Samuel Hieronymus Grimm (1733 – 1794)

Samuel Hieronymus Grimm (1733 – 1794). A Very English Swiss January 17 – April 21, 2014 Samuel Hieronymus Grimm (1733 – 1794) is being presented in a com- Samuel Hieronymus Grimm was one of the most prolific artists of prehensive exhibition for the very first time. Grimm pursued a career his time, making thousands of drawings and watercolors, mostly in as topographer, illustrator, caricaturist and painter of watercolors, England, where he settled in 1768. Working for a variety of patrons, acquiring quite a reputation especially in England. The exhibition Grimm was a versatile painter whose diverse works in such genres combines examples from every genre Grimm worked in. Loans have as topography, book illustration, and social satire were highly es- been procured from many British collections, including the British Mu- teemed. He travelled throughout the country, particularly in search seum, the British Library, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate of uncommon and sometimes neglected historical and antiquarian Gallery, the London Metropolitan Archives, the Society of Antiquaries, sites. His highly skilled images record a remarkable panorama of the National Museum of Wales, the Victoria Art Gallery of Bath, as well these as they existed during his time, some of which have subse- as the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut. quently been destroyed. To examine Grimm’s work is to scrutinize the fabric of Georgian England before it was transformed by the Indus- trial Revolution. Room 1: The Early Years Floorplan Before Grimm left Switzerland, where he was studying with Johann Ludwig Aberli, he produced a plethora of youthful works in a variety of 6 media and subjects. Much of his work was geared for the character- 5 4 istic Swiss market of pic-turesque views within the country, particu- 3 2 larly landscapes that foreign visitors often purchased as souvenirs of 1 their travels here. His two views of the Niesen overlooking the Lake of Thun (n°s 9 and 10), are representative of the type of views that were Basement Floor demanded at the time. Romantic, charming, agreeably populated by local peasants, views that were precisely the kind of image that Swiss painters of the 18th century wished to project. While the mountains are still stylized, Grimm’s views already demonstrate the atmospheric qualities that marked his more mature landscapes. Grimm too appealed to the rustic interests in Swiss cos- Raum 1: The Early Years tumes (n°s 1 – 6) that likewise became popular subjects painted by Raum 2: Remains of the past many of his contemporaries, both as pictorial documents and as Raum 3: Caricature souvenir items. Raum 4: Topographical Scenes Raum 5: The Trip to Wales Among some of Grimm’s early commissions were decorations and Raum 6: The Society of Antiquaries illustrations meant to be engraved (n° 7 and 8), some perhaps as general vignettes. However, when Grimm settled in London in 1768, his early designs centered on topographical images intended to establish his career as an English painter rather than a Swiss one. His watercolor of Old Blackfriar’s Bridge (n° 12) reveals a quick ad- aptation to English watercolor painting and techniques of the period. Grimm also produced wonderfully spontaneous views as he wandered in various neighborhoods near his home in Covent Gar- den (n°s 20 – 22). Room 2: Remains of the past The most important commission Grimm received in his early years in London came from Sir Richard Kaye, who would become his main patron for more than two decades. The commission was to paint the Distribution of His Majesty’s Maundy (n°s 24 – 25), a ceremony in which the King distributed money and food to the poor. Grimm’s two very accomplished paintings are tour-de-force images of the ceremony as it was conducted in Whitehall and clearly drawn in situ. Both demonstrate an acute understanding of convincing interior Cresswell Crags in Derbyshire (n° 75), composed with a low vantage perspective as well as a certain veracity in depicting the poor as point to accent the rocky terrain, is one of the finest. While Grimm they await their gifts. voyaged continually during the summer months, he did not neglect to paint London scenes, some of them contemporary, such as his During this period, Grimm developed his watercolor technique even fur- two views The Encampment Outside Montagu House (n° 68) and Mili- ther with distinct views of London scenes, such as Kennington Common tary Camp in Hyde Park (n° 69). Both depicted the military occupation (n° 39) on the south side of the Thames, still very much rural in 1776, or of key London sites after the Gordon Riots of 1780. the annual fair at Fairlop (n° 35), with festive atmosphere and gaiety. In both of these works, Grimm’s methods appear facile and