British Vision

The “ British Vision ” exhibition takes place in Ghent until 13th January 2008. There are 14 different themes situated in 14 rooms, such as British people during the industrial revolution, British humour, landscapes and modern art. Some paintings are really impressive, for example Beata Beatrix, which is painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It represents his dying wife, Elizabeth Siddal, who committed suicide after giving birth to a dead child.






Another painting, that impressed me because of the realism of the couple’s faces, is Ford Madox Brown’s painting The Last of England. It is about British people and emigration and depicts a man and his wife leaving England and the white cliffs of Dover (on the top right of the painting). The two main figures are in fact Brown himself and his wife Emma. We can also notice a blonde-haired little girl on the left; who is Brown and Emma’s daughter, Catherine. The painting is also influenced by the industrial revolution; this can be seen through the clothes of the depicted couple. The man and his wife are wearing clothes of the middle class and not of the higher class.

I found the exhibition interesting, especially the first rooms. But it was rather too long and I skipped the comments of the last rooms. The day was brought to a nice end by visiting a part of the beautiful city of Ghent.