Georgians Revealed; Life, Style and the Making of Modern Britain

Tom and Jerry at the Exhibition of Pictures at the Royal Aacademy by Isaac Robert and George Cruikshank, 1821

Given how long exhibitions of this calibre take to organise- it contains over 200 original objects and paintings- it probably is coincidence that an exhibition of the last Georgian Age has coincided very nicely with the dawn of the next. I am talking of course about the birth of Prince George Alexander Louis Cambridge. It's very interesting to note that the cult of celebrity, interest in media coverage of events, need for spectacle and the desire to be oh-so-middle-England, all traits in the British public that were really made obvious by the event of Prince George's birth, were common in the British public of the first Georgian era.

This exhibition showcases the middle-class lifestyle in all of its elegant and sumptuous glory. Once you have walked through the first gallery that outlines the main social and political events of the era and, of course, introduces the four Georges and their wives, you are rewarded for hard work, as you should be, with a nice cup of tea!

In was in the Georgian period that serving this Eastern delight really became a fashionable affair. it wasn't as simple ass popping the kettle on, however. The Georgians even had a guide for polite conversation which should accompany the tea.

Once tea is over, every other aspect of Georgian day-to-day life and special events is covered. Robert Adam, the architects work is discussed, beautiful herbals illustrating botanical discoveries of the day are exhibited and the latest fashions are shown. Entertainment was a huge part of the Georgians' social life, demonstrated by circus posters, advertisements for balls and dances and the opening of Vauxhall and Kennington Pleasure Gardens. This inspired the cult of celebrity, with icons such as Grimaldi the Clown and actress Sarah Siddons. This lifestyle was captured by satirical artists of the day such as Cruicshanks and Hogarth, a wealth of their engraving work hangs in the exhibition.

The exhibition is so full of interesting artefacts which are beautifully exhibited. You simply don't get bored of looking and learning. The real treat is right at the end of the exhibition when you descend into Georgian London, by way of a huge map that covers the floor. Each area of the city is explained in its historical context, allowing you to really step back in time. A must see exhibition. 

Georgians Revealed at the British Library until 11th March 2014

TEN MINUTE TALK: Joseph Wright 'of Derby'

The title of this painting is purely descriptive and the artist has made no attempt to conceal the subject from us. As we look at the painting, the experiement in question dominates the picture space, it is right in the centre of the composition with both the bird and the air pump being immediately obvious. We can also see a group of people engaged in various ways with each other and the experiment they are watching. It is also immediately obvious that it is night time as we look into this scene; the moon is shining brightly into the candlelit room.

The airpump was invented in the 1650s by a German scientist named Otto von Guerick. It was an expensive piece of apparatus that would pump air out of whichever sealed chamber it was connected to, producing a vacuum. Due to its cost, the air pump was not readily available. The Irish Scientist Robert Boyle was very interested in experimenting with it and since he was the son of the Earl of Cork, the cost of the air pump was no obstruction to him. He experimented widely with the pump and in 1660, 9 years after he had established the Royal Society with 11 others, he published New Experiments, a volume detailing 43 experiments on the effects of different air pressure on various phenomena such as combustion, magnetism and even living creatures.

About a hundred years after Boyle’s experiments, when Joseph Wright painted this picture, air pumps were readily available and lectures and scientists would use them in public demonstrations, at fairs and in town halls and even, as Wright shows us in his painting, for middle class private audiences in their own home.

The experiment with the bird in the air pump was often the centrepiece for such shows, but was horrific to watch. Boyles book details the experiment and describes the bird’s slow suffocation as similar to watching poultry have its neck wrung.

This questions the importance of scientific discovery over the sanctity of life. Should the bird die so that people can learn about air pressure? Wright cleverly uses the audience of the experiment to raise society’s anxieties at the time over the impact of science.

The age of enlightenment, or the long 18th-century as it is sometimes known- refers to the period of rational and more secular thinking, teamed with scientific discover that occurred throughout the 1700s. Philosophers such as Locke would not accept any truths other than those which could be empirically proven to be true. He relied on what could be touched and seen. Scientists such as Isaac Newton were working to create theories that could be tested using science. People were worried about the impact of this on their lives and also on religion. Wright paints the young girls looking anxious for the bird, whilst the gentleman in the foreground comtemplate the outcome of the experiment. One can be seen timing how long it will take for the bird to die.

