical, literary, and other themes. His most famous paintings include the following:
Turner died on 19th December 1851 and was buried in London.
If you would like to see some of Turner’s greatest artworks, you can find some of his paintings exhibited in London, such as in The National Gallery and Tate Britain.
William Hogarth was born in 1697 in London. He is known for being a talented portrait painter, printmaker, and editorial cartoonist.
His unique artwork covers a wide range of arts, including realistic portraitures and unique comic strip-style series of pictures. His most famous series are probably Marriage A-la-Mode, A Rake’s Progress, and A Harlot’s Progress. Influenced by other painters from Italy and France, Hogarth’s paintings are all carefully composed and full of detail. Hogarth’s artworks became so popular even during his lifetime that they were mass-produced through prints. Thus, no wonder that nowadays he is still considered one of the greatest artists in Britain.
Hogarth’s paintings and engravings are exhibited in various museums. You can find a few of them in Tate Britain and The National Gallery.
Similar to the above-mentioned artists, William Blake was also born in London, in 1757. Blake first began taking drawing classes at the age of 10. He became an apprentice for the well-known British engraver called James Basire in 1772. After 7 years, at the end of his apprenticeship, Blake became a professional engraver. Since he always wanted to become an outstanding artist, in 1779, he enrolled in RA to study painting.
Besides being a talented engraver and painter, he was a great poet as well. His work has been characterized as being Romantic or rather Pre-Romantic.
Interestingly, from an early age, Blake had spiritual visions that had a huge impact on his life and works. You can find some of his greatest works listed below:
The next artist we will talk about today is John Constable. He was born in 1776 in Suffolk. Constable is known for his revolutionary landscape paintings that he created as part of the Romantic movement. Mainly he was inspired by the work of well-known artists like Rubens, Gainsborough, Carracci, and Lorrain.
Constable began his studies at the RA in 1799. By 1803, many of his paintings were exhibited at the academy. However, it was not enough. He wanted to draw more attention to his paintings. Since he admired large size paintings, he decided to create one.
In 1819, he finished one of his most significant paintings called The White House. This enormous piece (131.4cm × 188.3cm) is currently displayed in The Frick Collection in New York City. Another well-known painting by Constable is The Hay Wain (1821) which measures 130.2cm × 185.4cm. Now, you can see this artwork exhibited in The National Gallery in London. Many people believe that The Hay Wain is one of the most popular and greatest English paintings.
Francis Bacon is another artist who achieved huge success. He was born in 1909 in Dublin but from the 1920s he lived in London. Bacon has led a vagrant and poor lifestyle, spending plenty of time gambling and drinking. However, later on, he got interested in interior design and started creating oil paintings. One of his first works that caught the attention of the public was Crucifixion in 1933.
Bacon had gained more confidence by 1944 and worked hard on developing his own style. His artwork called Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion brought him a real breakthrough. He was inspired by many artists and a wide range of movements, including Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, and the surrealism movement.
After reading this brief introduction of the greatest British artists and painters of all time, it’s easy to see that Britain doesn’t lack talented artists. British art history is filled with amazing painters, printmakers, cartoonists, and poets who created some of the greatest masterpieces in the world.