PRESS
RELEASE
October 2019
2020 Exhibitions and Displays Programme
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace
George IV: Art & Spectacle
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace 15 November 2019 – 3 May 2020
George IV was one of the greatest collectors of his day and acquired many of the finest works of art in the Royal Collection. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, the exhibition considers the King’s public image, taste for the theatrical and exotic, and admiration of French style. Alongside his love of spectacle, the exhibition examines the more private side of this exuberant monarch, including works from his libraries and vast collection of prints and drawings. Dutch Old Master paintings, Sèvres porcelain and the magnificent silver-gilt Grand Service are among the highlights of George’s collection.
Japan: Courts and Culture
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace 12 June – 8 November 2020
The Royal Collection holds some of the most significant examples of Japanese art and design in the western world. For the first time, highlights from this outstanding collection are brought together to tell the story of 300 years of diplomatic, artistic and cultural exchange between the British and Japanese royal and imperial families. The exhibition includes rare pieces of porcelain and lacquer, samurai armour, embroidered screens and diplomatic gifts from the reigns of James I to Her Majesty The Queen. Together, they offer a unique insight into the worlds of ritual, honour and artistry linking the courts and cultures of Britain and Japan.
Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace 4 December 2020 – September 2021
The exhibition brings together some of the most important paintings in the Royal Collection from the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace. Usually on public view during the annual Summer Opening of the Palace, the paintings will be shown in The Queen’s Gallery while Reservicing works are carried out to protect the historic building for future generations. The Picture Gallery was originally designed by the architect John Nash for George IV to display his collection of Dutch, Flemish and Italian Old Master paintings. Artists represented in the exhibition include Titian, Guercino, Guido Reni, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens, Jan Steen, Claude and Canaletto.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse 22 November 2019 – 15 March 2020
Marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, the exhibition brings together 80 of the Renaissance master's greatest drawings, forming the largest group of Leonardo's works ever shown in Scotland. Drawing served as Leonardo's laboratory, allowing him to work out his ideas on paper and search for the universal laws that he believed underpinned all of creation. The drawings by Leonardo in the Royal Collection have been together as a group since the artist's death in 1519. Acquired during the reign of Charles II, they provide an unparalleled insight into the workings of Leonardo's mind and reflect the full range of his interests, including painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, cartography, geology, botany and anatomy.
Eastern Encounters: Four Centuries of Paintings and Manuscripts from the Indian Subcontinent
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse 3 April – 13 September 2020
The Royal Collection contains some of the finest South Asian paintings and manuscripts in the world. Tracing more than 400 years of literary and artistic output, the exhibition offers new insights into the shared history of the British Monarchy and the Indian Subcontinent through exquisite illuminated manuscripts, dazzling depictions of the Mughal court, royal portraits, Hindu epics and modern works.
George IV: Art & Spectacle
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse 16 October 2020 – 5 April 2021
George IV was one of the greatest collectors of his day and acquired many of the finest works of art in the Royal Collection. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, the exhibition considers the King’s public image, taste for the theatrical and exotic, and admiration of French style. Alongside his love of spectacle, the exhibition examines the more private side of this exuberant monarch, including works from his libraries and vast collection of prints and drawings. Dutch Old Master paintings, Sèvres porcelain and the magnificent silver-gilt Grand Service are among the highlights of George’s collection.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
Windsor Castle
Christmas at Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle 29 November 2019 – 5 January 2020
This Christmas, Windsor Castle will be transformed with twinkling lights, garlands and Christmas trees to celebrate the festive season. The highlight of the display is the magnificent 20-foot-high Nordmann Fir Christmas tree in St George's Hall, taken from Windsor Great Park and dressed with hundreds of iridescent glass and mirrored ornaments. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the births of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 2019, there is a special display of gifts exchanged between the royal couple during the many Christmases they spent together at Windsor Castle.
