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The hungtiongton Art Gallery offers
a fascinating interplay of the elegant and the domestic. The collection
is one of the most distinguished in America within its area of specialization
- British and french art of the eighteenth century - and the variety
of its holdings brings this period vividly to life. In the historical
period represented, bounded by the dates of the American and the
French revolutions, the art of England and France was the accepted
standard of the day, and the eighteenth-century-style interiors
of the former Huntington residence provide a worthy setting, evoking
the surroundings in which the works of art were originally seen.
The majestic Sarah Siddons, Painted by Reynolds
as the Tragic Muse, is the focal point for the most grand effect
of all: the Main Gallery with its constellation of splendid portraits.
This group of twenty pictures, including major work by Gainsborough,
Romney, Lawrence and Raeburn, is perhaps the finest garhering of
full-length Britsh portraits to be found anywhere. Amongst the paintings,
dating from about 1770 to 1800, are two of the most famous and beloved
images at the Huntington, Pinkie and The Blue Boy.
In this gallery the grand gesture and rhetoric of exhibiton portraiture
mingle with the domestic, the personal. Mrs siddons is regal, her
pose and massiveness reminiscent of Michelangelo's sibyls. But near
her, karl Friedrich Abel (chamber musician to Queen Charlotte) sits
quietly at his work of composing, supprised by his friend Gaindborough;
his viol rests on his knee, ready to run throuth the next passage;
at his feet his very appealing dog is watchful, resting but with
eyes open. The room is worth an afternoon of study and reflection,
observing these contrasts and appreciating the virtuosity of the
painters.
Landscape is another area of Brirish painting
handsomely represented in the collections, with works including
Constable's View on the Stour near Dedham and Turner's Grand
Canal Venice: Shylock. Also on view are the small-scale group
portraits called "conversation pieces" by Hayman, Devis,
and Wheatley, genre pictures with animals by stubbs, Marshall and
Morland, and more than a hundred portrait miniatures from the sevenyeenth
to the early nineteenth centuries, those delightful keepsakes painted
on vellim or ivory to be exchanged among friends. All the major
practitioners are included, from Hilliard and Oliver to Cosway aand
smart.
More than twelve thousand British drawings
and watercolors, the work of about five hundred artists, enrich
the Hungtington holdings still further: Blake, Rowlandson, Gainsborough,
Turner and Constable are well represented. Selections are always
on view in changing exhibitions, drawn from one of the most impressive
collections of British draftsmanship to be found outside of London.
Landscape, portrait, and narrative subjects (expecially comic drawings)
are included in these simple, lively, and fresh samll picures.
A Limited but reoresentative collection of
British sculpture has recently been assembled and displayed, comprisong
mainly portrait busts, and a further addition of the last few decades
has been several hundred pieces of British silver, covering the
wide span from the late fifieenth to mid-nineteenth centries. These
appealing objects combine usefulness-in, say, a marrow spoon or
a cream jug-with the rich luster and workmanship of elegant old
silver. Surrounding and enhancing these throughout the building
are British period furniture and other decorative and Wedgwood ware,
including the eighteenth-century pine paneling encompassing the
Quinn Room, these pieces round out the comprehensive view of Georgian
art to be enjoyed at the Huntington.
Continetal European art provieds a rich counterpart
for these arts of England. In the Arabella Huntington Memorial,
a special collection displayed in the Library building, are a number
of Italian Renaissance paintings by minor masters, and a few works
by flemish artists including an outstanding. Madonna and Child by
Roger van der Weyden. The Memorial also comprises ornamental Severs
proecelain, French furniture with its highly elaborate surfaces
of marquetry of gilt bronze. and an outstanding collection of French
eighteenth-century sculpture. Other French decorative arts are found
in the main Art Gallery, including more handsome furnitture, ranging
from the eococo style to the more restrained neo-classic. Clocks.
candelabea, and other objects the revolution. Grandest in scale
are the ten Beauvais tapestries wovwn from designs by Boucher, and
in complete contrast are some tiny personal possessions, a collection
of snuffboxes made of gold, enamel and gems.
