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Explores the world famous portrait in great detail
This work examines the significance of the multiple versions of designs for 'The Cottage Door', by Thomas Gainsborough.
Based on new research this fascinating book draws together a group of works from public and private collections to examine, for the first time, the relationship that Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88) had with the theatrical world and the most celebrated stage artists of his day, such as James Quin, David Garrick and Sarah Siddons. Gainsborough painted notable portraits of these and twenty others, including dramatists, dancers and composers. This publication firmly establishes the artist's place within the theatrical worlds of Bath and London and shows why the art of ballet, and in particular Gainsborough's sitters, rose to prominence in 1780 and examines parallels between Gainsborough's much admired painterly naturalism and the theatrical naturalism of Garrick and Siddons with whom he had personal friendships.
Thomas Gainsborough's (1727-88) London years, from 1774 to 1788, were the pinnacle and conclusion of his career. They coincided with the establishment of the Royal Academy, of which Gainsborough was a founding member, and the city's ascendance as a center for the arts. This is a meticulously researched and readable account of how Gainsborough designed his home and studio and maintained a growing schedule of influential patrons, making a place for himself in the art world of late-18th-century London. New material about Gainsborough's technique is based on examinations of his pictures and firsthand accounts by studio visitors. His fractious relationship with the Royal Academy and its exhibition culture is reexamined through the works he sent to its annual shows. The full range of Gainsborough's art, from fashionable portraits to landscapes and fancy pictures, is addressed in this major contribution, not just to the study of a great artist, but to 18th-century studies in general.
The "grand" portrait has long been understood to have played a pivotal part in the self-definition of Georgian society: not only was a likeness presented to a curious public, but social station and financial rank were also advertised, if not flaunted. Leca, curator at the Cincinnati Art Museum, claims that in addition portraiture was the vehicle for "modernist" ideas. He uses as an example the museum's portrait by Thomas Gainsborough titled Ann Ford, the subject of this exhibition catalogue. In a wide-ranging essay, Leca shows how Gainsborough, the most maverick of the period's portraitists, deliberately piqued establishment taste by seeking out and painting "modern women"--courtesans, dance...
Presentist Shakespeares is the first extended study of the principles and practice of 'presentism', a critical movement that takes account of the never-ending dialogue between past and present. In this bold and consistently thought-provoking collection of presentist readings, the contributors: argue that the ironies generated by our involvement in time are a fruitful, necessary and an unavoidable aspect of any text's being, and that presentism allows us to engage with them more fully and productively demonstrate how these ironies can function as agents of change, flowing unstoppably back into the events of the past, colouring how we perceive them and modifying our sense of what they signify ...
"The book begins by charting the geography and professional tactics of a career that took Gainsbourgh from London to Suffolk, Bath and eventually back to London. Rosenthal looks at such wide-ranging topics as how artists manipulated the press, the issue of likeness in portraiture, how rivalries between painters were handled in public and private, and the pressures of the public exhibition. The second part of the book explores the manifestations of Gainsborugh's aesthetic in portraiture, landscape painting and paintings of sensibility. Rosenthal concludes with a discussion of the problem of defining a role and proper form for the fine arts at a time of rapid social change and innovation."--BOOK JACKET.
This is the definitive overview of the artwork of the seminal Manchester-based Factory label, covering its iconic record sleeves, posters, ephemera, venues and packaging. After a foreword by the late founder of Factory, Tony Wilson, an introductory essay discusses the label's role in bringing design to the mainstream. Thereafter the book is organized as a generously illustrated catalogue, arranged by the famous Factory reference system. "Factory Records", as part of the story, has been given its own reference number - Fac 461 - making it a collectable item in its own right.
The opera singer Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci was one of the most famous celebrities of the eighteenth century. In collaboration with the English composer Thomas Arne, he popularized Italian opera, translating it for English audiences and making it accessible with his own compositions which he performed in London's pleasure gardens. Mozart and J. C. Bach both composed for him. He was a rock star of his day, with a massive female following. He was also a castrato. Women flocked to his concerts and found him irresistible. His singing pupil, Dorothea Maunsell, a teenage girl from a genteel Irish family, eloped with him. There was a huge scandal; her father persecuted them mercilessly. Tenducci's ...