uncomplicat- ed – scenes that clearly indicate the sense of the view he is painting. Room 5: The Trip to Wales Grimm’s patron Henry Penruddocke Wyndham (1736 – 1819) hired him His watercolor, An English Harvest Scene (n° 38), demonstrates, in 1776 to illustrate a substantial tour of Wales he was to make dur- as do many other landscapes of the 1770s, how quickly Grimm being the summer months of 1777. In a period of less than three months, came more English than Continental in his subjects and painterly they would cover almost 1,800 kilometers, inspecting not only the techniques. Even though Grimm had a reputation of working very severe landscape, but also a variety of castles, churches, and sites quickly, none of his works of this period reveal carelessness; they of antiquarian interests. Grimm produced hundreds of drawings, are highly accomplished to the extent that one feels they simply some with lengthy inscriptions, creating one of the most complete flowed from Grimm’s brushes. corpuses of Welsh scenes in the 18th century. Grimm’s works were sketched on the spot, each time capturing the essentials of the site his patron wished to record. Room 3: Caricature In Grimm’s early years in London, he produced dozens of caricatures Many of Grimm’s watercolors during the trip were of castles, such and satires that were engraved by leading publishers for a very thriv- as Caerphilly Castle (n° 47) which were in a state of ruin but of prime ing market in the genre. These were often exhibited in the windows antiquarian concern for Wyndham. Some of Grimm’s studies, too, of leading print shops and could be purchased for moderate prices. depicted relatively modern structures, such as Llangollen Bridge Grimm’s caricatures centered frequently on political events, such as (n° 62), which Wyndham thought particularly beautiful for its harmo- the contested Middlesex Election of 1775 (n° 36), and on ridiculing nious arrangement. the outlandish fashion and hairstyles of society that were common among dandies and macaronis (an insulting term describing the However, a substantial number of Grimm’s Welsh works consist- Italians). Perhaps the most representative illustration of Grimm’s ed of views of the rough scenery of the country, such as Pistyll sensibility for caricature is his The Macaroni of 1774 (n° 30), a water- Rhaeadr (n° 63), which shows the context and sublime beauty of color that was engraved several times. The foolish attitude of the this waterfall. figure aptly pinpoints the common view of the macaroni as a rather inane and absurd member of society, in this case laughed at by the The desolate sense of the relatively untamed landscape was best spectators behind him. expressed by Grimm in his view of Pont Aberglaslyn (n° 56) in cen- tral Wales near Snowdonia, also called the Devil’s Bridge, where the Grimm’s female figures are often represented showing the fashion wildness of the landscape is accented by the two peaks on either of impractical and insipid hairstyles carried to the extreme, so ex- side, with only a small patch of sky visible in the background. aggerated that they have an almost surreal look to them. His set, The French Lady in London and The English Lady in Paris (n°s 18 and When Wyndham published his account of the trip in 1781, he chose 19), both of 1771, are prime examples of Grimm’s wit in parodying the various works by Grimm, among the hundreds he produced, to have lengths women of society would go to achieve the new and the bi- engraved for illustrations. zarre in presenting themselves to society. Also of interest are the various prints depicting how Grimm ex- Room 6: The Society of Antiquaries pressed the frequent theme of the way in which city life in Georgian The Society of Antiquarians of London is a learned society formed London could corrupt the innocence of the rustic visitor. in essence in 1717 and incorporated by a Royal Charter in 1751. It’s essential aim was to foster the study of antiquities in Britain and In Welladay! Is this my SON TOM (n°31), Grimm deftly and humorously elsewhere through collecting and documenting pertinent exam- captured the transformation of the country figure in London to the ples from the past. One of the goals of the Society was also the extent that his father can now hardly recognize his own son. Such preservation of significant English historical monuments that were images are further evidence of how Grimm, a foreigner, could and in danger of destruction or so inaccessible that their contents were did adapt himself to English customs, tastes, and the art market unknown to other specialists. For this, the Society commissioned of his day. various artists to record works – architecture and painting – which they then had engraved and published in their journal.

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