A student called Jack talking to a lecturer, Dr. Rubin, about an English artist called Samuel Prout. First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25 on page 5. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25. Dr. Rubin? Hello, Jack.
So have you chosen which artist you're going to give your presentation on? Yes, Samuel Prout, the 19th century English watercolour painter. Right. Interesting choice.
I always feel he never quite got the fame he deserved, did he? No, I think that's true. I mean, I don't think he ever went completely out of vogue, even though tastes and fashions come and go. He was really prolific in his day, but there's never really been a high-profile showing of his paintings.
That could have brought him to more people's attention. Sure, but I think it's remarkable that he achieved any critical success given the problems that he had. Apparently he was prone to chronic chest infections throughout his life.
Yes, it must have been hard for him, but it seems he had a loving wife and family. And a strong network of colleagues and supporters. Yeah, I've been trying to find out what got him interested in painting in the first place.
But he doesn't seem to have learned the skill from his father, like so many artists of his time. No, well, I think he painstakingly reproduced other painters' works, essentially sort of schooling himself. And then later on he actually became an art teacher.
How do you feel about Prout's style of painting? It's interesting how a lot of artists, you can see how their style is developing as their work matures. But not so much with Prout. He seems to have several on the go all at the same time.
Yes, with others you can say, oh, that must be by so-and-so and painted in around 1820, say. Right, but not so much with Prout. Of course, Prout's career had a huge boost when the art critic John Ruskin declared him a great artist.
Yes, but Ruskin's assessment was quite biased, wasn't it? How do you mean? Well, Ruskin admired Prout, and he didn't seem to mind the fact that many of his paintings showed more or less the same thing, European street scenes, or that the people in Prout's pictures can look rather wooden and not very lifelike. For me, his detailing of architecture was too predictable. But for Ruskin, that was where Prout's genius lay.
Well, I guess that's what Ruskin was particularly interested in. Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30 on page 6. Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30. OK, Jack, so your brief was to prepare a presentation to give to the group and show some pictures associated with the artist, each of which makes a key point about their work, OK? Right.
Well, I wanted to start with A View in Germany at Würzburg. It's a detailed watercolour showing a busy market scene with a background of flamboyant detail like in so many of his pictures. Yes, basically what Prout had made his name doing so well.
It really gives the flavour of his work. Right. OK.
There's a painting called Bridge on the Ouse near York, except that experts now think this isn't York at all, but somewhere in the south of England. Right. But as far as I know, the picture has never been renamed.
No, that would make cataloguing and researching Prout's pictures more complicated. And the next one is called Woodland Scene. This one has a signature.
It says S. Prout in the bottom left. But even so, experts on Prout say they doubt he actually painted it. Yes, I remember reading that.
The detailing is too clumsy, with the sun not casting shade in the right place. Exactly. And there's a lot of blue that basically doesn't appear in any other Prout pictures.
So it's probably a forgery? Yes. And what's the next one? Venice. It's a view from the Grand Canal, with some rather grand buildings.
They're bathed in sunlight with a sort of picturesque shadow cast by the buildings opposite, which is shown brilliantly. Lovely use of colour. Prout at his best, I think.
Right. And then there's Entrance to a Harbour. Right.
He grew up by the sea, didn't he? Yes, in Plymouth. He didn't specialise in seascapes, but this same location with the harbour and the sea also appear in other pictures, showing a range of weather conditions. They don't all have figures like this one, but I think they're really well done.
Right. Well, now you've obviously... That is the end of Section 3. You now have half a minute to check your answers. Now turn to Section 4.