Palace of Holyroodhouse
Christmas at the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Palace of Holyroodhouse 6 December 2019 – 6 January 2020
The Christmas display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse features a 15-foot-high Christmas tree in the Great Gallery, adorned with shimmering decorations and sparkling lights, while the Great Stair leading to the historic State Apartments is draped with twinkling velvet garlands, glistening berries and seasonal foliage. The table in the Royal Dining Room is laid with pieces from a silver service presented to George V and Queen Mary in 1935 to mark their Silver Jubilee, decorated with flowers, wreaths and spires of candied sugar fruits.
George Washington Wilson: Queen Victoria’s Photographer in Scotland
Palace of Holyroodhouse 17 July – 4 October 2020
Famous for his portrait of Queen Victoria on her horse ‘Fyvie’, accompanied by her servant John Brown, George Washington Wilson was at the time among the best known of royal photographers. His picturesque images helped popularise a romantic view of the Scottish landscape. These were sold to the Victorian middle classes holidaying in Scotland, a pursuit popularised by the royal family’s love of the country. The display includes royal portraits made for Queen Victoria’s personal photograph collection and Wilson’s beautiful views of Scotland.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
Royal Collection Trust touring exhibitions and major loans
Victoria & Albert: Our Lives in Watercolour
Poole Museum 26 October 2019 – 5 January 2020 Wolverhampton Art Gallery 7 March – 31 May 2020
Throughout their marriage, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were enthusiastic patrons and practitioners of the art of watercolour painting. They formed a collection of thousands of watercolours, many illustrating scenes of their public and private lives, and often spent happy evenings together organising their acquisitions into albums. These colourful, dynamic images capture the pomp and spectacle of the British court, foreign travel and diplomacy, the exploration and shaping of a modern nation and, importantly, the close-knit family at the heart of it all. http://www.poolemuseum.co.uk/ http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/
George Washington Wilson: Queen Victoria’s Photographer in Scotland
University of Aberdeen 8 March – 5 July 2020
Famous for his portrait of Queen Victoria on her horse ‘Fyvie’, accompanied by her servant John Brown, George Washington Wilson was at the time among the best known of royal photographers. His picturesque images helped popularise a romantic view of the Scottish landscape. These were sold to the Victorian middle classes holidaying in Scotland, a pursuit popularised by the royal family’s love of the country. The display includes royal portraits made for Queen Victoria’s personal photograph collection and Wilson’s beautiful views of Scotland. https://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/events/15400/
A Prince’s Treasure: From Buckingham Palace to the Royal Pavilion – The Royal Collection Returns to Brighton
Royal Pavilion, Brighton 21 September 2019 – Autumn 2021
More than 120 items of decorative arts and furniture from the Royal Collection have returned on loan to Brighton’s Royal Pavilion, George IV’s extraordinary seaside residence, where they were first displayed when acquired by the King in the early 1800s. The contents of the Pavilion were moved to London on the sale of the royal residence by Queen Victoria in 1850. Many of the furnishings and fittings were incorporated by Prince Albert into new spaces at Buckingham Palace, particularly the Chinese-themed interiors of the Centre Room, Yellow Drawing Room and Chinese Dining Room in the East Wing. While essential building works are carried out as part of the Buckingham Palace Reservicing Programme, many of the most spectacular items have returned to their original locations in the Royal Pavilion. https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/royalpavilion/
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
Tickets and visitor information: www.rct.uk or telephone: The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace: +44 (0)303 123 7301 The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse: +44 (0)303 123 7306 Windsor Castle: +44 (0)303 123 7304
Please note that tickets for exhibitions opening after 1 January 2020 will be available from 1 November 2019.
For further information and images, please contact the Royal Collection Trust Press Office, [email protected], +44 (0)207 839 1377.
A selection of images is available to download from https://we.tl/t-qhw7WPwkEl.
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 15 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 Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and The Queen's Galleries 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.rct.uk