Enfilade

From One Royal Crescent in Bath:

Portrait of a Lady? Ruin & Reputation in the Georgian Era
One Royal Crescent, Bath, 16 May — 14 December 2014

Curated by Hallie Rubenhold

This exhibition features a private collection of mezzotints of Georgian women from different levels of society including actresses, courtesans and duchesses. The theme of the exhibition is to look at the status of different women in the 18th century, how they viewed themselves and were viewed by society. It also looks at the social fluidity of the 18th century, where a prostitute or actress might rise through the ranks to become a celebrated courtesan and then marry into nobility, or conversely where a woman born into wealth and status might be damned as a ‘whore’ for having a relationship outside of marriage.

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From the symposium programme:

Portrait of a Lady? Symposium
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Queen Square, Bath, 14 November 2014

To coincide with the current exhibition at No.1 Royal Crescent this symposium brings together academics, curators and writers to consider how women were viewed, adored or condemned in the 18th century, in particular through the medium of the mezzotint. Speakers include: writer and broadcaster Dan Cruickshank, Exhibition Curator Hallie Rubenhold, and Professor Emeritus at the Courtauld Institute of Art Aileen Ribeiro. The symposium will be followed by an open invitation to delegates to visit the exhibition at No. 1 Royal Crescent for a drinks reception.

P R O G R A M M E

9.15  Registration

9.30  Welcome by Adrian Tinniswood, writer and historian and Edward Bayntun-Coward, chairman of Bath Preservation Trust

9.40  Portrait of a Lady? by Hallie Rubenhold, curator, writer and broadcaster

10.25  ‘Miss Macaroni and Her Gallant at a Print Shop’: A New Market for Mezzotints by Sheila O’Connell, Assistant
Keeper, British Prints before 1800, British Museum

11.10  Coffee

11.25  The Secret History of Georgian London by Dan Cruickshank, writer and broadcaster

11.55  Queen of the Courtesans: Fanny Murray by Barbara White, former Dean and Director of Advanced Studies in England

12.40  Lunch (provided)

2.00  Behind the Mask: Women and Cosmetics in the Georgian Era by Aileen Ribeiro, Professor Emeritus at the Courtauld Institute of Art

2.30  The First Actresses by Gill Perry, Open University

3.00  Portrait of a Parricide in the Eighteenth Century: Unveiling Miss Blandy’s Image by Garthine Walker, University of Cardiff

3.45  Tea

4.00  Elections and Entertainments: Elite Women and Politics in the Eighteenth Century by Elaine Chalus, Bath Spa University

4.30  The First Sexual Revolution and the Birth of Sexual Celebrity by Faramerz Dabhoiwala, Exeter College, Oxford

5.30  Summing up by Adrian Tinniswood

6.00  Drinks reception and exhibition at No.1 Royal Crescent