Conference | Enlightened Monarchs: Art at Court
From the conference programme:
Enlightened Monarchs: Art at Court in the Eighteenth Century
The Wallace Collection, London, 7 May 2014
To commemorate the 300th anniversary of George I’s accession to the British throne in 1714, Royal Collection Trust, the Wallace Collection and the Society for Court Studies are organising a study day dedicated to the often overlooked art patronage of the first two Georges and their families. In addition to investigating official commissions and personal taste, it will explore differences and similarities between the arts at court in Britain, Prussia, France and Spain in the Age of Enlightenment. The day will conclude with a private view of The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714–1760 and a glass of wine at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Tickets: £35. Includes refreshments and exhibition entry at The Queen’s Gallery, excludes lunch.
P R O G R A M M E
10:00 Registration, tea and coffee
10:20 Welcome by Christoph Vogtherr, Director of the Wallace Collection
10:25 Morning Session | Britain and Hanover
Chaired with an introduction by Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures
10:35 Where is Hanover? The artistic and dynastic roots of the first Georgian monarchs, Wolf Burchard, Royal Collection Trust
11:05 The setting for a new dynasty: Furnishing St James’s Palace for George I and his Court, 1714–1715, Rufus Bird, Deputy Surveyor of The Queen’s Works of Art
11:30 William Kent’s royal clients: A challenge to exhibition curation, Julius Bryant, Keeper Word and Image Department, Victoria & Albert Museum
12:10 Discussion
12:25 Break for lunch
1:10 Afternoon Session | London, Berlin, Paris and Madrid
Chaired by Clarissa Campbell Orr, President of the Society for Court Studies
1.15 Becoming British: Queen Caroline and Collecting, Joanna Marschner, Historic Royal Palaces
1.55 Sophie Charlotte of Prussia and Frederick the Great as collectors, Christoph Vogtherr, Wallace Collection
2.35 Coffee
2.55 Louis XV and the control of art in France, Helen Jacobson, Wallace Collection
3.35 The king’s own taste of the politics of reform? Bourbon royal patronage in Madrid, Curt Noel, New York University London
4.15 Discussion
4.30 Travel to The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace
5:00 Private view of The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714–1760
Exhibition | By George! Handel’s Music for Royal Occasions
Press release for The Foundling exhibition:
By George! Handel’s Music for Royal Occasions
The Foundling Museum, London, 7 February — 18 May 2014
Robert Sayer, A Perspective view of the building for the fireworks in the Green Park taken from the reservoir, ca. 1749 (London: The Foundling Museum, Gerald Coke Handel Collection)
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No composer has been more closely associated with the British monarchy than German-born George Frideric Handel (1685–1759). His anthem Zadok the Priest has been performed at every coronation since that of King George II on 11 October 1727, while his Water Music was performed in 2012 on the River Thames for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
In the 300th anniversary year of the coronation of George I, the first Hanoverian king, this fascinating new exhibition explores Handel and his music for royal occasions, drawing on the Gerald Coke Handel Collection at the Foundling Museum and significant loans from major institutions including the British Library, Lambeth Palace, and the National Portrait Gallery.
Handel enjoyed the patronage of three British monarchs during his lifetime: Queen Anne, George I, and George II. Employed by George I in Hanover, Handel had the advantage of knowing the new king before he ascended the British throne in 1714. Although he was not appointed Master of the King’s Musick, Handel was favoured by George I and his family, while the appointed Master was left to compose music for smaller, less significant occasions. Handel tutored the royal princesses and composed music for almost all important royal events. He went on to compose the coronation anthems for George II, as well as the Music for the Royal Fireworks and the famous Water Music.
Philip Mercier, The Music Party (Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, and his sisters: Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange; Princess Caroline Elizabeth; and Princess Amelia Sophia Eleanora), 1733 (London: The National Portrait Gallery)
Exhibits include paintings of the royal family and the 1727 Order of Service for the Coronation of George II, annotated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Musical instruments of the period will be displayed alongside autograph manuscripts including Zadok the Priest, the Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, and Lessons for Princess Louisa, which Handel composed to teach the royal princesses to play the harpsichord. Rarely-seen documents from the archives of Westminster Abbey give an insight into the organisation of major royal events.
The Librarian of the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, Katharine Hogg, said: “Handel combined his musical genius with an ability to place himself at the heart of the British establishment, while retaining his independence as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. His identity as part of the British musical tradition and his legacy of quintessentially British music reflects his ability to adapt his musical skills to meet the expectations of his patrons and audiences.”
