PICTURING BRITAIN PAUL SANDBY (1731-1809)
7 November 2009 - 7 February 2009
National Gallery Complex, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
www.nationalgalleries.org Admission Free
This winter the National Gallery of
Scotland will present a major exhibition celebrating the bicentenary of
the artist Paul Sandby (1731-1809). A pioneer landscape painter and
brilliant innovator with watercolour, Sandby played
a key role in promoting the appreciation of spectacular scenery across
Britain and inspired many later travellers and artists. Although the significance of his work has long been acknowledged, this is the first exhibition to include and
analyse the full range of Sandby's achievement.
Paul Sandby was born in Nottingham in 1731. He visited Scotland early in his career as a part of the Military Survey, which through map making,
formed part of the campaign to control the country after the 1745
Jacobite Rebellion. During his time as the Survey's chief draughtsman
he was based in Edinburgh and produced numerous ground-breaking
landscape and genre studies.
These works became well known
through prints, and stand at the beginning of the rich
tradition of depicting the drama and beauty of Scottish landscape -
which was later developed by artists such as Runciman, Nasmyth, More
and Turner.
Sandby also came to know the work of
important Enlightenment figures, such as the poet Allan Ramsay and the
architect Robert Adam. Key works by Sandby exploring Scottish subjects
in the exhibition include Roslin
Castle (Yale Center for British Art), Horse Fair on Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh (National Gallery of Scotland), and part of the ‘Great
Map' of Scotland of c.1753 (British Library).
Following his time in Scotland,
Sandby settled in London where he worked as a teacher, landscape
painter and printmaker, forging a considerable reputation. Thomas
Gainsborough considered him ‘the only
Man of Genius... [for] real Views from Nature'. From the 1760s he made
many highly finished watercolours and gouaches at Windsor, which are in
a number of cases the outstanding works of his career. They include
Sandby's dramatic View of Windsor on a
Rejoicing Night of 1768 (Royal Collection), which was painted in the year the artist became a founder member of the Royal Academy.
Sandby has
often been considered the ‘father' of watercolour painting in Britain;
he refined the use of the medium and employed it to explore a broader
range of subject matter than any previous artist
in the country. He delighted in the study of rural and urban views,
street scenes, royal parks and ancient castles, and always retained an
interest in fascinating anecdotal details - which embrace the fashions,
occupations and entertainments of the people he
encountered. Picturing Britain features over one hundred loans, including oil paintings, watercolours, gouaches,
prints and sketchbooks, coming from all the major collections which house his work: The Royal Collection,
The British Museum, The British Library, The Victoria and Albert Museum and The Yale Center for British Art. It also includes some outstanding works from private collections, which have never previously been
published.
The exhibition
is a collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts in London and
Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery. Its catalogue has been
published by the Royal Academy of Arts, and in 2010 the
Mellon Centre in London will host a complementary academic conference. The
research for the exhibition and accompanying catalogue have been
generously funded by The Paul Mellon Centre for British Art.
CATALOGUE
Paul Sandby, Picturing Britain Edited by John Bonehill and Stephen Daniels
Published by the Royal Academy of Arts
£19.95
EDUCATION PROGRAMME
The Education Programme which complements the exhibition will
include lectures for adults and events and workshops devised for
children and community groups.
EXHIBITION TOUR
Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery:
25 July 2009 - 18 October 2009
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh:
7 November 2009 - 7 February 2010
The Royal Academy of Arts, London:
13 March 2010 - 13 June 2010
National Galleries of Scotland
Bridge Lodge
70 Belford Road
Edinburgh
EH4 3DE
www.nationalgalleries.org
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