For this week's reading series, we will read a chapter on, "The Importance of Landscape—British Painting in the Early Nineteenth Century." During the late 18th century and the early 19th century, travel to the European continent was made risky by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, and industrialization consumed swaths of the natural environment, leading the British to develop an affinity for their own countryside. "Sketching clubs" and "watercolor societies" became popular, as well as the genre of landscape. This week's reading highlights J. M. W. Turner's ambition of raising the genre of landscape to history painting by using allegory and oils. There is also a supplementary text on the frequently-made comparison between J. M. W. Turner and John Constable.