British art

Task № 1

 Anthony van Dyck was a prolific painter of portraits of European aristocracy; he

also executed many works on religious and mythological subjects and was a fine
draftsman and etcher. After Peter Paul Rubens the most prominent Flemish
Baroque painter of the 17th century.
 Velázquez was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV,
and one of the most important painters of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an
individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period.
 Tintoretto, byname of Jacopo Robusti was the great Italian Mannerist painter of the
Venetian school and one of the most important artists of the late Renaissance.
 Hans Holbein the Younger was a German painter and printmaker who worked in a
Northern Renaissance style, and is considered one of the greatest portraitists of
the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire, and Reformation
propaganda, and he made a significant contribution to the history of book design.
He is called "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father Hans Holbein the
Elder, an accomplished painter of the Late Gothic School.
 Sir Banastre Tarleton was a British soldier and politician. Tarleton was eventually
ranked as general years after his service in the colonies during the American
Revolutionary War, and afterwards did not lead troops into battle.
 Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most
influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged
compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. Rubens
specialized in making altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of
mythological and allegorical subjects.
 Sarah Siddons was a Welsh-born English actress, the best-known tragedienne of
the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as
"tragedy personified".
 Ulysses or Odysseus is a character in Greek mythology, distinguished by
intelligence and cunning. He was forced to take part in the Trojan War, during
which he destroyed his enemy Palamedes. It was Odysseus, according to one
version of the myth, who invented how to take Troy with a wooden horse.

 The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on
Piccadilly in London. It has a unique position as an independent, privately funded
institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the
creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions,
education and debate.
 Covent Garden is a district in London, it is associated with the former fruit-and-
vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site,
 and with the Royal Opera House, which itself may be referred to as "Covent
Garden".
 The Sale of Spirits Act 1750 (commonly known as the Gin Act 1751) was an Act of the
Parliament of Great Britain which was enacted in order to reduce the consumption
of spirits, a popular pastime that was regarded as one of the primary causes of
crime in London. By prohibiting gin distillers from selling to unlicensed merchants
and increasing fees charged to merchants, it eliminated small gin shops, thereby
restricting the distribution of gin to larger distillers and retailers.
 Huguenots were a religious group of French Protestants. Huguenots were French
Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The
term has its origin in early-16th-century France. It was frequently used in reference
to those of the Reformed Church of France from the time of the Protestant
Reformation.
 A Good Samaritan is a person who selflessly helps others, especially those in
distress. Taken from a parable in the Bible in which a Samaritan man was the only
person who stopped to help a man who was robbed and beaten.
 The Grand Tour is the designation adopted since the Renaissance for mandatory
trips that in the XVIII—XIX centuries were made for educational purposes by the
sons of European aristocrats (and later-the offspring of rich bourgeois families).
The route of these trips, especially popular in eighteenth-century England and
sometimes lasting several years usually ran through France, Central Europe, Italy,
and occasionally also captured Spain and the Holy places.

Task № 3

1) Возможно, хоть и главным героем на данной картине является небо, именно

облака освещаются этим сочным восходом солнца.

2) На предпоследней картине мы видим молодую графиню, которая стоит на

коленях и умоляет о прощении за то, что она сделала.

3) Работа Хогарта для церкви Святого Варфоломея, однако, не покорила всех, кто её
видел: он не получил потока новых заказов касательной предмета такого рода, да и
британские меценаты явно не были более убеждены в том, что местные художники
были правильным выбором для такого рода масштабного украшения.

4) В своем "Анализе красоты" Хогарт попытался определить только то, что делает
его красивым. Для него ключевым фактором были чувственные извивающиеся
линии. Он видел их как форму, которая встречается повсюду в природе, и на самом
деле, вы можете их увидеть во многих его произведениях.

5) По иронии судьбы именно эта принципиально новая техника должна была

позволить британским художникам наконец-то произвести впечатление на
французов, что-то такое, чего Рейнольдс хотел всю свою жизнь.
Task № 4

1) In fact, the picture "The Hay Wain" was avant-garde in its day. Constable's landscapes
were seen as a new and rather shocking kind of art.

2) It’s, in part, a study in dramatic lighting effects. Wright (Joseph Wright) was very
interested in what was known as candle-light painting.

3) However, Joseph Wright was not part of the mainstream of British art production. He
quarreled with the Academy soon after joining it and retreated to his base in Derby.

4) His pose has been taken from etiquette books that gave instructions on how to appear
relaxed. It also serves to emphasize his fine calf. This was an important part of the male
body ideal in the 18th century.

5) This is a painting that isn’t just innovative in terms of subject matter. The way that the
paint has been applied was ground-breaking too.

Task № 5

Familiarity breeds contempt – if you know sb or smth too well it may lead to lack of
respect towards them. Близкое знакомство чревато взаимной потерей уважения, чем
больше знаешь, тем меньше ценишь.

Practice what you preach – one should be ready to do that he recommends others to
do. Слова не должны расходиться с делами.

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear – it’s not possible to create smth good
on the basis of smth bad. Из свиного уха шёлковый кошелёк не сошьёшь. Из
собачьего хвоста сито не сделаешь.

Task № 6
Facts about British National Gallery:

The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in
Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating
from the mid-13th century to 1900.

The National Gallery remains one of the most loved and visited year on year. Estimates
show that at over a whopping 5 million people visit this gallery every year, and it’s
positive to see that there’s been approximately a 10% increase in the last decade.

It’s also totally free to enter. The gallery mostly funds itself from donations, investments,
and grants, as well as a few other income sources.

Whilst you may come for the paintings, you’ll also spot some inspiring statues on your
visit. Inside the gallery, you’ll see the incredible statues of King James II and, perhaps a
little surprisingly, the former American President George Washington.

The Royal Academy of Arts was once housed in the National Gallery building at Trafalgar
Square. Even though the Academy relocated to its own building in 1869, the National
Gallery continues to be committed to education and makes itself available to students
and scholars for research, seminars, and much more.

While there was once talk in 1869 of completely rebuilding the gallery, it was decided
instead to add another gallery, which was completed in 1876 and added seven new rooms
to the Gallery. Another wing, the Sainsbury Wing, was constructed in 1985 and completed
in 1991, funded by Lord Sainsbury and his brothers. Today the Gallery has a total floor
area of 46,396 square metres.