Thomas Gainsborough
1727–1788
Portrait painter who placed subjects in country or garden scenery.
In this topic
What to be able to answer
- Match artists to style or best-known work.
- Match architects to buildings or periods.
- Remember galleries, Turner Prize, Chelsea Flower Show, and national flowers.
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British painters, buildings, gardens and national flowers
Names to recognise
Scan the name, then the exact work, role, or achievement attached to it.
David Allan
1744–1796
Scottish portrait painter; best known for The Origin of Painting.
Joseph Turner
1775–1851
Influential landscape painter who raised the profile of landscape painting. The Turner Prize is named after him.
John Constable
1776–1837
Landscape painter famous for scenes of Dedham Vale, Suffolk–Essex border.
Sir John Lavery
1856–1941
Northern Irish portrait painter who painted the Royal Family.
Henry Moore
1898–1986
English sculptor best known for large bronze abstract works.
John Petts
1914–1991
Welsh artist known for engravings and stained glass.
Lucian Freud
1922–2011
German-born British artist best known for portraits.
David Hockney
1937–
Important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s.
Inigo Jones
17th-century architect; designed Queen's House at Greenwich and Banqueting House in Whitehall.
Sir Christopher Wren
Designed the new St Paul's Cathedral in a British version of ornate European style.
Robert Adam
Scottish 18th-century architect; Dumfries House, influenced Bath's Royal Crescent.
Sir Edwin Lutyens
Designed New Delhi and the Cenotaph in Whitehall; influential throughout the British Empire.
Dame Zaha Hadid
1950–2016
Iraqi-British architect; one of the leading modern architects working on major projects worldwide.
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown
18th-century landscape designer who made grounds appear natural with grass, trees and lakes.
Gertrude Jekyll
Garden designer who created colourful gardens, often collaborating with Lutyens.
During the Middle Ages, most art in Britain had a religious theme, particularly wall paintings in churches and illustrations in religious books. Much of this was lost after the Protestant Reformation, but wealthy families began to collect other paintings and sculptures.
Art, buildings and gardens
Keep the roles separate: painters make works, architects make buildings, garden designers shape landscapes.
Paintings and artists
Gainsborough painted portraits in country settings. Turner and Constable are the landscape pair; the Pre-Raphaelites used bright religious and literary themes.
1984
Modern art names
Lavery, Moore, Petts, Freud and Hockney are later artists to recognise. The Turner Prize began in 1984 and is shown at Tate Britain.
Architecture sequence
Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, Robert Adam, gothic revival, Lutyens, then modern architects Foster, Rogers and Hadid form the building sequence.
Gardens and symbols
Capability Brown made natural-looking landscapes. Gertrude Jekyll designed colourful gardens. Rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock are the national flowers.
Many painters working in Britain in the 16th and 17th centuries were from abroad — for example, Hans Holbein and Sir Anthony Van Dyck. British artists, particularly those painting portraits and landscapes, became well known from the 18th century onwards.
Well-known galleries include the National Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, the National Museum in Cardiff, and the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.
The Pre-Raphaelites were an important group of artists in the second half of the 19th century. They painted detailed pictures on religious or literary themes in bright colours. The group included Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Sir John Millais.
The Turner Prize was established in 1984 and celebrates contemporary art. Named after Joseph Turner, four works are shortlisted every year and shown at Tate Britain before the winner is announced. It is one of the most prestigious visual art awards in Europe. Previous winners include Damien Hirst.
In the Middle Ages, great cathedrals and churches were built, many of which still stand today. Examples include the cathedrals in Durham, Lincoln, Canterbury and Salisbury. The White Tower in the Tower of London is an example of a Norman castle keep, built on the orders of William the Conqueror.
In the 19th century, the medieval gothic style became popular again. The Houses of Parliament and St Pancras Station were built in this period, along with town halls in cities such as Manchester and Sheffield.
The annual Chelsea Flower Show showcases garden design from Britain and around the world. The national flowers are: the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the daffodil for Wales, and the shamrock for Northern Ireland.
Do not mix up
Turner the painter is distinct from the Turner Prize
Christopher Wren is linked to St Paul's Cathedral
National flowers are country symbols, not religious festivals
Practise
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