National Gallery - Part II

The other day when I went to the national gallery, only managed to see the artworks from 1200 to 1600. So I went back today to look at the works from 1700 to 1900. These were by far the better half, and I kinda suspected that, but wanted to do things in chronological order.

I was able to see several key English artists that I hadn't seen much work of before. The Constable landscapes were fantastic and have a great texture to them. Just trying to think of away to use his style as a departure point with some Australian landscapes as that could be really interesting.

There was pieces by Hogarth, including the satirical 'Marriage a la Mode II' series. They actually had all 6 paintings in the series beside one another and that was cool. Basically it tells a story of the short comings of 'old money' marrying 'new money' purely as a financial transaction, rather than for 'love'.

I also saw some really important Turner works, which was the first time I'd seen his stuff. I must admit, overall Turner's works are better in reproductions. In the flesh, the colours feel faded and don't have the same impact. Admittedly, you can't see all the same details in reproductions that give the works another meaning.

Then walking into the Impressionists area was like colour coming back with reinforcements - great. Saw some Seurate (first time seeing his work as well) works and they are strangely interesting. The colour scheme seems a little detached but strangely inviting.