An eclectic mix of artistic and moral landscapes in eighteenth century England. Contemporary with England’s greatest landscaper, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, Gainsborough was an originator of the English landscape painting school. We will examine a selection of his paintings and portraits to identify what we see in the managed countryside. Art as nature or nature as art? Another contemporary and Bath contact was Coplestone Bampfylde Warre, a gentleman artist who lived at Hestercombe near Taunton. The lesser known tragedy at the Linley family’s estate in Lincolnshire, Grimsthorpe Castle, provides links between Gainsborough, Brown and Sheridan. Gainsborough trained with William Hogarth whose landscapes are rather more urban with explicit moral messages. Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens provide a striking contrast between the rural idyll and urban fabrication as well as social mores .
Biographical note: Has lectured in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Europe and Japan, and in 2017 returns to The Arts Society in New Zealand. Lectures for the University of Cambridge ICE (Course Director for International Summer Programme), the Royal Horticultural Society, museums, and travel companies. Consultant designer specializing in evoking historic, artistic and symbolic references. Author of 11 books including Water Lilies and Bory Latour-Marliac, the genius behind Monet’s water lilies. Theatre productions: How does your garden grow Mr. Shakespeare and Impressionists in their Gardens: living light and colour. Presenter and contributor on television and BBC Radio 4.