The Exhibition Age 1760–1815

Rev. Matthew William Peters, Lydia  c.1777

The explicit eroticism of this picture is unusual in 18th century British art. The semi-naked woman (identified as ‘Lydia’ in a print) gazes provocatively out at the viewer, one hand suggestively hidden. This subject proved popular, and Matthew William Peters painted several versions of it. He exhibited one of these at the Royal Academy in 1777, where it was met with as much amusement as outrage. One critic remarked, it ‘is a good picture, and makes every gentleman stand for some time’. After Peters was ordained as a priest, he reputedly expressed deep regret for painting such erotic subjects. Nonetheless, he was nicknamed the ‘reverend painter of Venuses’, jokingly associating his pictures of desirable women with the goddess of love and beauty.

Gallery label, October 2023

Henry Fuseli, Percival Delivering Belisane from the Enchantment of Urma  exhibited 1783

Conventionally, history paintings were based on a literary or historical source familiar to educated viewers. The artist’s role was to select from the story a crucially significant moment that would convey a sense of nobility and moral certainty.

The success of this strategy of course depended on the viewer knowing the story, and so knowing what would happen next. Fuseli, however, admitted that he invented the saga of Percival and Belisane shown here. His paintings tended to emphasis spectacle and sensation rather then the noble themes and moral lessons which Reynolds’s view of the ‘great style’ demanded.

Gallery label, September 2004

William Mulready, The Rattle  exhibited 1808

Mulready was the son of Irish immigrants. He began exhibiting in London in 1803, and specialised in scenes of everyday life.

This rare, early work shows a man offering a rattle to a small child; the man's face reflects the child's delight. Within a small space, Mulready constructs a complex composition of receding vistas. The view from the parlour hung with pictures to the workshop beyond, suggests different conditions of life and prosperity. The sober colouring and meticulous execution reflect Mulready's study of Dutch painting, especially the work of Pieter de Hooch.

Gallery label, September 2004

George Dawe, Naomi and her Daughters  exhibited 1804

Dawe’s painting was among the first he exhibited publicly after winning a gold medal for historical painting at the Royal Academy in 1803. Taken from the Old Testament Book of Ruth, Dawe shows the moment when Naomi, returning to Bethlehem, entreats her daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah to stay in their native city Moab and remarry after the death of her two sons, their husbands. Orpah reluctantly leaves, while Ruth vows to stay loyal to Naomi. While true to the sentiment of the original story, Dawe has dressed his protagonists in fashionable Regency white muslin.

Gallery label, February 2016

Henry Monro, The Disgrace of Wolsey  exhibited 1814

Thomas Wolsey (1473–1530) was an English archbishop, statesman and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a trusted advisor to King Henry VIII, who made him Lord Chancellor. In 1529, having failed to secure an annulment of Henry VIII’s first marriage, Wolsey was removed from government and arrested for treason. This painting won Monro a prize at the British Institution in 1813. The Institution was keen to promote historical painting by British artists. Monro died the following year, aged only 22.

Gallery label, July 2019

Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas  exhibited 1766

This picture shows the meeting of the Trojan prince Aeneas and the Carthaginian queen Dido, from Virgil’s epic poem, the Aeneid. Aeneas was shipwrecked near Carthage after the sack of Troy. The goddess Venus made Dido fall in love with him and helped him to hide in her citadel. He watches Dido welcome his fellow Trojans and when she asks to see their ‘king’ the mist clears and Aeneas reveals his identity. Dance-Holland made this picture while he was in Rome and sent it to London to be exhibited as a way to advertise his imminent return to Britain.

Gallery label, February 2016

Richard Cosway, Portrait of a Gentleman, his Wife and Sister, in the Character of Fortitude introducing Hope as the Companion to Distress (‘The Witts Family Group’)  1770

Although principally a portrait miniaturist (see cabinet 2: The Portrait Miniature in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries), Richard Cosway also produced some larger-scale works in oil. This allegorical portrait was painted following the death of a young London linen draper, Broome Witts, in 1769. Witts is shown here in the role of Fortitude, introducing his sister Sarah in the guise of Hope (left) to his wife Elizabeth, depicted as Distress. This memorial image was presumably commissioned by one or both of these ladies.

Gallery label, August 2004

Henry Walton, A Girl Buying a Ballad  exhibited 1778

The distant war for American independence (1775–1782) had an immense and divisive effect on London opinion, which was often very sympathetic to the American cause. There were, of course, many satirical prints, both for and against the Americans.

