Question
Which two countries had the biggest influence on English art?
Answers
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
Broadly speaking, Italy and France.
- Italy: the Renaissance and classical tradition (perspective, anatomy, classical themes) flowed from Italian masters (e.g. Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian) into English taste via imported works, prints, artists and the Grand Tour. English academic teaching and painters such as Sir Joshua Reynolds drew heavily on Italian models.
- France: from the 18th century on, Paris became the centre of academic, Romantic and then modern movements (Impressionism, Post‑Impressionism, early modernism). French styles and artists (e.g. Manet, Monet, Cézanne) strongly shaped late‑19th and 20th‑century British art.
Also worth noting: the Netherlands/Flanders (Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Rubens) had a major impact on English portrait and landscape painting, so Dutch/Flemish influence is a close third.
- Italy: the Renaissance and classical tradition (perspective, anatomy, classical themes) flowed from Italian masters (e.g. Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian) into English taste via imported works, prints, artists and the Grand Tour. English academic teaching and painters such as Sir Joshua Reynolds drew heavily on Italian models.
- France: from the 18th century on, Paris became the centre of academic, Romantic and then modern movements (Impressionism, Post‑Impressionism, early modernism). French styles and artists (e.g. Manet, Monet, Cézanne) strongly shaped late‑19th and 20th‑century British art.
Also worth noting: the Netherlands/Flanders (Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Rubens) had a major impact on English portrait and landscape painting, so Dutch/Flemish influence is a close third.