Vision and Landscape, The British Museum

Another event that Oliver and I attended together was the Samuel Palmer exhibition at the British Museum. Allegorical and sublime meditative idyllic scenes made up the majority of the Romantic’s work. Oliver, Palmer and I all share inspiration from Blake, Milton and Duer with Palmer taking up a more primitive approach than either of us. This inspiration takes root in strong outlines and rich decorative patterns from medieval and early renaissance art. Palmer mixes Christian themes with the picturesque and the pastoral. Oliver, with his intricate knowledge of Romantic painting, made the perfect companion for this exhibition. I was surprised to find that Palmer is an inspiration to Lucien Freud, but I’m not sure why.

All in all, I can appreciate the idealistic goal of the Romantic Movement. I understand and admire the attempt at trying to integrate the value spheres of beauty, morals and science, whose differentiation was just beginning to be understood and valued during that time. The resulting method employed by the Romantics, however, was less than adequate. Their desire to return to a more natural and thus a more true existence failed because their approach turned out to be more a regression without means than a progression with one. I understand that the latter augmentation is perhaps more grounded in the philosophical than the aesthetic but it highlights the significance of this discourse to my own practice.

Tags: gallery, London