The Dark Side of the Landscape: The Rural Poor in English Painting 1730-1840 - Softcover

Barrell, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521276551 ISBN 13: 9780521276559

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1983

Synopsis

John Barrell's 1980 study shows why the poor interested painters and how painters could represent them for the rich.

About this title

Review

'This is a most original, searching and disquieting book. It will help us to look at old masters with new eyes: and also, since we are convicted by Barrell of certain nostalgic illustions about the agrarian past, it will help us to look at ourselves.' E. P. Thompson

'A brilliant reading of certain sets of pictorial conventions (signs) and of how and why they changed during a given historical period.' New Society

'Barrell has made a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the interplay between art and ideology in the eighteenth century.' Art History

'This is a book which is both enjoyable to read and informative.' Agricultural History Review

'A valuable and pertinent book which art-historians of all political persuasions ought to read.' Notes and Queries

'An important book.' Burlington Magazine

Book Description

John Barrell's influential 1980 study shows why the poor began to be of such interest to painters, and examines the ways in which they could be represented so as to be an acceptable part of the décor of the salons of the rich. His terse and vigourous account has provided a landmark for literary critics, social and art historians.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1983
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521276551
• ISBN 13: 9780521276559
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192