English school of painting

English art is the body of visual arts made in England. Prehistoric art in England generally followed trends in the whole of Britain, but with early medieval Anglo-Saxon art a very distinct English style began, also an Anglo-Saxon England that included much of modern Scotland. English art continued to have an individual character thereafter, though after 1707 it is covered under the art of the United Kingdom.

Although medieval English painting, mostly religious, had a strong national tradition and was at times influential on the rest of Europe, it was in decline from the 15th century. The English Reformation, which was especially destructive of art, not only brought the tradition to an abrupt stop but resulted in the destruction of almost all wall-paintings. Only illuminated manuscripts now survive in good numbers.

The art of the English Renaissance lagged behind that of other European countries, but there is already a strong interest in portraiture, which was the main form of painting for which there was a market, and the portrait miniature was more popular in England than anywhere else. Sculpture was mostly architectural and for monumental tombs. By the time of the Act of Union, the English taste for landscape painting was developing. In all these areas, reliance on imported artists was high, which remained the case until at least the 18th century.

Following historical surveys such as Creative Art In England by William Johnstone (1936 and 1950), Nikolaus Pevsner attempted a definition in his 1956 book The Englishness of English Art, as did Sir Roy Strong in his 2000 book The Spirit of Britain: A narrative history of the arts, and Peter Ackroyd in his 2002 book The Origins of the English Imagination.

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