The British School (National Gallery London Publications) - Tapa dura

The National Gallery's collection of British paintings contains some of the most famous and best-loved pictures in the country: Hogarth's Marriage a-la Mode series, Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrews, both The Hay Wain and The Cornfield by Constable, and Rain, Steam and Speed and The Fighting Temeraire by Turner. This readable and lively catalogue includes the results of fresh examination of each work by the National Gallery's Conservation and Scientific Departments. It also reflects recent scholarship and incorporates much new research. But it is chiefly designed for the general reader who wants to know more about the making and meaning of these familiar pictures and to learn something of their history. The sixty British paintings now in the National Gallery are discussed in two parts. Major works by Hogarth, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Stubbs, Turner, and Constable are featured in the first section. The second part consists of portraits (including three sculpted busts) of collectors or public servants who helped over the years to create the National Gallery as we now know it. National Gallery Publications, London

Judy Egerton, formerly a curator at the Tate Gallery, is also the author of Turner: The Fighting Temeraire and Hogarth's Marriage A-la-Mode.