Artist and Empire: Facing Britain’s Imperial Past

Interesting exhibition at Tate Britain exploring how Empire shaped practices and themes in British art.

This sounds a rather dry theme but it was an interesting way of relooking at the idea of Empire and it set up a dialogue between the effects on British artists and in the colonies themselves. It was also an opportunity to see a number of works which aren’t seen so often due to their old fashioned themes.

I thought it was a great idea to start with a room of maps which talked about the need for good maps of any land that was conquered but also how maps could be used as propaganda. I loved the triple portrait of Sir Francis Drake, Thomas Cavendish and John Hawkins, there of the great Elizabethan explorers. Also the reminder that Ireland was one of the earlier English colonies.

I loved the room of history pictures with the predictable pictures of the deaths of General Woolf and General Gordon, classic British history pictures. However these we set off with a contemporary installation by Andrew Gilbert of “British Infantry Advance in Jerusalem 4 July 1879” consisting of life sized figures striding across the gallery.

I liked the fact the exhibition showed glimpses of fascinating lives that you wanted to know more about such as Princess Gouramma of Coorg who Queen Victoria took under her wing and Olivia Frances Tonge, a Victorian lady who went to India and produced beautiful watercolours of plants and animals.

Closes on 10 April 2016.

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