A thought-provoking exhibition
Yesterday I went to the Royal Academy of Art to see their exhibition, Entangled Pasts, 1768-now: Art, Colonialism and Change. The exhibition looked at the connections between art associated with the Royal Academy and the colonial history of Britain.
It's a huge topic, and the exhibition was quite large, but of course doesn't cover all the nuances of the links, so to a certain extent it was fairly superficial. However, as an introduction to the importance of realising how people of colour were treated back in the 18th-century, it did make an attempt to explain the topic. However, I'm still processing whether it did enough, so I'll post some selections of what was there, and let you make your own mind up.
I've posted a similar photo of this before - this is outside in the RA courtyard The First Supper (Galaxy Black) by Tavares Strachan (2023). Celebrating the act of sharing a meal, it pays homage to Da Vinci's Last Supper, but features historically significant activists, writers, musicians, explorers and political leaders from different eras and backgrounds eating rice, breadfruit, cocoa, catfish and more...
This is a self-portrait of Tavares Strachan with an extinct animal called a thylacine who is seated right on the end on the left of the table.
From the introduction: The decades surrounding the RA’s foundation in 1768 saw the official establishment of British rule in India, and the height of Britain’s Atlantic trade in enslaved African people. Amid daily resistance of enslaved people in British colonies, including powerful rebellions in Jamaica, the movement to end slavery - known as abolition - emerged.The exhibition is divided into sections. This is the first one - Sites of Power: Portraits and Presence. Many of these portraits are of black people living in Georgian Britain.
Bust of a Man by Francis Harwood (1758)
Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit by an unknown artist (1740). There's some speculation that the head and body are by different artists.
I thought the face was beautifully painted.
Portrait of a Man, probably Francis Barber by Joshua Reynolds 1770. Barber was brought to England from Jamaica by his enslaver Col. Richard Bathurst, and was freed when Bathurst died in 1755. Barber went on to become a servant and friend to Samuel Johnson.
Head of a Man by John Singleton Copley (1778). Another unknown person, although this isn't uncommon at this time - there are so many paintings I've seen where no one knows who the sitter was which is always frustrating.
The next section: Conflict and Ambition
A huge model which represents the maritime histories of trade. Armada by Hew Locke (2017-2019). Including vessels of many different eras (The Mayflower and HMS Windrush are both featured).
The Death of General James Wolfe (1779) by Benjamin West. At the time this was seen as a patriotic sacrifice, but now we know how poorly the indigenous communities of North America were treated.
The First Nations (Delaware) figure is shown kneeling.
A 'Heroic Painting' which were very popular at the time. This shows the future Lord Mayor of London, Brook Watson being rescued from a shark attack in Havan harbour (which happened in 1749). Watson and the Shark (1778)
Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray by David Martin (1779). Belle was the illegitimate child of an enslaved woman and a Royal Navy officer. She lived with her second cousin Lady Murray. William Murray (1st Earl of Mansfield) was the Lord Chief Justice in London from 1756-1788 and his ruling in the Somerset Case of 1772 was widely understood to mean that slavery had no legal basis in England.
The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) saw enslaved people overthrow the French regime in Haiti. This is a portrait of King Henry Christophe by Richard Evans (1816). Portraits like this were Diplomatic gifts and ths one was sent to the abolitionist William Wilberforce (who sent his own portrait back).
A black servant helps to adjust the belt of George Prince of Wales (later King George IV), a portrait by Joshua Reynolds (1787). A very unusual pose that looks like a 'behind the scenes' moment in a portrait sitting. It cause a sensation at the time.
An engraving of the way the RA used to display their exhibitions in 1787 by Pietro Antonio Martini. You can see the portrait above in the centre of the display. I rather like that there are dogs and children at the exhibition.
The next section: Tradition and Appropriation - highlights that often the paintings would 'idealise' and appropriate patterns, figures and issues from countries where Britain ruled.
A modern piece by the Singh Twins referring to the connections between Asia and the three cyclical stages of the ' triangular trade'. Goods were shipped from Europe to Africa, enslaved people were shipped to the Americas, and plantation produce was shipped to Europe. This uses the image of Fanny Eaton (model to the Pre-Raphaelite painters - see later). Indiennes: The Extended Triangle from the 'Slaves of Fashion' Series (2018)
Lord Clive receiving from the Nawab of Bengal the grant of the sum of money for Lord Clive's Fund for the relief of distressed soldiers and their dependents by Sir Edward Penny (1772)
The next section: Beauty and Difference: Landscape and Architecture: idealised and romanticised versions of landscapes.
The Ghauts at Benares, by William Hodges (1787)
Colonel Blair and his family and Indian Ayah by Johann Zoffany (1786). The unnamed figure may have been the ayah (nanny) to the family, but current thinking is that she is quite young, so more probably is the daughter of an ayah or an illegitimate child of Blair.
