Who, in your opinion, is the greatest 19th century British painter?

Question

And which painting is their masterpiece?
....and why?

Answer 1

I have to agree with lebanese...
William Turner is the best British painter of the 19th century. He had an impressionist style that pre-dated Monet. He broke away from a lot of the Neo-classical and Romantic styles of the time. His style was profoundly more modern. Check out the image below.

Answer 2

Although I must admit that Joseph Mallord William Turner is the best British painter in the 19th century, "The Hay Wain" by John Constable is the best masterpiece ever produced by a British person.

Answer 3

My favorite engish artist in this time period would have to be William Morris.
He was the socialist and innovator in the Arts and Crafts movement.
He raised artisans to the status of artists.
His philosophy that art should be affordable, hand-made, and that there should be no hierarchy of artistic mediums.
I believe in this even though not pratical nor financially feasable.
He has given us the ability to pursue Art even if we are not all great artists. The average "Joe" can use his hands to create something beautiful if so desired.
Morris also translated large numbers of mediaeval and classical works, including collections of Icelandic sagas such as Three Northern Love Stories (1875), Virgil's Aeneid (1875), and Homer's Odyssey (1887).

Tolkien was inspired by Morris's reconstructions of early Germanic life in The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains.

I love his stained glass windows,tapestries,textiles, bookplates,lettering and calligraphy,paintings,drawings,
furniture and tiles.
He was the genius of the Pre-Raphaelites in my opinion.
http://www.huntington.org/ArtDiv/morris.html

Joseph Mallord William Turner was also brilliant for his use of oils,he is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting.

"The fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up", painted in 1838. is beautiful.

I also love"The shipwreck of the Minotaur", oil on canvas.
I love the way that he used his colour pallet and his use of colour and light. His work is very dramatic and force full.
His chromatic palette and broadly applied washes of paint measure the moods of nature.

Cheers!

Answer 4

Whistler....his painting of fireworks; it is the great grandaddy of abstract art. The man was decades ahead of his times. His most popular painting was the portrait of his mother.