The period from the early works of Hogarth (about 1730) to the death of Turner (1851) was the golden age of British painting, bringing it into the forefront of European art. The main figures are Hogarth, Ramsay, Reynolds, Gainsborough and Lawrence, Blake, Constable and Turner. William Vaughan discusses the key personalities and analyses the class structure, political background, including the effects of the Napoleonic Wars, and economic factors that governed the art market.
Introduction - painting and the Hanoverian era. Part 1 Portraiture and society: portraying society - Hogarth's modern moralities; the portrait business; conversations; the grand portrait. Part 2 High art and high life: the Academy; the tragedy of British history painting; vision; from caricature to cartoon. Part 3 Low art and low life: everyday art; animals; the other traditions; the nature of landscape; travel and topography; arcadias; landscape and history; the case of late Turner.
