In 1780 he was elected an
Associate; in the following year he obtained the full honours of
academicianship. His easel-pictures were for the most part landscapes,
effective and forcible after an unconventional fashion, and wholly at
variance with the "classically-composed" landscapes then in vogue.
Turner, when, in 1808, he was appointed Professor of Perspective to
the Royal Academy, is said to have taken up his abode at Hammersmith,
in order that he might be near De Loutherbourg, for whose works he
professed cordial admiration. The old scene-painter's bold and strong
effects, his daring treatment of light and shade, his system of
colour, bright even to gaudiness, probably arrested the attention of
the younger artist, and were to him exciting influences. Upon De
Loutherbourg's landscapes, however, little store is now placed; but as
a scene-painter he deserves to be remembered for the ingenious reforms
he introduced. He found the scene a mere "flat" of strained canvas
extending over the whole stage. He was the first to use "set scenes"
and "raking pieces." He also invented transparent scenes with
representations of moonlight, sunshine, firelight, volcanoes, &c.
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