Visions of England

Fourth in a series of lectures at the National Gallery complimenting the Channel 4 “Genius of Art” series.

This one was given by Sir Roy Strong and discussed what defines England and proposed that it is the land and how it is represented in art via landscape. It looked in detail at the 18th century landscapes of Constable and Gainsborough and comparing to John Piper in the war years.

The questions after the lecture were fascinating. Roy Strong had argued that the English more than the Celtic nations focused on land for their identity and this idea was challenged by the audience particularly ones with Scottish accents.

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