Art Talk: Tate Britain

This summer I went to England. My first stop, right when I go off the plane was to the Tate Britain.

The plane was late, so I missed the appointment I had to see the drawings of Stonehenge by Constable, Turner and Moore. That was sad. They are three of my favorite artists and I really wanted to see their drawings of Stonehenge before I went myself, later in the trip.

The rest of the museum was incredible. Let's take a look together.

I am going to highlight one piece from each of the following artists: Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, John Constable, JMW Turner and John Singer Sargent. What a powerful group of artists and all in one museum. I could have spend days here.

Henry Moore

I have been a long time fan of Henry Moore (I went to a Henry Moore show at the New York Botanical Garden in NYC in 2008) and was so excited to see the extensive collection at the Tate Britain. Later in the week I went to Henry Moore's Estate in Hertfordshire. That was a treat.... and another post (s).

One of Henry Moore's most consistent themes is the human form.

Henry Moore
Reclining Figure, 1951
Tate Britain, London, England

I was so excited to see this piece in person. Especially after watching this Smarthistory video.

I was able to see the lines and the eyes, and the unique hands and feet and the two breasts. It is a fascinating piece. One of the things I like best about sculpture is the ability to walk around it and see it from different angles, it is like seeing a whole different piece.

Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore went to art school together and are two of Britain's most famous modern sculptors.

During this trip I went to Cornwall and went to the Barbara Hepworth museum and garden. It was great! Back to Pelagos.

Barbara Hepworth
Pelagos, 1946
Tate Britain, London, England

Here is another Smarthistory of Pelagos. It is a beautiful sculpture of the sea.

It was shown at the 1950 Venice Biennale in the British Pavilion and in 1964 she presented this piece to the Tate Britain. It is one of her best known works and is of the sea that she loves so much. Barbara married fellow artist Ben Nicholson and together they moved to St. Ives, Cornwall in 1939, just before the start of WWII. This sculpture is made of Elm and strings.

John Constable

Constable is a Romanic Painter that is " is known principally for revolutionizing the genre of landscape painting". He painted what he saw and knew. Such as this painting... his father owned Flatford Mill.

John Constable
Flatford Mill, 1816-7
Tate Britain, London, England

In college I took a humanities class and learned about John Constable. Hey Wain is one of the first pictures I memorized and saw in person and Constable painted many beautiful pictures of Salisbury Cathedral. He holds a special place in my pantheon of artists.

Here are a couple of close ups shots of Flatford Mill. You can see right below the scene of a person walking in front of trees and cows grazing. Well before impressionism (which started in the 1860s) Constable is giving us an impression of these things.

Joseph Mallard William Turner

I was stunned by this picture by Turner. His use of color and his ability to convey the feeling of loneliness and being forlorn. During my class at Cambridge, Looking at art slowly, the teacher encouraged us to imagine something different about the work of art. What if the guard was not there with Napoleon? To me, the guard, and having two people makes this picture even more lonely. I want to go and stand in front of this picture again. Turner has a way of enveloping me in his paintings.

Joseph Mallard William Turner
War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet, 1842
Tate Britain, London, England

John Singer Sargent

I was surprised and so happy that Sargent is in the Tate Britain. He is usually classified as an American Artist. His parents were American. Sargent was born in Florence, Italy and live most of his live in Europe and moved to London in 1886 where he stayed until his death in 1925.

I got to see Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose and spend time with it.

It is a gorgeous painting of two girls lighting lanterns in an English garden. It looks like there is light coming from the lanterns. How does an artist paint light like this??

John Singer Sargent
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose 1885-86
Tate Britain, London, England

Pre Raphaelites

So much other great art in the Tate Britain, including a lot of Pre Raphaelite paintings. Who I studied a bit in my art history class at Cambridge.

I hope you enjoyed that quick view of one piece from each of my favorite artists at the Tate Britain. It was such a quick visit. I really want to go back and spend some good quality time at this incredible museum.

Sources:
Tate Britain: Reclining Figure
Tate Britain: Pelagos
Tate Britain: Flatford Mill
Tate Britain: War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet
Tate Britain: Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
Wikepedia: Constable
Wikepedia: Sargent