British Art by John Constable and JMW Turner

John Constable and JMW Turner are two of British art's finest contributors and this article looks into their careers and highlights some of their best paintings. Haywain and Fighting Temeraire are probably the two works that they are respectively best known for but their careers were extensive and there are many works which are worth checking out.
Constable and Turner were both passionate about landscape painting and helped to build interest in this genre with in the 19th century and that, to a certain degree, helped bring about the right conditions for the French impressionists to then succeed some years later. Claude Monet is believed to have followed the career of Turner himself and would appreciated the styles used with in the Romanticist art movement, whose style was somewhat similar to Monet's own.
Turner's highlight was The Fighting Temeraire which covers a powerful ship on it's final journey back to harbour where it is then to be turned into scrap after an impressive naval career which included service in the Battle of Trafalgar. Constable's Haywain is very typical of his own style which was far more sedate depictions of the English countryside, normally from his favoured location in Suffolk where he lived most of his life. Turner was certainly the more ambitious artist and would travel around Europe looking for suitable locations to continue his work, and is particularly well remembered for his time in Venice where he completed a large series of watercolours. In the present day these artists have a similar level of following and the traditional approach of Constable seems just as popular as the more forward looking approach of Turner who used his own emotions with in each painting which was in line with the ideals of the Romanticist art movement.
We can conclude that Turner and Constable were similar in their approach to art and also in the impact that each had on the progress of British art which was certainly much better off thanks to their own careers which helped to bring a much greater focus to this country with in the international art scene. You can easily enjoy their original paintings if you live in the UK as they take up prominent positions in some of the nation's biggest and most impressive art galleries and museums, with Turner particularly well represented in London and it's National Gallery. London actually offers free entry to most of it's galleries and museums and this makes it an ideal place to go for art fans with limited budgets, and several different venues can be visited in a single day. Turner and Constable are likely to remain key elements of the British art scene for many years to come.