Victorian & British Impressionist Art

The Victorian & British Impressionist era is typically associated with Queen Victoria’s reign and from a decorative art perspective the regrettable excess of ornamentation. Culturally there was a transition away from the preceding rationalism of the Georgian period towards romanticism and mysticism with regard to religion, social values and the arts. Typically the era was associated with the values of social and sexual restraint. The middle of the 19th Century saw The Great Exhibition of 1851, the first World’s Fair, which showcased the greatest innovations of the age. Industrialisation bought with it an ever growing middle class, which led to major changes in cultural norms, lifestyle, values and morality. From an art perspective we have focused our selection of work on eminent British sporting and Pointillist artists of this period.