21/09/2012

I have recently been looking for inspiration in primary research collecting a lot of information using several books the first of which "Victorian Painting" by Lionel Lambourne. Taking place from the 1800s to 1900 the book cover various artists at the time and introduced me to culturally rich origins they sprang from.


The "Biographical Dictionary of Artist" by Sir Lawrence Gowing has a long list of artists providing the chance to introduce me to other artists. In particularly Caravaggio a 14th century artist excelling in dramatic imagery conveying "dramatic appeal to the spectator" and having "profound compassion for the sufferings and complexities of humanity," he painted figures within a dark foreboding atmosphere where the contrasts of light and dark were most prominent.

Edgar Degas (by Trewin Copplestone) and Francisco Goya y Lucientes (by Janis Tomlinson) where other artists I wished to study. Degas prefered to be known as a Realist who focused on the mundane reality of the world around him famously producing provoking images of dancers and the horse tracks. Goya, the last of the Old Masters and first of the moderns, I had interest in for years though had never the oppurtunity to explore him more thoroughly. Goya made a range of work that he built his profession on; he painted for the royal family and merry festivals which later evolved to war and human decadence.