Howard, A Cirrocumulus Cloud Study, 1811
The clouds in many 19th-century European paintings look
drastically different than those in the 18th century. There are layers to
their texture, with whisps of cirrus clouds flying over billowing cumulus,
and stratus hovering low. Clouds weren’t classified by type until 1802, and
their subsequent study influenced artists from John Constable to J. M. W.
Turner.
Luke Howard, a pharmacist by profession and an amateur cloud enthusiast, was born in London in 1772. By 1802, when he presented his Essay on the Modification of Clouds to the Askesian Society, he’d spent years monitoring the skies over his home city, and sketching their changing shapes to record their patterns.
Luke Howard, a pharmacist by profession and an amateur cloud enthusiast, was born in London in 1772. By 1802, when he presented his Essay on the Modification of Clouds to the Askesian Society, he’d spent years monitoring the skies over his home city, and sketching their changing shapes to record their patterns.
No comments:
Post a Comment