"Conversations on the Arts" and news from my Regency world

 It is so long since I have posted here, I cannot quite believe it. We have had illness in our family (on the way to resolution) and I am on a surgeon's list for knee replacement, so things have not been static. 

Also, during the seven months since my last blog, I have been writing another book. "The Tower's Peculiar Visitor", the third book in my Red Tower series, will be released in November of this year. Watch this space for further details soon.

And just a notice that my website is undergoing an overhaul soon, and will probably be unavailable for a month or two. The address will remain the same, but it will have a bright new look. I have been transferring a great deal of the information from the website to my Pinterest boards so for Regency information, do consult there.

Now for a Regency moment--

In Ackermann's Repository of the Arts of August 1812, in the 'Conversations on the Arts' column, the work of one Samuel Collings is discussed. He is described as a poet, "residing opposite to the Asylum, near Lambeth-Marsh Gate". It is said "...his compositions are under several of Bartolozzi's prints; also under prints from Reynolds." In fact, there was a Samuel Collings  who was an artist and caricaturist, a friend of Rowlandson, who was active in the 1780's and '90's. He dabbled in poetry, but his art is much better than his verse.

 THE MONTHS by Samuel Collings circa 1790

January

Lo, my fair, the morning hazy

Peeps abroad from yonder hill;

Phoeus rises red and hazy,

Frost has stopp'd the village mill. 

February

All around looks sad and dreary,

Fast the flaky snow descends;

Yet the red-breast chirrups cheery,

While the mitten'd lass attends.

March

Rise the winds and rocks the cottage,

Thaws the roof and wets the path;

Dorcas cooks the sav'ry pottage,

Smokes the cake upon the hearth.

April

Sunshine intermits with ardour,

Shades fly swiftly o'er the fields,

Show'rs revive the drooping verdue,

Sweets the sunny upland yields.

May

 

Pearly beams the eye of morning; 

Child! forbear the deed unblest;

Hawthorn ev'ry hedge adorning,

Pluck the flow'rs, but spare the nest.

 

June

 

Schoolboys in the brook disporting,

Spend the sultry hours of play;

While the nymphs and swaints are courting,

Seated on the new-made hay.

 

July

 

Maids, with each a guardian lover,

While the vivid lightning flies,

Hast'ning to the nearest cover,

Clasp their hands before their eyes.

Personally I think Mr. Collings should have restricted himself to art; his poetry was trite and pedestrian. His art however was very good and, overshadowed by the great talents of his era, he did not get the credit he deserved.

A good place to look at his art is the Google Art Project.

 

Perhaps I will print the rest of his poem in my next post. I will certainly tell you more about my new book, and reveal the beautiful cover. 

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Mr. Fawkes's New Gallery

In light of the recent movie about J. M. W. Turner, it seems appropriate to return to the great artist of the Regency. Indeed, the Regency would be greatly diminished had Turner not existed; its sensibility and style would be irrevocably altered.

But we approach Turner this time from the point of view of  one of his most ardent supporters, Walter Fawkes.

I can do no better than to quote Wikipedia for the basics of Fawke's biography:

Walter Ramsden Hawkesworth Fawkes (2 March 1769 – 24 October 1825) was a Yorkshire landowner, writer and Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire from 1806 to 1807.

Fawkes is be best remembered, however, as the intimate friend and one of the earliest patrons of J.M.W. Turner, the artist. Turner had a welcome and a home at Farnley Hall, Fawkes's Wharfedale residence, whenever he chose to go, and used to spend months at a time there. Mr. Ruskin has borne eloquent testimony to the influence of Fawkes, Farnley, and Wharfedale on the genius of Turner, and the Turner collection still existing at Farnley Hall contains about two hundred of the artist's choicest works.

JMW Turner and Walter Fawkes at Farnley Hall by John R Wildman

In 1819 Walter Fawkes decided to display his collection of Turner's work along with the paintings of other British artists. He set up a gallery in his home in Devonshire Place and Turner prepared a drawing of the room.

Every major magazine of the time reviewed the exhibition when it opened in the spring of 1819. And they were delighted.