The war also occasionally had an indirect presence in paintings of contemporary life. The prints displayed by the ballad seller in Walton’s painting include a portrait of General Sir William Howe, commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. He had complained about government interference in the war and had resigned his commission.

Gallery label, September 2004

Richard Westall, The Reconciliation of Helen and Paris after his Defeat by Menelaus  exhibited 1805

In Greek legend, the beautiful Helen was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Her affair with the Trojan prince, Paris, led to the Trojan War.Westall painted this picture for Thomas Hope, a fabulously wealthy collector of the antique and of selected contemporary art. Hope’s taste ran from strict neo-classicism to Romantic exoticism. The rooms of his London house were furnished and decorated to reflect various regions of the ancient world – Egypt and India as well as Greece and Rome. Westall modelled the figure of Helen on a Greek statue in Hope’s collection.

Gallery label, May 2007

Thomas Gainsborough, Giovanna Baccelli  exhibited 1782

This portrait shows the famous Italian dancer Giovanna Zanerini, known on the stage as Baccelli, at the height of her career. Her elaborate costume seems to be adapted from the ballet Les Amants Surpris in which she had recently taken London by storm. Baccelli was the mistress of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset who commissioned the painting. The rapid brushwork, translucent paint and shimmering light effects are typical of Gainsborough’s style at this time. When the portrait was first exhibited, it was chiefly praised as an excellent likeness; ‘as the Original, light airy and elegant’.

Gallery label, February 2016

Francis Holman, A Dockyard at Wapping  c.1780–4

Little is known about the artist Francis Holman. He was a painter of seascapes, ship's portraits and dockyard scenes, such as this small private dockyard on the Thames at Wapping. It is recorded that at one time Holman lived at Wapping, so he would have been intimate with the area and well able to execute this topographically accurate scene. He depicts with care the busy action of the dock, with ships in dry dock, and men unloading cargo. Even the sailmaker's firm of Morley, which is inscribed on the sign on the building to the extreme left, is known to have existed, directories listing it in Wapping until 1784.

Gallery label, August 2004

John Opie, A School  1784

This was the painting that established Opie’s reputation in London. It created a sensation when it was shown at the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition in 1784 as ‘The School’. Opie’s handling of paint evoked the most highly-admired Old Masters, like Rembrandt and Caravaggio. What contemporary viewers found remarkable was the combination of realism and dramatic light and shade. This was wholly original, particularly in the context of such an ordinary scene. The school mistress is modelled on Opie’s own mother.

Gallery label, October 2019

Francis Cotes, Portrait of a Lady  1768

This elegant and ornamental portrait

is a fine example of Cotes's style, which emphasises fashion rather than character. The sitter, whose identity is uncertain, sits on a garden bench in an artificial yet striking pose. Her gown and its lace are arranged decoratively about her, the pink and white colouring echoed by the foxgloves behind her, and the roses on the left. The portrait was painted in 1768, the same year as the foundation of the Royal Academy. Cotes was one of its founder members, which his prominent signature on the tree trunk, 'F Cotes RA px', proudly announces.

Gallery label, February 2010

John Hoppner, Miss Harriet Cholmondeley  exhibited 1804

Angelica Kauffman, Portrait of a Lady  c.1775

The unknown woman in this portrait is seated in classical robes by a statue of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. The book upon the table and the writing materials in her hand suggest that she is a writer. Angelica Kauffmann’s interest in classical portraiture and history painting was nurtured during her time in Italy during the 1760s. Kauffmann, who was Swiss by birth, settled in England in 1766, remaining there until 1781, when she departed once more for Italy. In England Kauffmann specialised in decorative history painting and small scale portraits of female subjects, such as the one shown here.

Gallery label, February 2016

Sir Thomas Lawrence, Philadelphia Hannah, 1st Viscountess Cremorne  exhibited 1789

Lawrence was largely self-taught. He painted this portrait, his first full-length, at the age of nineteen. It put him on the map when the sitter introduced him to her friend, Queen Charlotte, who then commissioned her own portrait. Lawrence turned this into a virtuoso performance. He became the leading British portrait painter, and President of the Royal Academy. His fluent, expressive style and powerful characterisation were admired throughout Europe.The 1st Viscountess Cremorne was a granddaughter of William Penn, founder of Philadelphia. The wild background landscape must refer to Ireland, her husband’s home, if not to the American wilderness.

Gallery label, May 2007

Sir Joshua Reynolds, Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney: The Archers  1769

This portrait depicts two young aristocrats. Dressed in quasi-historical clothing invented by the artist, they are mimicking a medieval or Renaissance hunt; the dead game they leave in their trail underlining their noble blood and aristocratic right to hunt. This painting celebrates their friendship by linking it to an imaginary chivalric past, when young lords pursued ‘manly’ activities together against a backdrop of ancient forest. The subjects are shown in perfect harmony – at one with each other and joint masters over nature.

Gallery label, February 2016

William Parry, Portrait of John Parry Holding his Harp  1780–90

This portrait shows the celebrated Wesh musician John Parry, sensitively painted by his son William Parry. John Parry’s reputation as ‘the famous blind Harper’ is visualised here – he is shown with his eyes closed (as was conventional for blind sitters) and holding a Welsh triple harp. Rather than playing this instrument, John’s hands rest on top and he appears lost in thought. This may allude to his perception of the world through his other senses, like touch and sound. John’s deep contemplation also evokes the poetic, other-worldly nature of music, associating him with the popular, romantic image of the Welsh bard. This might be the portrait William Parry exhibited in 1787 as a posthumous tribute to his father.

Gallery label, October 2023

John Opie, Portrait of a Lady in the Character of Cressida  exhibited 1800

We do not know the identity of this woman, but she is probably a celebrity or actress who contemporary viewers would have recognised. Opie was working at a time when fame was becoming an increasingly important part of artistic success. This painting appeared at the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition in 1800. Artists jostled to grab public attention, painting more flamboyant and dramatic pictures. Opie depicts his sitter as the heroine of Shakespeare’s tragedy Troilus and Cressida.

Gallery label, October 2019

Sir Thomas Lawrence, Homer Reciting his Poems  1790

For most of his career, Lawrence featured in the Royal Academy exhibitions as a portrait painter. He became President of the Academy and, like his predecessor Joshua Reynolds, aspired to be a history painter. This early work was exhibited in 1791. It was painted for the connoisseur, Richard Payne Knight, and its subject and style were calculated to suit his classical taste. In a woodland glade, the Greek poet Homer is shown reciting his Iliad to an admiring audience. The nude youth in the foreground was drawn from a famous pugilist (professional boxer) named Jackson.

Gallery label, February 2016

Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Henry Bate-Dudley, Bart.  c.1780

The Reverend Henry Bate (1745–1824) who assumed the name Bate-Dudley in 1784, was a tough-minded journalist and newspaper editor, as well as an Anglican parson. He had famously got into a fight with some young men of fashion in Vauxhall Gardens, earning him the nickname ‘The Fighting Parson’. For this portrait, his friend Gainsborough has included an adoring dog and an outdoor setting to emphasise the idea that he was a nature-loving ‘man of feeling’. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780. As a journalist, Bate-Dudley did much to promote Gainsborough’s reputation through positive exhibition reviews.

Gallery label, February 2016

George Morland, Outside an Inn, Winter  c.1795

George Morland specialised in scenes of cottages and country inns. He was a great success in the 1790s. In contrast to the more simplistic and sentimental views of the nineteenth century, his work sometimes acknowledged the rougher side of country living, and even the distinctions of class and status which underpinned rural society.

Here, a gentleman traveller is leaving an inn, and is paying the landlady. The contrast between the well-fed pig and the gentleman’s pedigree spaniel emphasises the social division between the two figures.

Gallery label, February 2004

Gilbert Stuart, William Woollett the Engraver  exhibited 1783

William Woollett was one of the most celebrated engravers of his day. He is shown here about to start work on his engraving of Benjamin West’s painting The Death of General Wolfe. Part of the picture can be seen in the background on the left. Although not a true representation of how an engraver would work, this portrait does show Woollett holding the copper plate on which the painting was to be reproduced. In his right hand is a pointed steel burin, or graver. It was primarily through the distribution of engravings that the image of Wolfe achieved iconic status.

Gallery label, February 2016

George Dawe, Imogen Found in the Cave of Belarius  exhibited 1809

George Dawe depicts a scene from Shakespeare’s play Cymbeline. Imogen – the heroine and daughter of Cymbeline, the ancient king of Britain – escapes court and disguises herself as a young man. Here, Dawe shows the moment when the character Belarius (left) and Imogen’s two long-lost brothers (right) discover her in a cave. They believe she is dead, but she has actually just drunk a sleeping potion. Dawe mainly painted portraits, but here ventures into ‘history painting’ (images of biblical, mythological, literary or historical subjects). This was regarded as the highest genre of painting at the time and indicates Dawe’s ambitions as an artist. With its high-minded literary theme and dramatic lighting, this painting was meant to stand out when it was first exhibited at the British Institution in 1809.

Gallery label, October 2023

John Hill, Interior of the Carpenter’s Shop at Forty Hill, Enfield  ?exhibited 1813

John Hill shows the interior of a small joinery shop that likely belonged to him and his father Thomas. Various tools and stages of production are visible: an axe and saw for cutting the wood in the foreground, and a planer for shaping it in the background. The unglazed window in the far corner of the workshop is large enough for big pieces of wood to pass through. It also provides ventilation and light for the ‘master’ carpenter. He is distinguished from his assistants by his moleskin hat and dark jacket. John likely included himself in the picture, possibly as this master carpenter (although this figure might also be his father). John later described himself as an ‘entirely self-taught' painter. He exhibited this painting at the Royal Academy in 1813. Such representations of craftsmen at work are rare in British art of this period.

Gallery label, October 2023

Sir Joshua Reynolds, The Age of Innocence  ?1788

The identity of Joshua Reynolds’s young model is uncertain. It is perhaps Reynold’s great-niece Theophila Gwatkin, a Miss Anne Fletcher, or a Lady Anne Spencer (the youngest daughter of the 4th Duke of Marlborough). This painting is an example of a ‘fancy’ picture, a type of 18th century painting showing figures, particularly children, playing out various roles. It was painted over one of Reynolds’s existing paintings, titled A Strawberry Girl. He altered all elements of the girl’s figure except for her hands. The Age of Innocence was one of Reynolds’s most popular images – more than 323 full-scale copies were made of it between 1856 and 1893.

Gallery label, October 2023

John Hoppner, Mrs Williams  c.1790

Little is known about the woman in this painting. She is thought to have been the wife of a Captain Williams. John Hoppner portrays her in her youth, possibly before her marriage. Hoppner was a skilled colourist, demonstrated in Mrs William’s rosy cheeks and the blue trimmings of her bonnet and blouse. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780. While he was initially interested in landscape painting, Hoppner soon turned to portraiture which provided a steadier source of income. He achieved considerable success, receiving commissions from numerous aristocrats and members of the royal family.

Gallery label, October 2023

Sir Joshua Reynolds, Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen  1773

The aristocratic Montgomery sisters, Barbara, Elizabeth and Anne, are shown decorating a statue of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage and fertility, with flowers. They were often nicknamed ‘The Irish Graces’, referring to the Greek goddesses of beauty and the sisters’ childhood in Ireland. The women’s poses are more often associated with the Graces than portraits of aristocratic women. The painting was commissioned by Luke Gardiner, Elizabeth Montgomery’s fiancé. A letter written by Reynolds to Gardiner promised ‘it will be the best picture I ever painted.’

Gallery label, July 2019

Sir David Wilkie, The Blind Fiddler  1806

In this early work by Scottish-born David Wilkie an itinerant fiddler is playing for a humble country family. Wilkie focuses on the listeners’ different expressions. Only two people seem to respond to the music: the baby and the boy on the right, who is imitating the fiddler by playing the bellows. When this picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy some critics thought the bust on the shelf represented a dissenting minister, and concluded that the family were nonconformists. The power of music to stir the passions of those supposedly suspicious of pleasure was thought to add to the painting’s subtlety.

Gallery label, February 2016

George Stubbs, Horse Frightened by a Lion  ?exhibited 1763

The dramatic theme of a lion attacking a horse preoccupied Stubbs for over thirty years. This painting comes from a series of four episodes in a terrifying attack on a passive horse. This is the first stage, as the horse scents the lion emerging from its cave and rises up in fright. The setting for this violent encounter is the harsh, rocky landscape of Creswell Crags in the Peak District. The area was then an inaccessible, wild region that fascinated Stubbs. The scenery makes a suitably romantic background for the ‘sublime’ drama of the scene.

Gallery label, February 2016