Art and Culture in Great Britain

Great Britain gave the world a lot of talented people. Many famous writers and poets were born and lived in Great Britain.

One of the best known English playwrights was William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays which may be divided into: comedies (such as «A Midsummer Night’s Dream»), tragedies (such as «Hamlet», «Othello», «King Lear», «Macbeth») and historical plays (such as «Richard II», «Henry V», «Julius Caesar», «Antony and Cleopatra»).

Robert Burns («Halloween», «The Jolly Beggars») represents the generation of Romantic writers, as well as Lord George Gordon Byron («Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage», «Manfred»).

Sir Walter Scott wrote the first examples of historical novel.

Lewis Carroll became famous when he published «Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland».

 There was little pictorial art in England until the great miniaturists of the Tudor epoch. Hogarth was the first great native painter born at the end of the 17th century, famous for both engravings and oil paintings. Reynolds was the painter of the countryside. In a similar tradition was Stubbs, as famous for his portraits of horses as of people.

Among the other portraitists of the 18th century were Romney, and Raeburn. The modern period in British art may be said to date from the year 1910, when the first Post-Impressionist Exhibition was held in London.

The first decade of the century had been dominated by two romanticists, Frank Brangwyn and Augustus John and by the sculptor Jacob Epstein who became a protagonist of modernity.

Such modern painters as Peter Blake, Allan Jones and some others seek an image of immediate popular appeal (hence the term «pop-art» sometimes applied to this school).

Britain has a long and rich dramatic tradition. The two national companies, the National itself which stages modern and classical plays and the Royal Shakespeare company, which is performing in Stratford-upon-Avon and in London. Contemporary British playwrights who have received recognition at home and overseas include Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard and some others.

Considerable interest is shown at present for the professional arts festivals which take place each year. The Edinburgh International Festival featuring a wide range of different arts, is the largest of its kind in the world.

It is no surprise that the British Museum, one of the greatest museums in the world, tops the visitors’ charts. It is principally a museum of antiquities. This distinguishes the British Museum from the likes of the Louvre (France), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA) and the Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia) which are universal museums of art and culture. Founded in 1753, it is also one of the world’s oldest museums, with its contents catalogue covering over 2 million years of the world history and culture. In 1759 it opened its doors to the public.

The Museum is situated in London, Bloomsbury District. It comprises the National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography and the National Library. The Museum owes its origin to Sir Hans Sloane, a native of Ireland, who practiced as a physician. All his life Sloane was a collector.

In the first place, it is a great library, one of the largest in the world, with several million books. By the UK law, a copy of every book, pamphlet, periodical, including maps and music, published in Britain must be kept at the British Museum. It is known that many outstanding people from all over the world spent a great deal of time in the Museum’s famous Circular Reading Room.

Secondly, it is a great scientific institution, generally known as the Natural History Museum.

Lastly, the British Museum has a wonderful art gallery. It has unique collections of sculpture, ceramics, drawings and paintings of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Japanese, Indians and many other peoples. It also has unique collections of the Italian drawings, English and French prints.

The British Museum, with its unique prehistoric collections, is the most important place of archaeological study in the world. Having got the largest collections of unrivalled treasures, it is also one of the world’s most comprehensive records of man’s achievements from the prehistoric to modern times.

3. Определите, какое утверждение соответствует содержанию текста:

1. The British Museum is a library and a scientific institution.

2. The British Museum is a library and an art gallery.

3. The British Museum is a library, a scientific institution and an art gallery.

4. The British Museum is an art gallery, a scientific institution and a cinema.

Завершите утверждение согласно содержанию текста.

There was…

1. poor pictorial art in England.

2. a raise in pictorial art in England in the 19^th century.

3. a raise in pictorial art in England during and after Tudor epoch.

4. a rich and famous pictorial tradition in England before the Tudor epoch.

Ответьте на вопрос: What can you say about the history of arts in England?

1. England has a rich and long tradition in all kinds of arts, beginning from the Tudor epoch.

2. Cultural life in England wasn’t very rich.

3. All kinds of art were developing equally.

4. England has a rich and long tradition in literature and drama, but painting began to develop only from the Tudor epoch.

Определите основную идею текста

1. William Shakespeare was a great playwright.

2. England has rich and varied cultural life.

3. There were many talented people in England.

4. British Museum covers over 2 million years of the world history and culture.

4. Выпишите новые слова из текста (не более 15). Найдите в словаре их произношение и перевод.

III

1. Письменно переведите текст на русский язык.