30.6.12

slide school | j.m.w. turner

slide school is a bi-weekly education session (with myself ;) in which i attempt to remember bits and pieces i learned about specific artworks in my university art history classes. i get to peek at my notes, but not online. for more details about slide school - visit this post.

image via

*if you are doing some sort of school project and ended up here, please note i cannot guarantee that any of this information below is even remotely accurate!


title | hmmm..."ship in sunset"?
artist | turner
date | the impressionistic style leads me to believe end of the nineteenth century so...1880's?
medium | watercolour - always watercolour.
art historical period | romanticism?
three facts | what appears to be a ship battling the ocean amidst a beautiful setting sun is in fact a grotesque work of the grim reality of the times. it is however, still one of my favourites for his use of colour. the rest of turner's work is much softer and paler. my notes about this piece are mainly about the medium itself: quick and simple brushstrokes are best for watercolour. it's an ideal paint for 'en plein air' (painting outdoors). and in true watercolour paintings, the lighter tones are acheived by thinning the paint with more water. 

corrections
title | "the slave ship" (hahahaha i just googled it and apparently the original title - which i totally remember now is: "slavers throwing overboard the dead and dying - typhoon coming on." is that not the best, most ridiculous, most run-on title you've ever heard?)
artist | joseph mallord william turner (quite a mouthful isn't it?)
date | 1840! looks like turner was ahead of his time.
medium | watercolour
art historical period | wiki says the work is "a classic example of a romantic maritime painting" and that turner's artwork is "regarded as a romantic preface to impressionism." yay me!

3 comments:

  1. This makes me miss all the art history classes I took over the years. *Sighhh. I definitely didn't remember the artist or title :-/

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  2. Turner is one of my favorite artists.
    I love your Slide School concept! I was also an art history major and have fond/slightly nauseating memories of making flashcards (100s of pasted and hand-drawn images!) and pacing back and forth my dorm room trying to commit them all to memory. Looking back on it now, sometimes it's hard to believe my brain was capable of such gymnastics. After seeing your two test slides, it looks like I am still iffy when it comes to dates. Historical period and facts, however, I can still do! :)
    Looking forward to the next one!

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  3. what a tremendously cool idea! i sure do miss learning about random art pieces and the various masters who made them come to life. i expect you get a lot out of these revisits now and i appreciate you sharing your personal notes about this one. reminds me that all is not what it seems and that is a good thing to come back to again and again. thanks!

    your thoughts are quite wonderful. ♥

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thanks for your comment, i love hearing your thoughts!