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Sir Thomas Lawrence, Emilia Mary Boucherett with a Doll, 1793

Fat George, Fashion Icon

 "Who is your fat friend?"
-Beau Brummel


George Prince of Wales was not a prince to be taken very seriously and then he became king, he wasn't much of a king to be taken seriously either.  Perhaps the saddest part of this recollection was that he was regent for a mad king, making a hedonistic and incompetent young man the backup for ruling an Empire.  Ah, monarchy!

Surprisingly enough the Prince's hedonism led to some of the famous fashion trends of the time period that was named after him, the Regency era.  The foppish prince was never slender but always enjoyed being rather fashionable.  By the 1790s George's waistline was in serious trouble, earning him the affection nickname, The Prince of Whales.  It was challenging for a egotistical prince to continue in his role as a fashionista with his stomach spilling over his trousers so like the cartoon character that he was, he began wearing a corset.  At one point the corset had to reach around fifty inches of waist and required some strong servants to string him into it.  The corset may have given George a slightly daintier shape but it couldn't cover up the double and triple chins he was sporting so George began wearing high collars -- extremely high collars.  The collars caught on and began to be part of every fashionable male's outfit. 

Overall, George did pretty well in disguising his girth with dark colors, corsets, high collars and whatever else.  Looking back on his portraits from the time you wouldn't exactly call him obese, although flattering portrait painters like Lawrence, could probably be credited for that.  However when the sovereign's head appeared on currency in the traditional roman motif, there was no disguising the king's weight from his subjects....or the fact that they had been dressing in weight-disguising fashions the whole time!

Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance

If you go to the Yale Center for British Art's newest exhibition Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance on a weekday morning, you'll have your own private showing of a wonderful exhibition.  Well, maybe not private, there was a whole lot of loud talking from museum staff while I was there.  But perhaps they were just buzzing about their newest showcase! I would gladly take the talking over the crowds that will undoubtedly be trekking to see this exhibition.

I will start out by saying the YCBA has a different sort of exhibition space.  It's good for the permanent collection but a little awkward when you are directing traffic such as curators are supposed to.  It was nice having the space to myself so I could backtrack and make sure I didn't miss any of the paintings.  I found myself actually going in circles in the midst of a big circular exhibition space which was slightly tedious.  The other thing that bothered me about the space was how it was continuously mentioned that two of Lawrence's portraits brought him fame, Queen Charlotte and Elizabeth Farren.  So it would make sense for the two paintings to be together at the beginning, right? Instead they were split up, with the Farren portrait at the end.  Now, with that slight criticism out of the way I can flatter the exhibition!

As a whole Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance was absolutely wonderful.  It is explained that early in his career Lawrence got some well-meant advice from Joshua Reynolds who basically told him to lay off the portraits and try history paintings.  However, upon viewing one of Lawrence's few history paintings, while well-painted, the passion is missing.  Look around at the numerous portraits and you can see where' Lawrence's talents lie.  Thank goodness he didn't take Reynolds' advice!

Having Lawrence's greatest works together allowed me to noticed that he has a similar technique to Gainsborough; effortless paint strokes on the face, labored rendering on clothing or objects.  But what really struck me was the fabulous backgrounds he put his sitters in, backgrounds easily missed in small book reproductions.  Lawrence tended to sneak in a building that had meaning to his sitters such as their home, school, or a home landmark.  The exhibition also featured many of Lawrence's drawings, some of which I had seen at The Intimate Portrait such as Mrs. Hamilton.  Normally drawings are hidden away so you have to wait for exhibits such as these to see them in all their splendor.

As mentioned before, the famous Elizabeth Farren and Queen Charlotte (who rejected the painting, btw) were there.  I was also pleased to see the NPG's newly acquired , John Kemble as Cato which has an amazing presence and is quite stunning in person.  Ultimate Regency hunk, Granville Leveson-Gower was there, as well as the man who made the Regency possible, The Prince of Wales.  The sitters are too numerous to name but there was one lavishly-ringed sitter who Lawrence had the pleasure to draw when she was 62 years old.  Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire, or Bess, as we commonly know her, came with this comment: "Although we cannot be sure if it was the duchess's vanity or Lawrence's ability to flatter that accounts for her youthful appearance."

If you are on the fence about visiting Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance it is my personal opinion that you should affix your slippers or cravats and go!  Although it could be considered small in scale, the retrospective is packed with Lawrence's greatest works which makes it an exhibition wellworth your time, especially since its time at Yale is its only North American stop. My advice- go during a weekday so you can keep Lawrence all to yourself; you just might have to share with all those chatty staff members!

Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance will be at the Yale Center for British Art through 5 June.

NPG's Newest Aquisition

Reader, Judy clued me in today about a very important Thomas Lawrence acquisition to the National Portrait Gallery that might be of great interest to you. This fine gent is John Philip Kemble, leading actor of Drury Lane and brother of leading actress, Sarah Siddons. It was reported that Kemble portrayed a better Macbeth than Garrick himself (the drawing of Kemble as Macbeth is also by Lawrence)! But one of the roles he was best known for was as Cato from the tragedy by the same name by Joseph Addison.

In this full portrait that is about eight feet high we see Kemble in a portrait that is a worthy compliment to the depiction of his sister in Reynold's Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse. Lawrence's long dramatic stroke coheres to form a perfect logic. Kemble is the perfect example of a roman citizen, complete with Caesar hairstyle and toga. He is caught in a pensive moment in the middle of reviewing plans. His expression required both the skills of its actor-sitter and the artist to successfully produce on canvas.

As this article from the Guardian says, the NPG was able to purchase the painting with the help of a grant, from Heath House. It will now reach a larger audience in its new home in London (for a cheaper admission too, I bet!).

The Intimate Portrait at The British Museum

Set in the intimate Gallery 90 in the British Museum, The Intimate Portrait takes some of the nicest drawings and miniatures out of the British Museum's collection and puts them on display for the masses...free of charge!

After hiking up the many flights of worn marble stairs you enter the dimly lit print gallery. It looks like any other print gallery with the exception of an ingenious little simplicity: rest boards. These banisters follow the glass cases allowing you to rest your arms (and handbag) as you lean down to read the detailed description of the drawings. Lauren and both remarked on what a convenient feature this was. It was needed to because there was a lot of reading in the descriptions and each was was so interesting, you didn't want to skip over any.

I loved this exhibition. Although small in size you could easily spend an hour or more there. There weren't as many miniatures as I was hoping, but the amazing drawings made up for the lack of miniatures. There were many highlights I particularly enjoyed. Two sketches of Angelica Kauffman show the artist in candid moments, sketched when she was sketching or in the company of friends. The drawing of Mary Hamilton by Lawrence is so beautiful it was chosen as the icon for the exhibition itself. A chalk self-portrait of Joshua Reynolds at 27, shows not only how handsome the young artist was but also depicts his young ambition and confident air. There is also a sketch Thomas Lawrence did of Emma when he was visiting the Hamiltons which is interesting in that Emma herself signed it. Her signature is surprisingly neat; I always pictured it in my head as sloppy since her grammar was horrible (although it wasn't her fault she was illiterate for years).

All in all, this is not an exhibition to be missed if you are in London. Give yourself an hour or so to dedicate to it and then leave through the opposite exit so that you come out in the citradel right by the restaurant. Order some afternoon tea for two and you are in heaven. Fabulous exhibitions should always be discussed over tea.