When the industrial age began, art changed. This requirement of change also determined the artistic expression of William Bell Scott. He was inspired by his father's work as a draftsman, steel and copper engraver, trained at the Trustees Academy School of Art in Edinburgh. He was still fully committed to the tradition of academic art education with its strict rules, such as the tracing of ancient statues. Therefore, in 1831 he stayed in London to study them. A further stay in London in 1837 was used for intensive artistic work, he painted and drew and worked as an art critic and poet.
In 1847 Scott Dante met Gabriel Rossetti, who like him painted and wrote poems. Rossetti and other artists founded the Brotherhood of the Pre-Raphaelites the following year. Contrary to the ideas of academic painting, the Pre-Raphaelites advocated the study of nature, free choice of subjects and a detailed but lively mode of representation. Their models were medieval artists before the time of Raphael. The variety of themes ranged from mythological and religious content to social criticism. William Bell Scott also found expression as a painter in these motifs in a departure from the academic mode of representation, without having a close relationship to the pictorial art of the Pre-Raphaelites. It was rather his inclination towards poetry that connected him with them. But richness of detail and precise drawing are also the hallmarks of Scott's paintings.
Despite his artistic talent and education Scott was neither a passionate nor very successful painter. His designs for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament in London, 1843, were rejected. Instead, he was often offered the position of head of the Government School Design in Newcastle upon Tyne. He stayed there until 1864, during which time he produced his most important work, the picturesque wall decoration of Wallington Hall near Newcastle. The paintings, executed between 1857 and 1861, show the history of Northumberland in eight parts, including the scene "Iron and Coal", an impression of an industrial process - and thus a current new theme. Scott's real artistic talent, however, is more apparent in his landscape depictions and portraits. He saw himself above all as a poet. He was not one of the most famous painters and draughtsmen of the Victorian era, but he was one of the most versatile.
When the industrial age began, art changed. This requirement of change also determined the artistic expression of William Bell Scott. He was inspired by his father's work as a draftsman, steel and copper engraver, trained at the Trustees Academy School of Art in Edinburgh. He was still fully committed to the tradition of academic art education with its strict rules, such as the tracing of ancient statues. Therefore, in 1831 he stayed in London to study them. A further stay in London in 1837 was used for intensive artistic work, he painted and drew and worked as an art critic and poet.
In 1847 Scott Dante met Gabriel Rossetti, who like him painted and wrote poems. Rossetti and other artists founded the Brotherhood of the Pre-Raphaelites the following year. Contrary to the ideas of academic painting, the Pre-Raphaelites advocated the study of nature, free choice of subjects and a detailed but lively mode of representation. Their models were medieval artists before the time of Raphael. The variety of themes ranged from mythological and religious content to social criticism. William Bell Scott also found expression as a painter in these motifs in a departure from the academic mode of representation, without having a close relationship to the pictorial art of the Pre-Raphaelites. It was rather his inclination towards poetry that connected him with them. But richness of detail and precise drawing are also the hallmarks of Scott's paintings.
Despite his artistic talent and education Scott was neither a passionate nor very successful painter. His designs for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament in London, 1843, were rejected. Instead, he was often offered the position of head of the Government School Design in Newcastle upon Tyne. He stayed there until 1864, during which time he produced his most important work, the picturesque wall decoration of Wallington Hall near Newcastle. The paintings, executed between 1857 and 1861, show the history of Northumberland in eight parts, including the scene "Iron and Coal", an impression of an industrial process - and thus a current new theme. Scott's real artistic talent, however, is more apparent in his landscape depictions and portraits. He saw himself above all as a poet. He was not one of the most famous painters and draughtsmen of the Victorian era, but he was one of the most versatile.
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