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Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723—1792), the first President of the Royal Academy of Arts, was not only a painter but the founder of the academic principles of the "British school". Reynolds was the most outstanding portraitist of the 18th century. In his pictures he did not only paint portraits but produced characters. The picture "The Little Heracles Defeating Snakes" was bought by Catherine II.
Another famous English painter was Joseph Turner (1775—1851), whose business was to paint the light. He proved that with the help of light it is possible to show qualities of any subject.
We know practically nothing about Turner's life. Son of a London barber, he started drawing and painting when he was a little boy. When Turner was thirteen, he chose the artistic career. In 1802 Turner was elected academician of the Royal Academy, where his oil paintings had been exhibited.
He died at the age of seventy-six.
Turner was a representative of Romanticism. The description of nature dominated in his paintings. In his work with colour he anticipated, in some degree, the practice of impressionists. In his late works he anticipated sometimes the practice of expressionists of the 20th.
Turner's "The Shipwreck", "Burning of the Houses of Parliament" and "Snow Storm" are masterpieces of the great artist.
41. Read the words with the translation twice.
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