PRESS RELEASE

15 July 2015

First image of the newly crowned Queen Victoria to go on display in Scotland for the first time

An oil sketch of Queen Victoria, made just four months after her accession to the throne at the age of 18, will go on display in Scotland for the first time. Painted by the celebrated Scottish artist Sir David Wilkie, it is the earliest image of her as reigning monarch and a study for the first painting commissioned by Victoria when Queen. The sketch will be shown in Scottish Artists 1750 – 1900: From Caledonia to the Continent, the first exhibition dedicated to in the Royal Collection, opening at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse on 6 August.

Sir David Wilkie, Victoria asked Wilkie to record her first meeting with her Preparatory oil sketch of Privy Council, which took place within hours of her accession Queen Victoria, 1837 on 20 June 1837. The preparatory sketch shows the Queen in near profile wearing a bonnet, just as she appears in Wilkie’s finished work The First Council of Queen Victoria. The bare canvas below her neckline is suggestive of the white dress in which Wilkie chose to portray the Queen, rather than in the black mourning attire she would have worn after the death of her uncle William IV. The white emphasises her innocence and purity in a gathering of more seasoned male statesmen.

The most successful Scottish artist of the early 19th century, Wilkie had enjoyed a flourishing career under the patronage of George IV. He had succeeded Sir Henry Raeburn as Limner to the King in Scotland in 1823 and was appointed Painter in Ordinary in 1830. Wilkie retained his office on the accession of William IV in 1830 and again on the accession of Queen Victoria. He was the only artist to serve as Painter in Ordinary to three successive monarchs.

In his role as Painter in Ordinary, Wilkie was required to produce the State Portrait of the new monarch and travelled to Royal Pavilion Brighton for a sitting with Queen Victoria in October 1837. Rather than starting work on the portrait, Wilkie began the painting of the Privy Council meeting at the Queen's instigation. Victoria sat for Wilkie on at least five occasions, and the project at first appeared to be going well. The artist wrote to his sister on 28 October 1837 that ‘All here think the subject good, and she (Queen Victoria) likes it herself’.

In fact Queen Victoria strongly disliked the painting, completed in 1838, and commented in her journal that 'Everyone was horrified when they saw it yesterday'. The Queen also hated

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

Wilkie's State Portrait, writing on 20 March 1839 that at dinner she had 'Talked of the too atrocious full length picture which Wilkie has made of me… (and) of it's being such a mistake to make him Portrait Painter'. The State Portrait was Wilkie's second and last royal commission. Queen Victoria only purchased one further work by the artist, following his death in 1841.

Wilkie had also painted Victoria in 1831, when she was just 11 years old and making her first appearance at court on the birthday of her aunt, Queen Adelaide, consort of William IV. Dressed in a white lace and satin dress, the young princess is shown standing in front of the Queen, surrounded by her family and courtiers.

Seventeen works by Sir David Wilkie will be among 80 paintings, drawings, miniatures and decorative arts by Scottish artists on display at The Queen's Gallery in an exhibition that tells the story of royal patronage and the emergence of a distinctive Scottish school of art.

Exhibition curator Deborah Clarke of Royal Collection Trust, said 'This sensitive and freely- painted oil sketch by the well-known Scottish artist Sir David Wilkie was the first of over 500 portraits of the queen to be painted throughout her long reign and I am delighted this will be on display in for the first time.'

Scottish Artists 1750 – 1900: From Caledonia to the Continent is at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, 6 August 2015 – 7 February 2016.

The exhibition is part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.

#ScottishArtists

The accompanying publication, Scottish Artists 1750 – 1900: From Caledonia to the Continent is published by Royal Collection Trust, price £19.95 or £14.95 from Royal Collection Trust shops and website.

Visitor information and tickets for The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse: www.royalcollection.org.uk, +44 (0)131 556 5100.

www.royalcollection.org.uk

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

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

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.

Edinburgh Art Festival (EAF) is the UK’s largest annual festival of visual arts. Attracting nearly 300,000 attendances in 2014, EAF combines ambitious presentations of Scottish and international contemporary art alongside major solo and survey shows of artists from the 20th century and historic movements.

Admission to The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse 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