The Georgians Part II

 In this second article about the Georgians, we will be looking at the landscapes that inspired both artists and gardeners. The Georgians collected and placed high value on art, not just landscapes but portraits too.

William Hogarth Self Portrait

 At the beginning of the Georgian Period, the style of art was classed as the age of “Scientific Reason” or better known as the age of “Enlightenment”. During the 1690s, London, became a magnet for people coming from the country and overseas. The first school of art was established by artist William Hogarth (right, self-portrait 1745), who captured the changes in London on canvas. Hogarth had established by 1735 the St Martin’s Lane Academy, which was the precursor to the Royal Academy of Arts. Other members included Hubert Gravelot, book illustrator; Francois Roubiliac, French sculptor; Richard Yeo, British coin and medal engraver; Isaac Ware, British architect and the young Thomas Gainsborough. The Academy also established a new style – Rococo, which lasted from the 1730s – 1760s.

    Thomas Gainsborough (left, self-portrait 1759) alongside his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds were considered two of the important British artists of the second half of the 18th century. Gainsborough’s works included both portraits and landscapes, including, Mr and Mrs Andrews, . The sitters, Mr and Mrs Andrews, were members of the landed gentry, and the landscape is that of Bulmer, Essex. Also, The Blue Boy, . The style of the painting is thought to have been in homage to the Belgian artist Anthony van Dyck. It was thought that the portrait was of Jonathan Buttall, the son of a wealthy hard-ware merchant, but this has never been proven and the more likely sitter is Gainsborough’s nephew Gainsborough Dupont.

    Gainsborough’s other sitters included Ignatius Sancho (above 2nd left), Johann Christian Bach (above 3rd left) , James Christie (4th left)  and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (5th left). Landscape back-drops included the beautiful Cornard Wood, Sudbury, Suffolk and The Mall in St. James’s Park.

Meanwhile, Joshua Reynolds (right, self-portrait 1750), who was a member and the first President of the Royal Academy of Arts specialised in portraits. Sitters included Charles Lennox (below 1st left), 3rd Duke of Richmond, James (below 2nd left), 7th Earl of Lauderdale and Joseph Banks (below 3rd left), explorer and botanist.

With styles changing during the 18th century, one of the artists that was accepted in the Royal Academy by Reynolds, at the age of 14 was Joseph Mallord William Turner aka William Turner.

    Turner  was a romantic painter and watercolourist and was known for his expressive colourisations, imaginative landscapes and other turbulent often violent marine paintings.

As a young man, Turner visited and toured Wales where Swansea Bay featured on two pencil sketches

In 1834 Turner (above left) witnessed a fire at the House of Parliament and used it as the subject matter for two paintings, The Burning of the Houses of Lords (above centre) and Commons (above right) both of which are on display in galleries in the USA.

The colours and composition used in the paintings, may have influenced Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire (left, 1839). The Temeraire was one of the last second-rate ships that saw action during the Battle of Trafalgar and is depicted being towed up the Thames to Rotherhithe where it was broken up for scrap. Part of the image is used on the current £20 note.

    John Constable (right, pencil sketch by Daniel Gardner 1798) in contrast to Turner, was the oldest member of the Royal Academy when he was accepted aged 52. Constable was a romantic painter, who revolutionised the genre of landscape painting. His notable works included Wivenhoe Park; Dedham Vale  and The Hay Wain (below left to right).

Georgian Gardens

 The “Landscape” Garden, which was emerging across England during the 18th century replaced the more symmetrical French style gardens of the late 17th century. Gardens during this period, tended to feature a lake, rolling lawns set against groves of trees and recreations of a classical temple. Two notable gardeners of the period were, William Kent and Lancelot “Capability” Brown (left). Kent, was the original landscape designer and the creator of the English Landscape System, changing the layout of gardens and estates. We’ll come back to William Kent in the next article about Georgian Architects. Meanwhile, Capability Brown, was a more hands-on gardener who designed over 170 parks around the country, the closest being Cardiff Castle. 

Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy is on display at the National Gallery until 15 May 2022.

Copyright - The Bay Magazine, May 2022