British Painting: The Golden Age from Hogarth to Turner

Contemporary Review, Nov, 1999

William Vaughan. Thames and Hudson. [pounds]8.95 p.b. 256 pages. ISBN 0-500-20319-9. The 120 years between the appearance of Hogarth's early works to the death of Turner in 1851 mark something of a golden era in British art history. It saw Ramsay, Gainsborough, Lawrence and Reynolds. This book, part of Thames and Hudson's 'World of Art' series, argues that the period was marked by two daring key words, 'Naturalism and Modernity.' The book discusses these amazing artistic achievements in the context of the time.

Thus there are four parts devoted to: portraiture and society; high art and high life; low art and low life; and, the nature of landscape. There is also an introduction, 'painting and the Hanoverian era.' This, and the text itself, places the artistic achievements within the context of the country that produced them. The author is also very careful to include artists who did not become household names to later generations. In doing so he gives us a truly well rounded analysis of a remarkable period told in straightforward prose and without the 'fluff' that sadly surrounds so much talk about art.