Perhaps most highly prized of the Continental
pieces are the Renaissance bronze statuettes, a small collection
but of remarkable quality, among which the works by Giovanni Bologna
and his followeres are particularly noteworthy. These delightful
little objects from sixteenth-century Italy were made for private
enjoyment in study of an admirer. Here they invite the Huntington
vissitor to linger for a closer look, to marvel at their fineness
and rich patina.
In 1978, the huntington received a major bequest
which has become the Adeles. Browning Memorial. The gift consisted
of French, British, Italian, Dutch and Flemish painting, and otherwise
complemented in many ways the materials already here. Among the
artists represented are Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard, Romney,
Hoppner, Canaletto, Rembrandt, and Van Dyck. The paintings are shown
as a unit in for adjoining galleries, and they form a delightful
excursion into Continental seventeenth and eighteenth-century art.
An even more recent gift, also of enormous
importance, is the Virginia Steele Scott collection. The collection
consists of fifty American paintings, carefully chosen by professionals
in field to represent the best of American art from about 1730 to
1930. Most of America's "old masters" are included: Copley,
West, and Stuart for the early period; Sully, Bingham, Allston and
many others for the nineteenth century; brilliant examples by Sargent
and Cassatt from the end of the nineteenth century and, from the
early twentieth century, fine characteristic works by artists such
as Bellows, Hopper, Wood and kuhn. These pictures will be housed
in a separate gallery become even more closely linked, as the former
has since its inception centered on Anglo-American civilization.
Beyond the walls of the galleries, a wide
variety of sculpture and architectural ornaments are to be found
in the gardens. Little temples, statues, urns, benches, and especially
the fountains-all lend a particular grace to the landscape setting.
Notable examples are the thirty-one stone figures of the seventeenth
century, brought from a villa garden near Padua, and now flanking
the broad North Vista lawn; the Italian baroque fountain at the
end of that vista; for bronze statues after classcical originals,
now beside the entrances of the Library building.
The holdings of the huntington Art Gallery
are continually growing, both through gifts and through purchase.
The essential character of the collection, however, remains the
same, allowing for a depth and internal harmony unmatched in most
museums. But new treasures are constantly being added, pieces closely
related in period or style to the original focus. The most up-to-date
conservation work is carried out on pieces in need of attention.
The regulations governing the huntington forbid lending works of
art, so the treasures can be seen at first hand only by vistors
to the gallery; however, high quality reproductions are available
for the continued study and pleasure of the thousands who come each
year. the collection id made more accessible for the public by an
active program of talks, tours, and publications, and the scope
is further widened by performances of music, dance, and drama related
to the collection which add lively reflections in these sister arts.
The huntington Art Gallery offers to the public
a sense of history, a host of beautiful thing to see, and the intellectual
pleasures of contrasts and suprises. But the most abiding recollection
taken away by visitors may be the memory of a face: houdon's gentle
Sabine, with her hint of an archaic smile; spirited Pinkie, touching
us with her simple, direct gaze; Van Dyck's proud lady; or the memorable
Abel, harmonies crowding into his head while his friend, out of
sight' works away at this canvas.
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Thomas
Gainsborough R.A. (1727-1788), Karl Fredrich Abel, c1777, oil on
cancas 88 x 58in (223.5 x 147.3cm).
Karl Friedrich Abel (1725-1787) was a distinguished
musician, pariticularly noted as a composer for and performer on
the viola da gamba, the instrument with which he is here portrayed.
Abel was a close personal friend of Gainsborough, who was a passionate
amateur musician.
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Sir
Joshua Reynolds P.R.A. (1723-1792), Georgiana, Duchess
of Devonshire, 19775-76,oil on canvas, 93 1/4 x 57in
(236.9 x 144.8com).
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Thomas Gainsborough R.A. (1727-1788),
Penelope, Viscountess Lingountess Ligonier, 1770, oil
on canvas, 93 x 61in (236.2 x 154.9cm).
At the time this portrait was painted,
Lady Ligonier was about to become the principal figure
in a sensational divorce scandal that rocked not only
British but European society. The third point of the
triangle was the Italian dramatist, Count Vittorio Alfieri,
whose memoirs give a very full and spirited account
of the affair.