Wright has picked a crucial moment in the experiment. If it continues the girls’ fears will be realised and the bird will die, but if the experiment ends, then the bird will live. Write heightens the drama by giving the audience no real clue as to which outcome to expect. The bird pictured is a rare and expensive cockatoo. Usually a sparrow would have been used for such an experiment, so that maybe hints at the bird’s survival. However, we can also see the boy on the far right holding a pulley rope. It is impossible to tell whether this lowers the cage for the bird to be returned to it, or shuts the curtains on nature; blocking the natural light of the moon, leaving only illumination by science and a dead bird!

Some scholars have also hinted that this bowl of liquid holding a skull, through which the solitary candle can just be seen, acts as a vanitas, a technique of using objects which hint at the inevitability of death. Others have drawn attention to the image of the holy trinity in the painting made by the father character, the scientist and the bird. It is similar in composition to a holy trinity with Christ as the caring figure, tending to humans, the dove as the holy spirit and God the father, looking out at us and pointing to heaven.

In his looking out the figure of the scientist invites us in to the painting. Should the bird live or not, he appears to ask us. Testing on animals for scientific gain still causes contention between various religious, animal rights and scientific groups today.

Some art historians are less interested in the socio-political readings of the painting and focus on Wright’s technique. The dramatic subject lends itself well to the dramatic light in which Wright has made this painting. The stark contrast between light and dark, known in art historical terms as ‘chiaroscuro’ gives a definite realism to the painting. If we compare it to the Gainsborough just next to it, we can see how the painting is brought to life by the sharp contrasts in light and shadow.

I personally think that the fact Wright quite literally used science to enlighten the audience shows us that this painting does reflect the interest in science at the time it was painted.

Wright is referred to as Joseph Wright of Derby quite simply because that was the part of England he was from. He also studied in London, became an associate of the Royal Academy and painted portraits and landscapes in Liverpool and Italy. He had famous patrons such as Richard Arkwright and Josiah Wedgewood, showing him to be a thoroughly modern man. He was also famous for painting conversation pieces, popular in the 18th century with the middle classes, these paintings were portraits of recognisable people in real settings. Although Wright never claimed this painting was a conversation piece nor identified any of the characters in it, if you go through those doors into room 35 and turn left you will see a portrait of Wright’s friends Mr and Mrs Thomas Coltman who I think look suspiciously like the young couple here, who are a lot more interested in  each other than this experiment.

Eric Knowles and William Moorcroft; "I'm a potaholic!"

"I'm a pottaholic!" Exclaimed Eric Knowles, off of the Antiques Roadshow, at a conference in New York when introducing the History if Moorcroft Potters. It was with anecdote he began his talk last night at the De Morgan centre. Moorcroft established himself as a potter in Stoke -on-Trent a hundred years ago, following the success of his designs in the 1897 studio of James McIntyre. The Moorcroft reputation was fiercely and quite suddenly elevated to speciality status through a contract with Libery in the early 1900s. 

William Moorcroft, who started the firm, was a contempory of Morris an his circle and would have undoubtedly been influenced my De Morgan; another key figure in ceramics and art pottery of the time. The company is still alive and flourishing today. Much because of the influence of the still alive and flourishing Eric Knowles.

Elizabeth I & Her People

Elizabeth I's reign is defined by the lives of those she reigned over. During her time cities boomed, the economy flourished and the world became that little bit less daunting thanks to successful exploration and trade.

This exhibition at the portrait gallery aims to convey the impact and success of the Queen, based on the people responsible for these endeavours. At first, it seems promising. We encounter hand-tinted maps and plans of London and grand portraits depicting the Queen's coronation. The curators even point out those people in the crowd who were responsible for her success as a monarch.

