ITALY RUINS Classical LANDSCAPE VENUS ROMAN BATHS ~ Old 1861 Art Print Engraving

Description: PHRYNE GOING TO THE BATH AS VENUS Artist: J. M. W. Turner____________ Engraver: J. B. Allen Note: the title in the table above is printed below the engraving CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE 19th CENTURY ANTIQUE PRINTS LIKE THIS ONE!! PRINT DATE: This lithograph was printed in 1861; it is not a modern reproduction in any way. PRINT SIZE: Overall print size is 8 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches including white borders, actual scene is 7 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches. PRINT CONDITION: Condition is excellent. Bright and clean. Blank on reverse. Paper is quality woven rag stock paper. SHIPPING: Buyer to pay shipping, domestic orders receives priority mail, international orders receive regular air mail unless otherwise asked for. We take a variety of payment options, more payment details will be in our email after auction close. We pack properly to protect your item! FROM THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Judging from the titles given by Turner to many of his pictures, his researches into classic history seem to have been as diffuse as they were, often times, singular. It is true that the personages introduced generally occupy, in their pictorial importance, only a secondary place in the composition, and the title adopted conveys but a very inadequate idea of its real character: we look more at the scene of action than on the actors themselves, who are placed on the canvas for the purpose of enriching and enlivening it, rather than that of presenting to the mind what might have taken place among the people who are thus brought before us: and thus the painting itself would almost as appropriately bear any other name as that it has received, for we frequently make a fruitless search for the particular incident or story by which a glorious work of Art is known, and which it is presumed to illustrate. The picture here engraved is one among many notable examples of this peculiarity of Turner's art: it was exhibited at the Academy in 1838, and bore, in addition to the above title, that of ' Eschines taunting Demosthenes.' Now it is no easy matter to make out either of the incidents assumed to be presented to view; certainly there are two sage looking personages in the foreground to the left, who may be these great rival Greek orators, and the outstretched arm of one may signify the taunting of Aeschines; and amid the multitude of figures in the centre is one which may serve for Phryne in the character of Venus. This "lady" is one whose history, so far as it has come down to us, is not worth inquiring into; her reputation for beauty was as great in Athens as was the immorality of her life. There were, however, two females of that name, according to ancient tradition, both of whom were equally distinguished by personal charms and depraved character; one is said to have been the favorite model of the sculptor Praxiteles, and the other of the painter Apelles. Some authorities intimate there was in fact only one, who sat to both artists, and that she was so rich as to propose to Alexander the Great to rebuild the city of Thebes, which he had destroyed, provided the monarch would permit an inscription commemorative of the builder to be engraved in a conspicuous place in the city. This Alexander refused. Apelles is said to have painted one of his most celebrated pictures after seeing Phryne going to bathe in the sea: it is probable that this story suggested to Turner the subject of his work. The assumption, however, seems to be that the painter intended to offer a pictorial definition of Athenian life at its highest point of intellectual greatness and social luxury and voluptuousness; the schools of the former being represented by the group on the left, the character of the other by the gay and giddy throng of nude and semi-nude figures on the right. Turner never painted a picture without some other object than that of creating a beautiful work of Art; and every figure and accessory introduced may be accepted as having a meaning in it beyond its positive value as an adjunct to the composition: here they light up and animate the whole picture, making that a scene of life and festivity which, without them, would only be one of silent, death-like grandeur. But, apart from these considerations, how much majestic beauty is there in that vast expanse of landscape, in which are combined edifices of architectural splendour, hills-Mr. Ruskin expressively calls them "folds of hills"-covered with rich verdure, a vast lake of tranquil, luminous water, and a distance made interminable, because it blends with the soft hues of the far-off sky. In the midst of the picture is the large, open bath to which the multitudes are escorting, as it were in triumph, the "beauty of Athens." We may point to the trees, too, as among the best Turner ever painted, graceful in form, light and elegant in their ramifications. There is not a passage which does not recall the most sumptuous period of old Greece. The picture is in the National Collection. BIOGRAPHY OF ARTIST: Joseph Mallord William Turner, (1775-1851) English landscape painter, b. London. Turner was the foremost English romantic painter and the most original of English landscape artists. He received almost no general education but at 14 was already a student at the Royal Academy of Arts and three years later was making topographical drawings for magazines. In 1791 for the first time he exhibited two watercolors at the Royal Academy. In the following 10 years he exhibited regularly, was elected a member (1802), and was made professor of perspective (1807). By 1799 the sale of his work had freed him from drudgery and he devoted himself to the visionary interpretations of landscape for which he became famous. In 1802 he made a trip to the Continent, where he painted his famous Calais Pier(National Gall., London). From then on he traveled constantly in England or abroad, making innumerable direct sketches from which he drew material for his studio paintings in oil and watercolor. Turner showed a remarkable ability to distill the best from the tradition of landscape painting. Influence of the Dutch masters is apparent in his Sun Rising through Vapor(National Gall., London). In the vein of the French classical landscape painter, Claude Lorrain, he produced the Liber Studiorum(1807-19), 70 drawings that were later reproduced by engraving under Turner's supervision. Among the paintings evocative of Claude's style are his Dido Building Carthage(National Gall., London) and Crossing the Brook(Tate Gall., London). Despite his early and continued success Turner lived the life of a recluse. As his fame grew he maintained a large gallery in London for exhibition of his work, but continued to live an obscure existence with his old father. His painting became increasingly abstract as he strove to portray light, space, and the elemental forces of nature. Characteristic of his later period are his paintings The Fighting Téméraireand Rain, Steam, and Speed(both: National Gall., London). His late Venetian works, which describe atmospheric effects with brighter colors, include The Grand Canal(Metropolitan Mus.) and Approach to Venice(National Gall., Washington, D.C.). Turner encountered violent criticism as his style became increasingly free, but he was passionately defended by Sir Thomas Lawrence and the youthful Ruskin. His will, which was under litigation for many years, left more than 19,000 watercolors, drawings, and oils to the nation. Most of these works are in the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery, London. Many of Turner's oils have deteriorated badly. In watercolor he is unsurpassed. Please note: the terms used in our auctions for engraving, etching, lithograph, plate, photogravure etc. are ALL prints on paper, and NOT blocks of steel or wood or any other material. "ENGRAVINGS", the term commonly used for these paper prints, were the most common method in the 1700s and 1800s for illustrating old books, and these paper prints or "engravings" were created by the intaglio process of etching the negative of the image into a block of steel, copper, wood etc, and then when inked and pressed onto paper, a print image was created. These prints or engravings were usually inserted into books, although many were also printed and issued as loose stand alone lithographs. They often had a tissue guard or onion skin frontis to protect them from transferring their ink to the opposite page and were usually on much thicker quality woven rag stock paper than the regular prints. So this auction is for an antique paper print(s), probably from an old book, of very high quality and usually on very thick rag stock paper. A RARE FIND! AND GREAT DECORATION FOR YOUR OFFICE OR HOME WALL.

Price: 7.99 USD

Location: New Providence, New Jersey

End Time: 2025-01-07T22:05:57.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.5 USD