The Family of Sir William Young by Johann Zoffany (1767). William Young was a colonial governor, politician and owner of sugar plantations (including 896 enslaved Africans). This painting demonstrates his wealth.
View on the River Roseau, Dominica (1770-80) by Agostino Brunias. A very idealised Caribbean landscape where indigenous Caribbean, African and European people live together in harmony...
Close-ups
I rather liked this portrayal of small representations of Caribbean huts, overlaid with changing images of the grand buildings surrounding the largest park in Port of Spain in Trinidad. Primitive Matters: Huts (2010) by Karen McLean.
The next section: Prints and Poetry. I thought this image by Barbara Walker showing the outline of an old master painting (in this case Diana and Actaeon by Titian - which you can see here) and highlighting the person of colour in the painting.
The artist says: "a compelling absence of Black representation in our national archives and, by extension, in the collective memory of British society"
The next section: Sculpture and Photography. Sculptures of slaves.
The next section: Students, models and exhibitors.
The Toy Seller by William Mulready (1857). Reinforcing stereotypes of a slightly frightening 'foreigner'..
The Pipe of Freedom by Thomas Stuart Smith (1869). Celebrating the liberation of enslaved people after the American Civil War. Behind the sitter on the wall is a poster showing the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863)
Fanny Eaton - a favourite model whose mixed Jamaican/British heritage meant she was used in many 'exotic' roles such as here in The Mother of Sisera by Albert Joseph Moore (1861)
Making up history - The Babylonian Marriage Market by Edwin Longsden Long (1875). Various 'exotic' women are waiting for marriage selection.
Bust of an African Woman by Henry Weekes (1859)
The next section: Constructing Whiteness. Highlighting the favouritism towards white = beautiful such as in this painting: Startled by Frank Dicksee (1862). Dicksee was the RA's President from 1924-1928 and insisted: "our ideal of beauty must be the white man's".
The Royal Academy Selection and Hanging Committee in 1938 painted by Frederick William Elwell shows why this attitude was prevalent at the time.
I'll Bend but I will not Break by Betye Saar (1998). An 18th-century diagram of the inhumane conditions aboard a slave ship (circulated by abolitionists) is printed onto an ironing board. A white cotton sheet hanging behind has KKK embroidered on it (the Klu Klux Klan was founded in 1865).
Close up
I'm glad I went to the exhibition.
It's a huge topic, and the exhibition was quite large, but of course doesn't cover all the nuances of the links, so to a certain extent it was fairly superficial. However, as an introduction to the importance of realising how people of colour were treated back in the 18th-century, it did make an attempt to explain the topic. However, I'm still processing whether it did enough, so I'll post some selections of what was there, and let you make your own mind up.
I've posted a similar photo of this before - this is outside in the RA courtyard The First Supper (Galaxy Black) by Tavares Strachan (2023). Celebrating the act of sharing a meal, it pays homage to Da Vinci's Last Supper, but features historically significant activists, writers, musicians, explorers and political leaders from different eras and backgrounds eating rice, breadfruit, cocoa, catfish and more...
This is a self-portrait of Tavares Strachan with an extinct animal called a thylacine who is seated right on the end on the left of the table.
From the introduction: The decades surrounding the RA’s foundation in 1768 saw the official establishment of British rule in India, and the height of Britain’s Atlantic trade in enslaved African people. Amid daily resistance of enslaved people in British colonies, including powerful rebellions in Jamaica, the movement to end slavery - known as abolition - emerged.The exhibition is divided into sections. This is the first one - Sites of Power: Portraits and Presence. Many of these portraits are of black people living in Georgian Britain.
Bust of a Man by Francis Harwood (1758)
Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit by an unknown artist (1740). There's some speculation that the head and body are by different artists.
I thought the face was beautifully painted.
Portrait of a Man, probably Francis Barber by Joshua Reynolds 1770. Barber was brought to England from Jamaica by his enslaver Col. Richard Bathurst, and was freed when Bathurst died in 1755. Barber went on to become a servant and friend to Samuel Johnson.
Head of a Man by John Singleton Copley (1778). Another unknown person, although this isn't uncommon at this time - there are so many paintings I've seen where no one knows who the sitter was which is always frustrating.
The next section: Conflict and Ambition
A huge model which represents the maritime histories of trade. Armada by Hew Locke (2017-2019). Including vessels of many different eras (The Mayflower and HMS Windrush are both featured).
The Death of General James Wolfe (1779) by Benjamin West. At the time this was seen as a patriotic sacrifice, but now we know how poorly the indigenous communities of North America were treated.
The First Nations (Delaware) figure is shown kneeling.
