Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus (by MrsHappyHousewife)
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1829
Oil on Canvas
From the National Gallery:
“Ulysses is standing aloft on his ship deriding the Cyclops, whom he and his companions have just left blinded, and invoking the vengeance of Neptune. One of the flags is painted with the scene of the Trojan Horse. The horses of the Sun are rising above the horizon (‘Odyssey’, Book 9).
Apparently the idea was in Turner’s mind as early as about 1807, if this is the correct date of a sketchbook which contains a rough drawing of the subject. The picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1829.”
Turner, J.M.W. (1775-1851) - 1796 Fishermen at Sea (Tate Gallery, London) (by RasMarley)
Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for Fish (1837/38) - Joseph Mallord William Turner
Oil on canvas
68 3/4 x 88 1/2in. (174.5 x 224.9 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago
Valley of Aosta: Snowstorm, Avalanche, and Thunderstorm (1836/37) - Joseph Mallord William Turner
Oil on canvas
36 1/4 x 48 in. (92.2 x 123 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago
Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great WesternRailway (by MrsHappyHousewife)
Oil on canvas
“The scene is fairly certainly identifiable as Maidenhead railway bridge, across the Thames between Taplow and Maidenhead. The bridge, which was begun on Brunel’s design in 1837 and finished in 1839, has two main arches of brick, very wide and flat. The view is to the east, towards London.”
Joseph Mallord William Turner: Venice, The Grand Canal (by petrus.agricola)
Turner, J.M.W. (1775-1851) - 1813 Frosty Morning (Tate Gallery, London) (by RasMarley)
Oil on canvas; 114 x 175 cm.
“Joseph Mallord William Turner’s father, a barber and wigmaker, realized his son’s artistic talents early, asserting that “my son is going to be a painter.” Before enrolling in the Royal Academy, Turner gained some drawing experience in the offices several of London’s leading architects. He first exhibited watercolors of architectural subjects and then experimented with scenes from literature and scenery designs for operatic productions. In his early twenties Turner’s focus changed to historical landscapes. These large-scale paintings became increasingly divorced from nature and featured the loose, luminous brushwork and abstract conceptions for which he became known.At twenty-nine Turner opened his own gallery in London while also painting, exhibiting his own work, and teaching at the Royal Academy. A trip to Italy at the age of forty-four drastically altered his style, leading to his late emphasis on the power of color and light to create dramatic, evocative scenes. Turner’s body of work includes around three hundred paintings and over twenty thousand drawings and watercolors, the majority of which were given to the English government upon his death. Most are now owned by the Tate Gallery in London.”
Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds (1823) - John Constable
Oil on Canvas
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art
From Wikipedia (not the same painting):
“A version of the painting also resides at the Frick Collection in New York City. It is slightly different in that in employs a different usages of light. Whereas this version depicts the cathedral with an overcast sky, the version in Frick’s collection shows the cathedral with a clear, bright sky.”
As you can see, this is a third version which is slightly less overcast than the version found in London. I prefer the one found in the Frick Collection, but that’s the only one I’ve seen in person.
Study of the trunk of an elm tree (1821) - John Constable
Oil on Canvas
London, V&A Museum
From V&A Museum:
“Constable probably painted this remarkable sketch in Hampstead. Its uncompromising realism has an almost photographic quality. The artist’s friend and biographer C. R. Leslie recalled: ‘I have seen him admire a fine tree with an ecstasy of delight like that with which he would catch up a beautiful child in his arms’.”
Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) - John Constable
Oil on Canvas
Private Collection
From The National Gallery:
“Constable exhibited this painting at the Royal Academy in 1831, but continued working on it during 1833 and 1834. One of his last major landscapes, it represents the culmination of his numerous treatments of Salisbury Cathedral. Constable’s ‘Salisbury Cathedral and Leadenhall from the River Avon’, also in the Collection, was painted about a decade earlier around 1820.
Salisbury Cathedral is seen here from the north-west, with Long Bridge over the River Avon on the extreme right. The most striking feature of the composition is the arching rainbow. However, Constable appears to have introduced this at a late stage in planning the picture. Much of the atmospheric effect of the painting is achieved by Constable’s extensive use of the palette knife in addition to the brush.”
Harwich Lighthouse (1820) - John Constable
Oil on Canvas
London, Tate Britain
From Tate’s Digital Collection:
“Constable painted at least three versions of this composition, one of which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1820. The lighthouse, known as the Low Lighthouse, was one of two at Harwich. Both were leased at the time by Constable’s friend and patron, Major-General Slater-Rebow of Wivenhoe Park.
These small-scale coastal subjects in the Dutch manner were popular with collectors. A few years later Constable painted a composition of Yarmouth Jetty (displayed nearby) on the same format, and even used the same sky. He also made several versions of this composition.”
