PRESS RELEASE
April 2014
The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714 - 1760
The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace 11 April – 12 October 2014
In 1714 Georg Ludwig, Elector of Hanover in Germany, acceded to the British throne as George I, the country's first constitutional monarch. Despite many stronger genealogical claims to the crown, the 1701 Act of Settlement had declared that the choice of sovereign was the gift of Parliament alone and that only a Protestant could sit on the British throne. With this unprecedented decision, the Georgian era began, ushering in an unbroken line of succession to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Marking the 300th anniversary of the Hanoverian succession, The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714 – 1760 is the William Hogarth, first exhibition to explore the reigns of George 1 (r.1714–27) David Garrick with his Wife and his son George II (r.1727–60), shedding light on the role Eva-Maria Veigel, 1757-64 of this new dynasty in the transformation of political, intellectual and cultural life. Through over 300 works from the Royal Collection, it tells the story of Britain's emergence as the world’s most liberal, commercial and cosmopolitan society, embracing freedom of expression and the unfettered exchange of ideas. In partnership with BBC Four, a three-part television series The First Georgians: The German Kings who Made Britain, presented by Dr Lucy Worsley, will be broadcast in late April as part of an 18th-century season across BBC Two, BBC Four and BBC Radio 3.
The Hanoverians' right to rule was fiercely disputed by the Jacobites, supporters of the Stuart claim to the throne. The 'Old Pretender', Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, set up a rival court in Paris and Rome, and his son, Prince Charles Edward – Bonnie Prince Charlie – led an uprising in 1745–6 on behalf of his father's cause. The continuous threat to Hanoverian rule, both at home and overseas, is reflected in the exhibition's military maps and battle plans. They include a draft order of battle at Culloden, thought to have been written by George II's son, the Duke of Cumberland, who led the King's troops to victory in 1746.
Although St James's Palace remained the principal royal residence, the newly installed George I focused his artistic attention on Kensington Palace, where he appointed William Kent to decorate a new suite of State Rooms. The King filled Kensington with the best British furniture of the day, including pieces by James Moore, and Old Master paintings, such as Don Roderigo Calderón on Horseback, 1612–5, and The Holy Family with St Francis, 1620–30, by Sir Peter Paul Rubens.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.royalcollection.org.uk
The reigns of both Georges were fraught with familial strife. In 1717 George I expelled the Prince of Wales, the future George II, from St James’s Palace. Far from enduring a humiliating exile, the Prince established an alternative court, hosting ‘drawing rooms’, evening parties and balls, and regularly dining in public. Some 20 years later, George II's son, Frederick, Prince of Wales was similarly banished and set up rival headquarters. Furnishing his private residences, the Prince could indulge his enthusiasm for the Old Masters. Among his acquisitions were Guido Reni's Cleopatra with the Asp, c.1628, Anthony van Dyck's Thomas Killigrew with an unidentified Man, 1638, and ‘The Jealous Husband’, c.1660, by David Teniers.
Queen Caroline, consort of George II, was the most intellectual member of the Hanoverian dynasty. Her interests combined art, genealogy and a passion for gardening. She undertook major landscape projects at Kensington Palace and at her private retreat in Richmond, where she commissioned Charles Bridgeman to lay out the new gardens, complemented by follies created by William Kent. The most remarkable of these was the Hermitage, a picturesque temple devoted to British scientists and theologians, encapsulating Caroline's belief in the interdependence of science and religion.
During the course of the 18th century, the focus of British cultural life began to shift away from court. Artists achieved success and fame through their own efforts, without the traditional support of a royal patron. William Hogarth’s portrait of actor-manager David Garrick and his Viennese dancer wife, Eva-Marie Veigel, captures one of the most high-profile couples of the age. When the portrait was painted between 1757 and 1764, Garrick had already combined great financial success as an actor-manager with international celebrity. Hogarth himself was not only a prominent artist, but also a writer on art and a noted philanthropist.
The favourite genre of the early Georgian period was satire, both pictorial and literary. In 1724, its greatest practitioner, William Hogarth, published The Bad Taste of the Town, ridiculing British taste for foreign forms of art, such as Italian opera. London's leading exponent of Italian opera was the German composer George Frideric Handel, who was employed in many royal roles. He was music teacher to George II's daughter, Princess Anne, who is seen playing the cello with her two sisters and brother, Frederick, Prince of Wales, in Philippe Mercier's 'The Music Party', 1733.
The desire for fashionable luxury goods drove Britain's commercial enterprise and turned London into the most important trading city in the world. The Chelsea porcelain works, one of several new ventures set up to compete with the newly established Meissen factory in Germany, typified the entrepreneurialism of the time. With the emergence of a new leisure class came an explosion of coffee houses, gaming haunts, assembly rooms, theatrical entertainments and pleasure gardens. In the painting St James's Park and the Mall, c.1745, all elements of cosmopolitan Georgian society mix together, with Frederick, Prince of Wales at the centre, rubbing shoulders with his future subjects.
Filmed in both Britain and Hanover, the BBC Four series The First Georgians: The German Kings who Made Britain features key works from the exhibition at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace and draws on the expertise of Royal Collection Trust curators. It shows how life at court overlapped with the enormous changes that were reshaping Britain – a transformation of every aspect of political, intellectual and cultural life. Dr Lucy Worsley argues that, from 1714 to1760, Britain worked out what kind of country it wanted to be, and that the era led to the creation of modern Britain as we know it.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.royalcollection.org.uk
Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures and curator of The First Georgians exhibition, said, 'The exhibition tells a rich story of the lives and style of the early Georgian royal family, and of how during their reigns Britain became the model of a progressive and successful society. We are delighted to be working in partnership with BBC Four to enable this fascinating story to reach a wide audience.'
Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor, BBC Four, said, 'We are immensely pleased to be working with Royal Collection Trust on this celebration of perhaps the most idiosyncratic and little- known, but among the most transformative monarchs in modern British history.'
The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714–1760 is at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, 11 April – 12 October 2014.
The accompanying publication, The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714–1760, edited by Desmond Shawe-Taylor, is published by Royal Collection Trust, price £49.50.
The BBC Four series The First Georgians: The German Kings who Made Britain, in partnership with Royal Collection Trust and presented by Dr Lucy Worsley, is broadcast from late April.
Visitor information for The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace: www.royalcollection.org.uk, Tickets: T. +44 (0)20 7766 7301.
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A selection of images is available from www.picselect.com. For further information and photographs, please contact the Royal Collection Trust Press Office, +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected].
Notes to Editors
Royal Collection Trust, a department of the Royal Household, is responsible for the care of the Royal Collection and manages the public opening of the official residences of The Queen. Income generated from admissions and from associated commercial activities contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational programmes. Royal Collection Trust’s work is undertaken without public funding of any kind.
The Royal Collection is among the largest and most important art collections in the world, and one of the last great European royal collections to remain intact. It comprises almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts, and is spread among some 13 royal residences and former residences across the UK, most of which are regularly open to the public. The Royal Collection is held in trust by the Sovereign for her successors and the nation, and is not owned by The Queen as a private individual.
Admission to The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace is managed by The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity in England and Wales (1016972) and in Scotland (SCO39772).
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.royalcollection.org.uk