A 'Heroic Painting' which were very popular at the time. This shows the future Lord Mayor of London, Brook Watson being rescued from a shark attack in Havan harbour (which happened in 1749). Watson and the Shark (1778)
Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray by David Martin (1779). Belle was the illegitimate child of an enslaved woman and a Royal Navy officer. She lived with her second cousin Lady Murray. William Murray (1st Earl of Mansfield) was the Lord Chief Justice in London from 1756-1788 and his ruling in the Somerset Case of 1772 was widely understood to mean that slavery had no legal basis in England.
The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) saw enslaved people overthrow the French regime in Haiti. This is a portrait of King Henry Christophe by Richard Evans (1816). Portraits like this were Diplomatic gifts and ths one was sent to the abolitionist William Wilberforce (who sent his own portrait back).
A black servant helps to adjust the belt of George Prince of Wales (later King George IV), a portrait by Joshua Reynolds (1787). A very unusual pose that looks like a 'behind the scenes' moment in a portrait sitting. It cause a sensation at the time.
An engraving of the way the RA used to display their exhibitions in 1787 by Pietro Antonio Martini. You can see the portrait above in the centre of the display. I rather like that there are dogs and children at the exhibition.
The next section: Tradition and Appropriation - highlights that often the paintings would 'idealise' and appropriate patterns, figures and issues from countries where Britain ruled.
A modern piece by the Singh Twins referring to the connections between Asia and the three cyclical stages of the ' triangular trade'. Goods were shipped from Europe to Africa, enslaved people were shipped to the Americas, and plantation produce was shipped to Europe. This uses the image of Fanny Eaton (model to the Pre-Raphaelite painters - see later). Indiennes: The Extended Triangle from the 'Slaves of Fashion' Series (2018)
Lord Clive receiving from the Nawab of Bengal the grant of the sum of money for Lord Clive's Fund for the relief of distressed soldiers and their dependents by Sir Edward Penny (1772)
The next section: Beauty and Difference: Landscape and Architecture: idealised and romanticised versions of landscapes.
The Ghauts at Benares, by William Hodges (1787)
Colonel Blair and his family and Indian Ayah by Johann Zoffany (1786). The unnamed figure may have been the ayah (nanny) to the family, but current thinking is that she is quite young, so more probably is the daughter of an ayah or an illegitimate child of Blair.
The Family of Sir William Young by Johann Zoffany (1767). William Young was a colonial governor, politician and owner of sugar plantations (including 896 enslaved Africans). This painting demonstrates his wealth.
View on the River Roseau, Dominica (1770-80) by Agostino Brunias. A very idealised Caribbean landscape where indigenous Caribbean, African and European people live together in harmony...
Close-ups
I rather liked this portrayal of small representations of Caribbean huts, overlaid with changing images of the grand buildings surrounding the largest park in Port of Spain in Trinidad. Primitive Matters: Huts (2010) by Karen McLean.
The next section: Prints and Poetry. I thought this image by Barbara Walker showing the outline of an old master painting (in this case Diana and Actaeon by Titian - which you can see here) and highlighting the person of colour in the painting.
#/media/File:Titian_-_Diana_and_Actaeon_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg){kind=link}
The artist says: "a compelling absence of Black representation in our national archives and, by extension, in the collective memory of British society"
The next section: Sculpture and Photography. Sculptures of slaves.
The next section: Students, models and exhibitors.
The Toy Seller by William Mulready (1857). Reinforcing stereotypes of a slightly frightening 'foreigner'..
The Pipe of Freedom by Thomas Stuart Smith (1869). Celebrating the liberation of enslaved people after the American Civil War. Behind the sitter on the wall is a poster showing the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863)
Fanny Eaton - a favourite model whose mixed Jamaican/British heritage meant she was used in many 'exotic' roles such as here in The Mother of Sisera by Albert Joseph Moore (1861)
Making up history - The Babylonian Marriage Market by Edwin Longsden Long (1875). Various 'exotic' women are waiting for marriage selection.
Bust of an African Woman by Henry Weekes (1859)
The next section: Constructing Whiteness. Highlighting the favouritism towards white = beautiful such as in this painting: Startled by Frank Dicksee (1862). Dicksee was the RA's President from 1924-1928 and insisted: "our ideal of beauty must be the white man's".
The Royal Academy Selection and Hanging Committee in 1938 painted by Frederick William Elwell shows why this attitude was prevalent at the time.
I'll Bend but I will not Break by Betye Saar (1998). An 18th-century diagram of the inhumane conditions aboard a slave ship (circulated by abolitionists) is printed onto an ironing board. A white cotton sheet hanging behind has KKK embroidered on it (the Klu Klux Klan was founded in 1865).
Close up
I'm glad I went to the exhibition.