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Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A. (1723-1792) Sarah siddons
as the Tragic Muse,1784, oil on canvas, 93 x 57 1/2in
(236.2 x 146.1com).
In this painting, considered by Reynolds and his
contemporaries as his masterpiece, the artist portrays
Mrs Siddons, the great tragic actress, with the attributes
of Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy. The painting is full
of learned allusions to Aristotle, Michelangelo, treatises
on the passions, and theories concerning "grand
manner" painting. Reynolds manages to blend all
this information together into a unified work of great
dignity and power.
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Thomas Gainsborough R.A (1727-1788), Mrs John Meares,
c.1777, oil on canvas, 88 x 55 1/2in (223.5 x 141cm).
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Thomas Gainsborough R.A. (1727-17880, Juliana, Lady
petre,1788, oil on canvas, 88 3/4 x 57 1/4in (225.4
x 145.4com).
The portrait was painted in the year of Gainsborough's
deat. In economy of brushwork-making a few squiggles
into a convincing suggestion of a skirt or a tree-the
painting shows Gainsborough's art at its fullest development.
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Thomas Gainsborough R.A. (1727-1788), Edward, 2nd
Viscount Ligonier, 1770, oil on canvas, 92 1/2 x 61
1/2in (235 x 156.2com).
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Thomas Gainsborough R.A. (1727-1788). Jonathan Buttall:
"The blue Boy", c. 1770, oil on canvas, 70
x 48in (178 x 122cm).
The Blue Boy, perhaps the most famous of all British
portraits, poses many questions. We have no certain
information about the painting until after Gainsborough's
death. The available evidence indicates that the boy
is Jonathan Buttall, son of a prosperous hardware merchant
and a friend of Gainsborough. The picture is modelled
in costume, pose, and even paint handling-on the work
of earlier artist, Van Dyck, a painter Gainsborough
admired above all others. These circumstances, together
with the fact that Gainsborough painted the picture
over an unfinished, cut-down portait, suggest that The
Blue Boy was not a normal commission, but something
the artist painted for his own pleasure.
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Sir Henry Raeburn R.A. (1756-1823), Master William
Blair, c.1814, oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 24 3/4in (74.9
x 62.9com).
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Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A. (1723-1792), Jane,Countess
of Harrington, 1777-79, oil on canvas, 92 3/4 x 57in
(235.6 x 144.8cm).
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Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A. (1723-1792), Lavina Countess
Spencer, and Viscount Althorp, 1783-84, oil on canvas,
57 1/2 x 43in (146.1 x 109.2cm).
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Francois Boucher (1703-1770), Venus and Cupid, 1769,
oil on canvas, 27 1/2 x 22 1/2in (69.9 x 57.2cm), oval.
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Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766), Portait of a Lady
as Diana, 1742, oil on canvas, 39 x 31 1/2in (99.1 x
80cm).
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Anotoine Watteau (1684-1721), La Danse paysanne,
oil on panel, 17 x 12 3/4in (43.2 x 32.4cm).
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Thomas Gainsbrough R.A. (1727-1788), Laddy with a
Spaniel, c.1750, oil on canvas, 30 x 25in (76.2 x 63.5cm).
This early work by Gainsborough-Physically small, prim,
but charming-is in a manner he ababdoned when he moved
from Ipswich to more fashionable centers of Bath and
London.
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Arthur Devis (1711-1787), George, 1st Lord Lyttelton,
Hit Brother Lt. Gen. Sir Richard Lyttelton, His Brother
Lt. Gen. Sir Richard Lyttelton, and Sir Richard's Wife
Rachel, 1748, oil on canvas, 49 1/2 x 39 1/2in (125.7
x 100.3cm).
Devis is a leading master of the "Conversation
Piece", a type of small-scale, informal, group
portrait that enjoyed wide popularity in eighteenth-century
England. The "Conversation Piece" is an interesting
contrast to the much more stately, life-size, full-length
English in the huntington collection.