Handel was a governor of the Foundling Hospital. He donated the organ to its Chapel, composed an anthem for the Hospital, and conducted annual fundraising concerts of Messiah. Today’s charity concerts and fundraising auctions can trace their roots back to the Foundling Hospital and the remarkable creative philanthropy of Handel.
The Foundling Museum’s Director, Caro Howell said: “By exploring Handel’s royal relationships here, in the context of a home for the most vulnerable children, we’re revealing two sides of a remarkable artist. The musician who personally tutored the royal princesses also oversaw the music at the Foundling Hospital’s chapel where illegitimate and abandoned children were christened. The composer who directed the music at lavish and unique royal events, including the Royal Fireworks, exploited the same appetite for scale by conducting fundraising concerts at the Hospital.”
By George! is accompanied by a series of public events, including a concert by the Academy of Ancient Music [on Tuesday, March 18], performances of Handel’s music for nursery children, and eighteenth-century dancing and costume workshops. By George! opens a year of celebration at the Foundling Museum.
The Foundling Museum celebrates its 10th anniversary in June 2014. This milestone year coincides with three significant anniversaries in the story we tell: the 275th anniversary of the establishment of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity; the 250th anniversary of the death of William Hogarth, whose donation of paintings to the Hospital created England’s first public art gallery; and the 300th anniversary of the coronation of George I, the first Hanoverian king. We will be marking this year of celebration and commemoration with a series of major exhibitions, events and the re-opening our Introductory Gallery after a major refurbishment.
Additional images are available as a PDF file here»
Conference | Prices Beyond Borders: The Art Market at European Courts
Next month at Herzog August Bibliothek:
Preis(e) ohne Grenzen. Kunstmarkt an europäischen Höfen der Vormoderne
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, 2–4 April 2014
M I T T W O C H , 2 A P R I L 2 0 1 4
19.00 Edgar Lein (Graz), Öffentlicher Abendvortrag: Vom Preis und Wert der Kunst: Benvenuto Cellinis Skulpturen für Franz I. von Frankreich und Cosimo I. de Medici
D O N N E R S T A G , 3 A P R I L 2 0 1 4
9.00 Michael Wenzel (Wolfenbüttel), Einführung
Künstler und Produzenten
9.15 Nils Büttner (Stuttgart) „His demands ar like ye lawes of Medes an Persians wch may not be altered”: Rubens’ Preise
10.15 Gabriele Marcussen-Gwiazda (Rüsselsheim), Rudolfs Böhmische Krone: Zu internationalen Edelstein-Konsortien und Schmuckkartellen am Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts
11.15 Kaffeepause
Agenten und Vermittler
11.30 Sarvenaz Ayooghi (Aachen), Die rudolfinischen Kunstagenten: Akteure auf dem europäischen Kunstmarkt um 1600
12.30 Christina M. Anderson (Oxford), Brokering at Court: The Gonzaga Sale of 1627/28
13.30 Mittagspause
15.00 Natalia Gozzano (Rom), The Maestro di casa and the role played in the art market by the professionals of the Roman Court
16.00 Heiner Krellig (Venedig/Berlin), Francesco Algarotti als Kunstagent im Dienste der Höfe in Berlin, Dresden und Kassel (1741–1764)
17.00 Kaffeepause
Fürstliche Akteure
17.15 Carmen Decu Teodorescu (Paris/Genf), Borso d’Este’s Roman de la Rose cortine: The Most Expensive Item of a 15th-Century Italian Collection
F R E I T A G , 4 A P R I L 2 0 1 4
9.00 Susanne König-Lein (Graz) „des Anschaffens und Ausgebens in Graz kein Ende“: Die Erwerbungen der Maria von Bayern, Erzherzogin von Innerösterreich, für die Grazer Kunstkammer (1571–1608)
10.00 Axel Christoph Gampp (Basel), Der Kunstmarkt und Fürst Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein
11.00 Kaffeepause
Mechanismen der Preisbildung bei Hofe
11.15 Michael North (Greifswald), Preisgestaltung und Wertkriterien auf dem internationalen Kunstmarkt im 18. Jahrhundert (wird gegebenenfalls verlesen)
12.15 Tina Kosak (Ljubljana), Pricing Paintings in Late 17th- and Early 18th-Century Inner Austria
13.15 Mittagspause
14.45 Martina Frank (Venedig), Zur Entwicklung des Kunstmarkts in Venedig im 17. Jahrhundert
15.45 Schlussdiskussion
Anmeldung, Information: forschung@hab.de
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