Unveiling the Sketching Society (1799-1851)
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Dowle, Luke A. (2020) Unveiling the Sketching Society (1799-1851). MPhil(R) thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/81546/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Unveiling the Sketching Society (1799-1851) Luke A Dowle Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of MPhil School of Culture and Creative Arts College of History of Art University of Glasgow September 2019 © Luke Dowle 2019 i Abstract In 1799, a group of young London-based artists founded a new Sketching Society. It was still in existence some fifty years or so later. Up until now, the Society has principally been of interest to scholars only insomuch as the names of Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman can be attached to its earliest activities and meetings. However, this has been to the neglect of the far better documented and longer-lived iteration of the group that was overseen by the brothers Alfred Edward Chalon and John James Chalon. This thesis will therefore look to re- assess the development of the Sketching Society, paying particular attention to its later, currently under-appreciated history under the Chalons in order to explore the place and wider importance of such affiliations in the art world of the early nineteenth century. This will mean looking at continuities in the aims and organisation of the Society over time, but also how the changing priorities of the increasingly better connected and established members of the Chalon-led group distinguish it from that pool of artists who first met around the turn of the century. Beginning with a brief history of the clubs associated with Girtin and Cotman, the thesis will then go on to examine the make-up of the Chalon group. Subsequent chapters discuss the actual activities of this later group, exploring the literary or thematic prompts employed at their regular evening meetings and reconstructing select sessions. They will then consider the public-facing aspects of the Society’s life, in the form of a series of publications and exhibitions it organised to promote its activities. All told, a survey of what might be termed the long history of the Sketching Society is revealing of the significance of such collaborative and communal activities in making and sustaining a career in the capital’s art world. ii Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................... I LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... III LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND FIGURES ........................................................................................ IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... XI AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ................................................................................................................ XII CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2 - THE SKETCHING SOCIETY BEFORE THE CHALONS ........................................ 10 2.1 DR. MONRO’S ACADEMY ..................................................................................................... 11 2.2 GIRTIN SKETCHING CLUB .................................................................................................... 12 2.3 COTMAN SKETCHING SOCIETY .......................................................................................... 13 2.4 THEMES IN THE GIRTIN AND COTMAN SKETCHING SOCIETIES ................................ 16 2.5 THE ROLE OF WATERCOLOUR ............................................................................................ 20 CHAPTER 3 - THE CHALON SKETCHING SOCIETY ..................................................................... 22 3.1 EARLY HISTORY ..................................................................................................................... 22 3.2 MEMBERS ................................................................................................................................. 24 3.3 VISITORS .................................................................................................................................. 27 3.3.1 OWS AND RA VISITORS ................................................................................................... 29 3.3.2 OTHER IMPORTANT VISITORS ....................................................................................... 31 3.4 THE GEOGRAPHIES OF THE SKETCHING SOCIETY ........................................................ 33 3.4.1 1831 ........................................................................................................................................ 34 3.4.2 1837 ........................................................................................................................................ 37 3.4.3 1851 ........................................................................................................................................ 39 3.4.4 QUEEN VICTORIA .............................................................................................................. 40 3.4.5 THE GRAPHIC SOCIETY AND THE HAMPSTEAD FINE ART CONVERSAZIONE .. 43 3.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER 4 - THEMES ........................................................................................................................... 47 4.1 SHAKESPEARE ........................................................................................................................ 49 4.2 BIBLICAL .................................................................................................................................. 52 4.3 CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE ......................................................... 55 4.4 MISCELLANEOUS ................................................................................................................... 58 4.5 BUCKINGHAM PALACE FRESCOES .................................................................................... 61 4.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 63 CHAPTER 5 - EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS ........................................................................ 65 5.1 EVENING SKETCHES ............................................................................................................. 66 5.2 1851 EXHIBITION .................................................................................................................... 71 5.3 1858 PUBLICATION ................................................................................................................. 76 5.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 80 CHAPTER 6 - CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 84 APPENDIX 1 - PRIMARY AND ARCHIVAL SOURCES .................................................................... 90 APPENDIX 2 - AUCTION RECORDS AND EXHIBITIONS .............................................................. 93 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................... 97 ILLUSTRATIONS AND FIGURES ....................................................................................................... 104 iii List of Tables Table 1. List of Foundation Members of the Chalon Sketching Society and 25 the years they attended. Table 2. List of later Members of the Chalon Sketching Society and the 25 years they attended. Table 3. Selected list of visitors to the Chalon Sketching Society. 28 Table 4. List of addresses of the Chalon Sketching Society in 1831. 35 Table 5. List of addresses of the Chalon Sketching Society in 1837. 38 Table 6. List of addresses of the Chalon Sketching Society in 1837. 39 iv List of Illustrations and Figures Fig. 1. Louis Francia, Landscape Composition - Moonlight, 1799, sepia and grey wash on paper, 21.9 x 36.5 cm, VAM, London. Fig. 2. John Partridge, The Sketching Society; A Group Portrait, 1836, pen and grey ink with brown and black wash on paper, 21.4 x 29.5 cm, British Museum, London. Fig. 3. Paul Sandby, Invitation to a Sketching Club, 1753, watercolour over graphite on paper, 9.6 x 9.1 cm, Museum of London. Fig. 4. Thomas Girtin, Cowper’s ‘Task’ (Book V), 28 September 1799, wash over pencil on paper, 22.5 x 30.2 cm, Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California. Fig. 5. Robert Ker Porter, Cowper’s ‘Task’ (Book V), 28 September 1799, wash over