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Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A. (1723-1792), Diana, Viscountess
Crosbie, 1777, on canvas, 93 x 57in (236.2 x 144.8cm).
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Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A. (1723-1792), The young
Fortune Teller, 1775, oil on canvas, 55 x 43in (139.7
x 109.2cm).
In this double portrait of two children of the fourth
Duke of Martlborough, Reynolds makes a whimsical allusion,
in costume and pose, to Caravaggio's The Fortune Teller,
now in the Louvre.
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allan Ramsay (1713-1784), anne, Countess Winterton,
1762, oil on canvas, 30 x 25in (76.2 x 63.5cm).
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Francois-Hubert Drouais (1727-1775), Boy with Peaches,
1760, oil on canvas, 28 x 22in (71.1 x 55.9cm).
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Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805), young Knitter Asleep,
oil on canvas, 26 3/4 x 21 3/4in (67.9 x 55.2cm).
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George romney (1734-1802), The clavering Children,
1777, oil on canvas, 60 x 48in (152.4 x 121.9cm).
this portrait was painted shortly after Romney's
return from a period of study in italy. The careful
placement of the figures; the echoing curves of the
scarf, the boy's arms, the back of the dog, all attest
to the artist's study of antiqur Roman basreliefs and
wall paintings.
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Geeorge Romney (1734-1802), Lady hamilton in a Straw
Hat, painted not later than 1785, oil on canvas, 29
1/2 x 24 1/2in (74.9 x 62.2cm). This charming portrait
of the early 1780s before she had met either Nelson
or her future husband, Sir William Hamilton. She was
at the time under the "protection" of Sir
William's nephew, Charles Greville.
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John Hoppner R.A. (1758-1810), The Godsal Children:
The Setting Sun, 1789, oil on canvas, 54 x 60 1/2in
(137.2 x 153.7cm).
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Francis Wheatley R.A. (1747-1801), Mrs ralph Winstanley
Wood and Her Two Daughters, 1787, oil on canvas, 36
x 28 1/2in (91.4 x 72.4cm).
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John Smart (1741-1811), Robert Woolf (the artist's
son-in-law), 1786, watercolor on ivory, 2 x 1 1/2in
(5.1 x 4cm).
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Richard Cosway (1742-1821), George, Prince of Wales,
1787, watercolor on ivory, 3 1/2 x 23/4in (8.9 x 7cm),
oval.
Cosway represents his friend and patron, the Prince
of Wales, while still a young man, although already
notorious for his numerous amours and profligate ways.
The mainiature is a beautiful example of the light,
feathery touch which is a distinctive feature of Cosway's
work.
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Johan Constable R.A. (1776-1837), The Artist's Sisters,
Anne and Mary constable, c.1818, oil on canvas, 15 x
11 1/2in (38.1 x 29.2cm). Constable painted a few portraits,
especially early in his career. The best are those of
close friends and family. In this portrait of his two
sisters Constable uses costume effectively to emphasize
the different personalities of two woman.
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Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), Rabaut Saint-Etienne
(a sketch for " The Oath of the Tennis Court"),
oil on canvas, 21 3/4 x 16 3/4 in (55.2 x 42.5 cm).
This spirited portrait sketch was made by David in
preparation for a large painting he never completed
commemorating the famous "Oath in the Tennis Court"
at the onset of the French Revolution. Rabaut Saint-Etienne
was active in gaining tolerance for French protestants.
Like so many of the moderate early revolutionaries,
he fell from favor and was guillotined in 1793.
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Sir thomas Lawrence P.R.A. (1769-1830), Sarah Barrett
Moulton: "Pinkie", 1794, oil on canvas, 57
1/2 x 39 1/4in (146.1 x 99.7cm).
pinkie's proper name was Sarah Goodin Barrett Moulton.
She was born in Jamaica. The portrait was painted on
commission from her grandmother in jamaica when Pinkie
(who was so nicknamed by her family) came to England
with her brothers to continue her education. She died,
apparently of tuberculosis, within a few months of the
completion of the portrait. Her bother, who changed
his surname to Moulton-Barrett, was the father of the
poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
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