George IV: Art and Spectacle


Sumptuous exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery looking at the life and collecting of George IV.

The show started with some wonderful portraits of George’s siblings including some on copper by Peter Edward Stroehing. These were gentle, intimate pictures and made you want to go and look up what had happened to them all. There were also some wonderful cartoons of the time many of them collected by George himself.

In the large gallery there were recreated decorative scheme with over the top furniture and ceramics. These were show with some of the full length portraits from the Waterloo cycle celebrating the victorious generals and monarchs, these included a wonderful portrait of Pope Pious VII by Thomas Lawrence.

The third room looked in detail at Carlton House, given to George for his 21st birthday, which he renovated and filled with objects and paintings, many acquired in the aftermath of the French Revolution. It was all very ornate but it was fascinating to see which pictures had been added to the Royal Collection at this time. These included the wonderful Rembrandt of Agatha Bas as well as his “The Ship Builder and his Wife”. There was also Ruben’s St George in a landscape with Charles I as St George.

The best thing about the show was the revelations it threw up! There was a diadem made for George for his coronation which is the one worn by the Queen on stamps, George’s copy of Emma signed by Jane Austen, and this quirky picture of a fencing match held as Carlton House between the composer, Chevalier de Saint George and the cross dresser, Chevalier D’Eon.

Closes 3 May 2020

Reviews 
Times
Guardian
EveningStandard


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Image
Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket. I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped. The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site. It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread. I think my...
Read more

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B...
Read more

The Renaissance Nude

Image
Beautiful exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the nude in Renaissance art. The show was gently themed but mainly let the pictures speak for themselves. It began by looking at the subjects, both religious and secular, which include nude figures then examined techniques and models used in these works, finishing by looking at more personal pictures. This is a period I’ve studied a lot so there were a lot of old friends and it was quite fun predicting what might appear. There were a few surprises too such as the rather surprising drawing of the Ecstatic Christ. I liked the fact the show included lots of different art forms not just paintings including sculpture, etchings, drawings and illuminated manuscripts. There were some fascinating hangs to draw comparisons particularly two sets of pictures by Giovanni Bellini and Hand Memling from almost exactly the same date. These were shown back to back in a display cabinet down the middle of one room. My favourite work was ...
Read more