19th Century Landscapes

This one day seminar will take as its starting point the current Aspire exhibition at National Galleries Scotland which displays John Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, exhibited 1831 alongside William McTaggart’s The Storm 1890. Constable, viewed by many as ‘The Quintessential English Artist’, was a source of profound inspiration for McTaggart throughout much of his career and the display explores the transformative influence of his artistic practice and technique on the ‘Father of Scottish Painting’.

The seminar will bring together contributions from art historians, researchers and curators to explore 19th Century Landscape painting, including the role of nations within a larger nation (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales within Britain), and the place of colonies and local schools in the national schools. The event will also address organisational, reception and interpretation issues when exhibiting British Landscapes abroad.

Contributors include Duncan Macmillan, Professor Emeritus University of Edinburgh; Christiana Payne, Oxford Brookes University; Jenny Gaschke, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery; Ysanne Holt, Northumbria University; Patricia Allerston, National Galleries Scotland; David Brown, Tate Britain; Tony Trehy, Bury Art Museum; Hongxing Zhang, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Image: John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831. Purchased by Tate with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Manton Foundation and the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation) and Tate Members in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales, Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service, National Galleries of Scotland; and Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum 2013  http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T13896