From The New Monthly Magazine, June 1, 1819 

The Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres had a little trouble getting to the exhibit, and felt it important enough to catalogue their efforts:
 March 27, 1819

 April 24, 1819

 May 1, 1819

A year later The Repository of Arts reported again on the exhibit, but made no secret of its disappointment in the limited access available.
From Ackermann's Repository of Arts, June 1820

Given the criticism that Turner's work sometimes garnered, we are fortunate that far-sighted, intelligent people such as Walter Fawkes recognized greatness when they saw it.

Mr. Fawkes's Gallery must have been a wonderful thing to visit; a delight for a spring nearly two hundred years past.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Dottator et Lineator Loquitur

I just came across this most interesting illustration and poem in Ackermann's Repository of Arts for February 1817, and I just had to share it.

Click on the illustration to open a large version so that you can read the words under the charming stick figures.

The artist of the plate, and the composer of the accompanying poem are given no credit or identification. You must read the poem to make sense of the intention of the illustration.

This is what might be called, I think, a charming conceit, and I hope you enjoy it!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Ackermann's Repository of Arts 1817 available from archive.org

Caricatures – the tabloids of the Regency by Guest Blogger Barbara Monajem

Caricatures were extremely popular during the Regency era. Thousands were produced, ranging from mild criticism to biting satire, and included political, social, and personal commentary. They were printed from etchings or engravings and sold to whoever would pay for them.

Politicians and aristocrats were frequently lampooned. For example, there were caricatures of the Four-Horse Club’s meetings, of gaming clubs, of young bloods slumming it with low folk. There were caricatures showing similarities between great ladies and prostitutes. The Prince of Wales, both before and after becoming Prince Regent, was mocked so often that he had printers prosecuted for sedition or bribed them to suppress the prints. One of the first caricatures to mock rather than flatter the prince was “A Voluptuary under the Horrors of Digestion” by James Gillray. Its detail attacks his gluttony, drinking, gambling, sexual vices, laziness and indifference.

Frequently, the wealthy had standing orders with print shops for their caricatures. Alternatively, they would send servants to buy the latest prints. Some scandalous prints (such as one about the secret marriage of the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert) were so popular that the printer couldn’t produce them quickly enough. People who couldn’t afford to buy prints were able to view those on display in the print shop window. A crowd would gather, and those who were literate would read aloud whatever wording was on the prints.

Most of the caricaturists were from relatively poor backgrounds; some were educated, some not. They were considered disreputable, for they would generally (usually out of necessity) take whatever work offered. However, they quite rightly criticized the bad behavior of all levels of society.

One of the most famous, Thomas Rowlandson, had a certain amount of access to the rich and powerful, and was even commissioned by the Prince of Wales to produce prints attacking his political enemies. However, many of his prints were quite bawdy—too bawdy for a PG blog! I find his caricature of the bluestockings interesting because he shows the women no more mercy than he does men when portraying their drunken debauchery.  Rowlandson was usually good-humored in his mockery and even caricatured himself.

James Gillray, whose caricature of the Prince of Wales is mentioned above, was known for his bitter and often extremely graphic satire. He was talented and well-educated, but largely unsuccessful until taken under the wing of print seller Hannah Humphrey. His prints ridiculed anyone and everyone until he was bribed with a pension, after which his attacks on the Tories ceased. He was very prolific in his best years, but eventually died insane.

There is plenty of fodder for stories in the world of the caricaturists and the rich and famous people they lampooned. My July novella for Harlequin Undone, To Rescue or Ravish?, touches on this world, for the heroine faces being caricatured in a print shop window for all London to see. Looking at it from her point of view, it’s not much different from being in the tabloids of today!

~~

Barbara Monajem wrote her first story in third grade about apple tree gnomes. After dabbling in neighborhood musicals and teen melodrama, she published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young. Now her kids are adults, and she's writing historical romance for grownups. She lives in Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays.
Visit her at http://www.barbaramonajem.com

Beatrix March chose to be a governess rather than let an overbearing husband rule her. Although she never intends to marry, it doesn't mean she can't enjoy a man's...company — especially when tempted by notorious rake Simon Carling.
Little does she know that this rake is in the mood to wed...and when Simon wants something, he will go to outrageous lengths to get it!

"Antiquity" Smith

John Thomas "Antiquity" Smith loved London, and he lived there all his life. He was born in a hackney in 1766, and died in the city in 1833.

