The Fighting Temeraire
Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting
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The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up (1839). Turner
Oil on canvas. 91 cm x 122 cm
National Gallery. London, England
Today Turner is considered the supreme artist of the English painting. He is the ideal painter to understand the purest Romanticism, even when there are no people in the painting.
What is Romanticism in painting? In every Romantic work we see that with a vibrant, full of life brushstroke the artist highlights his passions and ideals. Fear, anguish, love, bravery and other strong emotions are transmitted by the painter liberating a powerful vital energy.
Turner is a master of that movement painting landscapes and seascapes. The key, the power, the romantic vitality of his works reside in that when he paints skies or swells it is much more than that: he portraits the amazing power of nature upon human beings. The painter describes fires, catastrophes, sinkings and storms. The man is at the mercy of the forces of nature.
The chosen painting is one of the most important ones in the history of the English painting. With only a couple of ships and a sky, Turner speaks of the glory of past times (the Temeraire is also a symbol of the power of the Royal Navy), tugged by Modernity, faster and more efficient but without glory and tradition, towards death a beautiful and sad sunset. Old age replaced without second thoughts by youth.
His style was very personal. He often used the watercolor technique in the execution of his oil paintings, generating luminosity, fluency and atmospheric effects which have given him the title of “the painter of light.”
Paradoxically, the Modernity approaching would not tug Turner to the breaking up or the oblivion, since his spirit and his skillful resources to depict that light would continue alive in the brushes of the Impressionism.
Recommended links:
Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth (1842), Turner.
Turner Seascapes and Romanticism.
Stories behind the Works of Art: Monet and the Rouen Cathedral.
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