Royal Academy Exhibition of 1839

The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner

The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1839 was the seventy first Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at the National Gallery in London from 6 May to 27 July 1839. It featured submissions from leading painters, sculptors and architects of the early Victorian era.[1]

J.M.W. Turner sent in a number of paintings, each of which met with a degree of critical hostility. The best known of these works was The Fighting Temeraire, featuring a celebrated Napoleonic War battleship being towed up the River Thames to be broken up.[2] The others include included the companion pieces Ancient Rome - Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus and Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino both landscapes featuring views of the city Rome.[3] He also displayed a third Roman-themed work Cicero at His Villa at Tusculum as well as The Rape of Proserpine based on Greek Mythology. Edwin Landseer debuted a number of paintings, reflecting his speciality in animal painting.

David Wilkie displayed the history painting Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tipoo Sahib, which was one of the most popular works in the exhibition.[4] Wilkie also displayed a simpler genre subject Grace Before Meat.[5] The Irish artist Daniel Maclise enjoyed success with his Robin Hood and His Merry Men Entertaining Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest, illustrating a scene from Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe. Marshall Claxton submitted Lady Jane Grey in the Tower featuring a scene from the Tudor era while Solomon Hart displayed Lady Jane Grey at Her Place of Execution. Charles Landseer, the brother of Edwin, presented The Pillaging of a Jews House in the Reign of Richard I depicting medieval antisemitism.[6]

In portraiture the President of the Royal Academy Martin Archer Shee displayed a depiction of the future Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen. His rival Thomas Phillips featured several portraits including Thomas Arnold and the art collector Lord Egremont. Francis Grant, rapidly establishing himself as one of the leading portrait painters of the early Victorian era, enjoyed success with his sporting painting The Melton Hunt Going to Draw the Ram's Head Cover which was bought by the Duke of Wellington for a large price.[7] Amongst the many sculptures on display was Edward Hodges Baily's marble statue of the engineer Thomas Telford, designed for Westminster Abbey.

See also

  • Salon of 1839, a contemporary French exhibition held at the Louvre in Paris

References

Bibliography

  • Bailey, Anthony. J.M.W. Turner: Standing in the Sun. Tate Enterprises Ltd, 2013.
  • Hamilton, James. Turner - A Life. Sceptre, 1998.
  • Ormond, Richard. Sir Edwin Landseer. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1981.
  • Shanes, Eric. The Life and Masterworks of J.M.W. Turner. Parkstone International, 2012.
  • Tromans, Nicholas. David Wilkie: The People's Painter. Edinburgh University Press, 2007.
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