J. M. W. Turner by Smith

By profession he was an artist and an engraver, who trained with Nollekens (his father's employer), J. K. Sherwin, and at the Royal Academy, where his pen and ink work were much admired.

He worked for several years as a drawing master, but eventually his love of London and its history, caused him to draw and engrave its sights and vanishing scenes, and publish them. His most-remembered books all celebrated the city.

"Antiquities of London and its Environs" began publication in 1791. "Antiquities of Westminster" followed in 1807, and "Ancient Topography of London" in 1815. The antiquities he recorded in the Westminster book were literally destroyed shortly after he had sketched them. We know of those items only through his work.

In 1816, he was appointed Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, a position he held for many years. It allowed him time and opportunity to pursue his art and continue with his publications.

A blind beggar by Smith

In 1817, Smith published “Vagabondiana; or, Anecdotes of Mendicant Wanderers through the Streets of London; with Portraits of the most remarkable, drawn from the life;”. It was this work rather than his more famous "Cries of London" which caused me to become aware of Mr. Smith. I read of "Vagabondiana" and thought it sounded fascinating, but to date, I have been unable to view the book. My usual sources such as Google Books do not have it, and though it is available for purchase, it costs $2000! An excellent blog titled Spitalfields Life seems to have access to a copy, however, and so if you visit here, you can see many of the illustrations from the book.

Smith's best known publication today is his "Cries of London", showing the street sellers of the city, and their recording their famous 'cries'. It was published, in 1839, after Smith's death, and is essentially a sequel to "Vagabondiana".

John Thomas 'Antiquity' Smith

'Antiquity' Smith married Anne Marie Pickett at age 22 and left her a widow forty-five years later. They had three children, two daughters and a son. Mr. Smith was remembered as a kindly, supportive man. He aided young artists who asked his advice, praising, and criticizing, with honest tact. He wrote of himself:

“I can boast of seven events, some of which great men would be proud of. I received a kiss when a boy from the beautiful Mrs. Robinson,—was patted on the head by Dr. Johnson,—have frequently held Sir Joshua Reynolds’s spectacles,—partook of a pot of porter with an elephant,—saved Lady Hamilton from falling when the melancholy news arrived of Lord Nelson’s death,—three times conversed with King George the Third,—and was shut up in a room with Mr. Kean’s lion.” 

What more could one ask of a Regency/Georgian life?
~~

Next week, guest blogger and award-winning Regency romance author Barbara Monajem will be visiting to discuss the Caricature in the Regency. I hope you can join us.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

A Vision of the Regency -- artist Frederic Soulacroix

I have just discovered an artist new to me! His name is Frederic Soulacroix. He was born to the wife of well-known painter and sculptor Charles Soulacroix in Rome in 1858. He passed most of his life in Italy and France and he lived a long life, passing away in 1933. Frederic studied in Italy, and achieved great popularity, selling to private customers from all over the world.

On my website, I have a section devoted to Modern Illustrators of the Regency Period. I have included Barbosa, Brock, Thomson, Greenaway, John Goodall and Joan Hassell among the artists with their own unique vision of the Regency period. I have not yet included E. B. Leighton; Vic at Jane Austen's World has a very good post about his work (which, I must confess, I adore).

To these artists, I can now add Frederic Soulacroix. His work is definitely Victorian in flavour, and reminiscent of Leighton and particularly Alma-Tadema. But the fashions are Regency (or perhaps, in his case, Empire), and the colours are luminous. The paintings are saccharine sweet, and chocolate- box pretty and, I think, utterly charming.

The room shows definite Victorian influence but this is "The Afternoon Visitor"

The Recital

Flirtation

 

In the Garden

Embrace

 

Tea on the Terrace

I could go on and on posting Soulacroix's work, but if you Google his name under the Image search you will find all his paintings. And Wikimedia Commons has the above copyright free images for download. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Next week, Regency author Heidi Ashworth will be visiting to discuss the Prince Regent, later George IV. Heidi wrote her first Regency novel at age ten, and in her twenties' wrote several more. After several years devoted to other roles, she returned to writing, submitted Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind to Avalon Books and sold it. Shortly thereafter, she started a blog and a website which you can visit at http://www.heidiashworth.com and http://www.heidiashworth.blogspot.com/!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

The Sea and the Sky--Artist Robert Salmon

I know little of the ocean. I am a prairie person born and bred. Though I have seen both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, I have not lived near either. I cannot know the profound effect that the sea, and the nautical life it engenders, can have on a society or on an individual. It is a great drawback for a writer of books set in England, where the ocean has informed all the country's history.

