William McTaggart : landscape, meaning and technique

[摘要] This thesis alms to provide an interpretation of McTaggart'swork within a discussion of critical discourse in Britishart, referring In particular to the relative values ofcontent and technique, in the second half of the nineteenthcentury.The first section contains an overview of the criticalapproaches to McTaggart's work from early career to thepresent day, centred upon how the notion of "impressionist"has been applied to McTaggart. This Is followed by anexamination of some of the broad determinants of McTaggart'scareer, such as patronage and his relationship withAcademic establishment.Section II deals with content In landscape art, looking firstat the status of landscape In British art. It examines howcontent was dealt with in Scottish landscape painting priorto McTaggart, and how McTaggart's choice of paintinglocations addressed traditions of Scottish landscape. Thenotion of the "poetic" landscape Is advanced as anappropriate Interpretation of McTaggart's approach. Withinthis, specific Influences upon McTaggart, such as that ofJ.E. Millais and 3.C. Hook, are studied.In Section III, the Issue of technique Is examined. Again,McTaggart's work is set within a framework of criticalvalues, outlining the importance of technique in criticaldebate in the late nineteenth century. The extent to whichMcTaggart may have come Into direct contact with FrenchImpressionism and contemporary colour theory Is questionedand the way in which the concepts of "Impressionism","effect", "finish" and "unity" were discussed, and the extentto which they can be applied to McTaggart's work, areappraised.The concluding section suggests that, despite apparentpolarisation of form and content in critical debate, thefusion of technique and subject was still an importantaesthetic standard. The inter-relation of content andtechnique in McTaggart's landscape art is examined within twocase studies.

[发布机构] University:University of St Andrews;Department:Art History (School of)