As we move forward, we are treated to a room dedicated to the image of Queen and how her people grew to recognise her. There is a lovely display of otherwise seldom seen portraits, a divine Frederick Zuccaro sketch and a selection of coins. This draws upon the relationship of the people to the Queen. The real focus of the exhibition- how those close to the Queen rose in power- is best demonstrated with portraits and artefacts in the third room. Elizabeth Talbot, Bess of Hardwick, William Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh and the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk are all displayed, telling the story of how either charming or impressing the Queen could lead to vastly improved social standing.

After this, the exhibition goes downhill. The organisers have hereafter attempted to show the lives of the ordinary and how they were lived throughout Elizabeth's reign. Too much information, with not enough space or material to back it up, is added on to the end of the modestly sized exhibition almost as an after thought. You feel as though they should have stuck to telling us about the rich and powerful, which would have been interesting in itself. The rushed ending leads to huge oversights, such as William Tyndale, champion of the bible of the people, who gave the word of God to the Elizabethans, being omitted.

Despite this, the portraits are truly charming and give a real feel for the age. In particular the portrait of three Elizabethan children with their exotic pets, shows off beautifully the fashion for Dutch paintings and the impact of trade, as the children clutch their furry and feathered friends!

Wimbledon

A brilliant two weeks of tennis fever struck hard this summer. I had a particularly great time venturing out to Wimbledon and watching some tennis there.

At midnight struck, Pix and I weren't going to bed like the rest of the country, we were in Gizel Kebab buying what unfortunately turned out to be sauce in a pitta. We manned up and ate it anyway, knowing we'd need our strength for the evening ahead. Some packing, a bus and a cab (because we were lost) later, we arrived, unscathed to what is, without exception, the most British thing I've ever participated in: The Wimbledon Queue. Now everyone knows queuing is quintessentially British, but the Wimbledon queue is on another level. As we entered the the queuing campsite- a large field- we were met by two jovial security guards who explained the rules of the queue and showed us where to pitch our tent. Yep, a queue so long and regimented it has staff and toilet facilities. Some people had been there for three days!

Anyway the whole thing was actually quite enjoyable and we even got interviewed by the BBC and managed to watch the Murray match in the sun on Murray mound.

Our keen supporting led us to invent the excellent game of drink tennis with some electrical tape, pack of cards, a grass green rug and lots of cider! Ahhh British summer time!

TEN MINUTE TALK: Cuyp

Not a particularly inspired title for such a uniquely glorious painting. There's little more appealing than standing before this masterpiece at the National Gallery and being plunged into the honeyed glow of late afternoon light and enjoying the peace of the rural idyll.

Painted in the late 1650's by the master of landscape in the Italiante Style of Dutch Golden Age painting, Aelbert Cuyp. Cuyp lived and practiced exclusively in Dordrecht in the new Dutch Rebpulic, established in 1581 amidst the 80 years war. 

Prior to this the Netherlands, literally meaning low lying countries, were under the strictly Catholic rule of Charles V of Spain. Becoming restless with Spanish rule, war broke out between those seeking Dutch independence and the Spanish in 1568. At this time, 17 provinces made up the Netherlands. The first two to be captured by the seafaring Guezen leading the rebellion were Holland and Zeeland. The countries rapidly converted to Calvinism, a branch of Protestantism that teaches truth from the word of the Bible. Thanks to advances in printing technology and the Protestant reformation, ripple could easily access printed Bibles and read for themselves the truth. Churches did away with gilt alter pieces and gaudy church interiors to provide vast, stark interiors for congregations to read and worship.

The desire for independence grew and in 1579 the Union of Utrecht was signed: seven provinces in the north were united by the word, the word they would fight for their cause and the word of God under new rule and new religion.

In 1581 the Dutch Republic was fully established, with independence fully granted by the Spanish in 1648 under Philip III of Spain.

The new Dutch Republic boomed. The Golden Age of the 17th century is a name well deserved, whilst their churches may have done away with all that glittered, trade, the military, seafaring, science, literature and art were indeed, golden. In 1602 the Dutch East India Company was established which quickly became the world first global company. People were out-posted to India and Indonesia to establish trade there. The country was trading goods, art, spices and textiles with the east and was very profitable, making it one if the richest countries in the world at this time.

This is the world that in 1620 Cuyp was born in to: fiercely independent, devoutly Calvinistic and horribly self-assured. For the painter, new opportunities were abundant. With the Church no longer acting as patron, it was the new merchant, aristocratic middle classes who wanted paintings; paintings of their wonderful, successful everyday life.

Cuyp's father Jacob Gerritz, was a portraitist and his work reflects the patrons one could expect working as an artist. Although Aelbert Cuyp is best know for landscapes, his interest in portraying human life probably comes from his father. In River Landscape with Horsemen and Peasants, for example, although it is clearly a landscape, the foreground is rich in details of 17th century Dutch life: the social types of aristocratic horseman and shepherd; the breeds of cow one can trade in; the joy of the hunt and hunting game and being out of doors enjoying the day.

Cuyp's most influential acquaintance was undoubtedly Jan Both. Whilst Cuyp never travelled to Italy, he carefully studied the worth of Both who had worked in Rome under Claude. Cuyp's depiction of the Italianate landscape comes from his careful observation of Both's work. For his distinct use of light, he is vicariously indebted to Claude through Both's paintings. River Landscape is typical of this style that Cuyp adopted. The scene is certainly fictional; the low lying Netherlands he saw simply do not have mountain ranges. The way the light is painted makes the painting radiate the amber heat Cuyp has captured. His minutely accurate and expertly executed brushwork on the bracken in the foreground ensures the light source illuminates the whole picture. This also cleverly pushes the mountain village into the far distance, allowing him to achieve an exciting level of depth in the painting.

In 1658 Cuyp married a wealthy Dordrecht widow and strict Calvinist, Cornelian Bosman. Shortly after their marriage Cuyp became a Deacon of the Reformed Church and the number of paintings he produced rapidly plunges after this date. River Landscape is one such painting from this period, where his patrons were almost certainly wealthy members of his congregation, buying for their large townhouses. Certainly the sheer size of this painting- the largest known of Cuyp's work- suggests that is the case.

The painting was the first of Cuyp's to be bought in England, by the 3rd Earl of Bute before being bought for the nation in 1989.

Leighton House

The Arab Hall at Leighton House

Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830- 96) was once of the most influential artist of the late Victorian Period. His work was patronised by Queen Victoria and still has huge influence today, hanging in Tate Britain and the National Gallery as well as a plethora of other important institutions. Such was his fame even in his own time that he was honoured with a burial at St Paul's Cathedral.

Amongst his close friends, he counted enigmatic artists of the day such as G. F. Watts, Millais, De Morgan and Rossetti. Whilst his fame and his privileged position in society undoubtedly helped him get ahead in the arts, he was a genuine man who worked hard for his own artistic merit; something recognised in 1878 when he became the President of the Royal Academy. Just before his death from heart failure in 1896, he was ennobled, becoming Frederic, Lord Leighton, Baron of Stretton. He is the only British artist to have been awarded this honour.

Leighton House, is set just outside the idyllic Holland Park in West London. This set a vogue after its 1866 construction for artists to design and build their own houses in their own, individual styles, around the area. Artists such as Val Prinsep, and G. F. Watts, the book printer Cockerill and architect Philip Webb all built houses in the area, becoming known as the Holland Park Circle. 

Walking to the house through Holland Park today is worth a visit in itself, in order to see this wonderful architecture and play a pretty decent game of spot the blue plaque!

Leighton House is a purpose-built studio house, with provision for living, domestic staff and a working art studio. Much of the house is preserved as it was in Leighton's day; original documents strewn across a writing desk and plaster casts of classical figures around the studio. In this sense in reeks of National Trust, who part own the house.

The collection of paintings is fabulous and it's a real treat to see these in their original environ. The real treat of the visit has to be Leighton's Arab Hall. Following his travels to Turkey, Egypt and Syria in the 1870s where he amassed an impressive collection of traditional tiles and ceramics, Leighton transformed part of the house into an Arabian Nights' dream. His friend, the celebrated ceramicist, William De Morgan, was entrusted with the design and construction of this, using Leighton's tiles. It is a unique experience to admire the tiles whilst tredding carefully to avoid falling into the water feature!

Visiting Leighton House