East Indiaman 'Warley' by Robert Salmon 1804

I am aided in my understanding of the sea by marine artists. And I just discovered Robert Salmon 1775-1845. He was born in Whitehaven, Cumberland in 1775 of Scottish descent. His name originally was Salomon; he changed the spelling around 1800. He is an enigmatic figure--nothing is known of his artistic training, little is documented of his personal life. Even his date of death is uncertain.

View of Liverpool from Cheshire

Salmon displayed occasionally at the Royal Academy in London from 1802 on. He settled in Liverpool in 1806 and lived there until 1811. A body of work from that period survives and is in the National Maritime Museum, London.

The first Mail Packet from Liverpool to Glasgow 1805

Old Bidston Lighthouse near Liverpool

In 1812 Salmon removed to Scotland and lived in Greenock until 1822. A great number of paintings survive from those years. I am particularly drawn to the skies in his work--I think they show him influenced by Turner, though his style is thought to be guided by 17th century Dutch marine painters. Look at the skies in these paintings:

Curious Rocks on the Coast of Scotland

Moonlight Coastal Scene

View of Greenock 1816

Salmon returned to Liverpool in 1822 where he worked until 1825.

An armed merchant vessel passing the Custom House, Greenock on the Clyde

Neward Castle with a distant View of Port Glasgow

In 1828, Robert Salmon emigrated to America.

Land's End, Cornwall

He became one of the greatest marine artists in that country. Salmon influenced a whole new generation of artists in America, and produced an immense body of work. I have not ventured to even sample it here. He is considered 'the father of American luminism' and painted 300-400 paintings of Boston Harbour alone, working in a studio--some called it a hut--right on the wharves.

Robert Salmon left America in 1842 for Europe. A few works of Italian scenes have been discovered, but it is unknown if he returned to England. The date of his last known work is 1845. His death is thought to have occurred shortly after, but where and when is not clear. He was a solitary man to the end, but he left a great legacy. And I am grateful to have his work to educate me about the sea and its ways.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

The Summer Art Exhibitions of 1811from The Literary Panorama & Annual Register

In July of 1811, as during the other summers of the Regency, was notable for art exhibitions. The Royal Academy, the British Institution, the Society of Painters in Water Colours, and the Associated Painters in Water Colours all held their individual shows. And the critics were out in force.

Posterity and the intervening two hundred years have determined which of the painters of the Regency are now considered great artists. But the opinions of the time are fascinating, and no less pointed than are today's critical remarks.

The Summer View - Royal Academy - 1800

The Royal Academy's exhibition is notable, according to The Literary Panorama, for having removed 'for sale' notations from the catalogue of the exhibit. It is feared the artists will suffer because of it. Chief among the artists discussed by The Literary Panorama is Benajamin West. He exhibited at least four pictures in the exhibition, and was too well known and admired to be seriously criticized. Nevertheless the reviewer does comment acidly:

- on West's Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple "Why must he [West] adopt the nonsensical, traditionary colours of Christ's dress; always red and blue?"

- on West's Death of Lord Nelson "We should also have recommended a more careful portrait of his Lordship's person. He will now be thought by posterity a taller man than he really was."

Benjamin West 'Death of Lord Nelson'

Of another famous artist, the reviewer tartly states "Mr. Fuseli continues to amuse himself with Ghosts and Spectres."

Henry Fuseli - Allegory of Vanity

Of the landscapes exhibited, the writers comments "...they may be very correct as to resemblance; but not all of them are excellent as pictures." The Portraits he dismisses with "...we have seen a better shew[sic] of heads..."

The British Institution 

The critic views the exhibition at the British Institution more favourably, and he wonders if the pictures are more select because of the absence of portraits. Nevertheless, his comments are stringent.

