The Victorian era brings to mind fashion, luxury, elegant settings, wealth, romanticism, magnificence, high moralities, and values as well as lush décor. These, however, were just the trappings of that society. The Victorian era is a product of a lot more than just these above mentioned tangible things.

Victorian-era painting characteristics

Classicism, Neo-Classicism, Impressionism, Post-impressionism and Romanticism, were the major isms that made up the Victorian age that has been talked about so much and what makes it so remarkable.

Classicism can be defined as anything done with accuracy and objectivity. The painters mastering in Classicism would paint with such precision and intricate detail. The paintings of this genre were a window into the everyday world which could be observed with a little patience and understanding.

In contrast to Classicism, Romanticism was a very freewheeling and individualistic expression of the artist’s impression and view of the world, person, object and even feelings. It mainly centered on spontaneity, emotions and high drama. Romantic painters often used a palette of bright and vibrant colors.

The impressionist school of art emerged during the latter half of the nineteenth century, England. Impressionism was basically the play of light on various objects and how it the color and perception changed with different angles of light thrown on it.

The post-impressionist school of thought sought to fill up the gaps that impression left a void. This included photography, design, and architecture. The post-impressionist artists embraced new technologies and applied it to art.

Raphael was an eminent artist of the Renaissance period. The Pre-Raphaelite movement was a throwback to the styles of art and painting prevalent before Raphaels time. Dante Rossetti and William Hunt were the forerunners of this movement.

They aspired to get back to the style of art before that of Raphaels became known. They worked to avoid the influences and methods of the industrial revolution as also to get away from the conventional and the now rigid rules of art and painting. They created art from nature and natural phenomenon. These paintings looked like a photograph to a very large degree because of their detailed and intricate work.

They tried to infuse a little bit of William Shakespeare and other authors of that age. Another one of the pre-Raphaelite artists was John William Waterhouse. Another famous painter to note is John Collier.

Eugene Delacroix, another painter of the Romantic school of thought, painted the famous Liberty Leading the People which was done in flashy colours.

The impressionist painters were: Monet, who was and is still world renowned, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Camille Pisarro. The post-impressionists were Paul Cezanne, Paul Gaughin and Vinvent Van Gogh.

Paintings of the Romantic school often depicted dramatic events in brilliant color, as epitomized in Eugene Delacroix’s renowned Liberty Leading the People. Impressionism, a school of painting that developed in the late 19th century, was characterized by transitory visual expressions that focused on the changing effects of light and color.

Impressionist painters include Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pisarro. Reacting to the limitations of Impressionism, painters such as Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin developed a style which was later categorized as Post-Impressionism.

Also see Henry John Boddington Biography

John Wood Dodge artist biography

Jacob Blondel Biography – American Victorian-era painter

John Woodhouse Audubon (1812-1862) was a famous painter for wildlife, portraits, and migrants of westward from over route land.

Sir William Charles Ross Biography – an English portrait and portrait miniature painter

George Henry Boughton was remembered as a genre and landscape painter, illustrator and writer

James Edward Freeman was an acclaimed American painter and diplomat

Edward Linley Sambourne was an English artist. He was a famed cartoonist and illustrator

John Cother Webb had an unparalleled skill in producing color mezzotint prints