- "Hilton's Entombing of Christ, has the fault of resembling the compositions of the old Italian masters: his Christ also, is rather fifty than thirty years of age..."

- "Hall's Haemon and Antigone, is a good attempt...but why dabble the lights about, like scattered grapes..."

The Society of Painters in Water Colours held their exhibition at Spring Gardens in 1811, and our critic was there also. He says "we passed our time so pleasant in this assemblage, as to forget the hour of the day and the calls of appetite". Nevertheless he is trenchant when necessary:

- "Mr. Heaphy might chuse[sic]better subjects."

Left is Lord Palmerston (1802) by Thomas Heaphy
One of his better subjects?

The Associated Painters in Water Colours exhibited in Bond Street that year, and though our critic enjoyed the landscapes presented, he was less than complimentary about the other works presented.

"If any proof were necessary of the difficulty of managing figures, especially naked, and classical or poetical figures, in water colours, we should appeal to the judgment of any practised eye on performances in this exhibition..."

The art critic from The Literary Panorama had, it seems, a wonderful July in 1811. He left a fascinating legacy in his column in the journal; I wish we knew his name...

Next week, Diane Farr will be visiting to talk about her walk through Mayfair, and her love of Regency London. Diane is an award-winning author of traditional Regency romances and Regency-set historicals. You can join her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dianefarrpage or follow her on Twitter at @DianeFarr.


'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Do you know these names?John Heaviside Clark and George Richmond

I didn't know those names. But I happened upon them both in the past month, and they are both artists. Both lived on into the Victorian era but John Clark was prolific during the Regency and George Richmond's artistic sensibility was certainly informed by his youth during the Regency's heady days.

John Heaviside Clark was born about 1771 in Scotland. He was primarily a painter of seascapes, but landscapes also figured large in his portfolio. I encountered him while writing my blog about the aftermath of the Peace Celebrations in London--he painted the picture of the Chinese Pagoda in Green Park which I reproduced in that blog post. I find his other landscapes equally charming; here is his vision of Fountains Abbey:

I can find little information on Mr. Clark, but he did exhibit at the Royal Academy from 1801 to 1832. He must have travelled widely (or he had a very lively imagination) for his works depict whale hunting, the aboriginals of Australia, Egyptian subjects, and North American scenes.

Clark was an experienced aquatint artist and engraver, and he published at least two books on art which are available at Google Books. He was possibly best known, however, for his work on the Napoleonic Wars. In fact, he was nicknamed 'Waterloo' Clark because he sketched on the battlefield following the action. He also painted such wartime views as "The Allies before Dantzic in Winter" and "French Troops Retreating Through and Plundering a Village".

I cannot reproduce as much of his work as I would like, as it seems to be under license to innumerable art reproduction companies, but it may be viewed here and here. A search of his name in Google Books brings up some downloadable books for which he produced at least some of the illustrations.

George Richmond is another matter entirely. How could I not know his name? I recognized some of his pictures immediately. His self-portraits alone are fascinating; this one left from 1830 is utterly charming.

Technically, I suppose Richmond was more Victorian than Regency, but he was born in 1809. He remembered seeing the Lifeguards return from the Battle of Waterloo, and he became a student at the Royal Academy in 1824. He lived a very long life, dying in 1896, so he spanned most of the century, and lived a full, if challenging, life. How could I not know his name?

In his early years he was a friend of, and was influenced in his art, by William Blake. One look at his "Samson slaying the Philistines..." right shows Blake's influence.

But he was equally at home with landscapes. I do think this one--"Wooded Landscape with a Cottage"--is particularly nice.

In 1830 he married and then determined on portraiture as the best means of earning a living. And he painted every notable in Great Britain, it seems. Here are a few:

Charlotte Bronte

William Wilberforce

Elizabeth Gaskell

And the particularly delightful,
"Swinburne and His Sisters"

These portraits are why I should have known George Richmond. I recognized them, and yet I had never before heard his name. How could I have missed him? I have (informally) studied Victoriana. He was a pre-eminent Victorian, member of every society and club of importance, honoured by his peers, recognized by his country. He had ten children and forty grandchildren. He was a pillar of virtue, and apparently a charming and kindly man. Thank goodness I found out about him! Better late than never...

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne