The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
N EWSLETTER Yale University
December 2012 Issue 35
T HE PAUL M ELLON L ECTURES 2013 Painters and Players from Hogarth to Olivier Robin Simon Honorary Professor of English, University College London, and Editor, British Art Journal Mondays, 14 January–11 February 2013, 6.30–7.30 pm Sainsbury Wing Theatre, The National Gallery, London The theme of this lecture series is the relationship between British art and the theatre from the eighteenth century to the twentieth. William Hogarth (1697–1764) said of his famous ‘progresses’, ‘My picture was my stage and men and women my actors’, a phrase that has become a cliché in the history of British art. The high point of Hogarth’s career coincided with the emergence of the actor and theatrical impresario David Garrick (1717–79), who became one of his closest friends. The last years of Hogarth’s life saw the emergence of Johan Zoffany (1733–1810), his successor as a painter of theatrical compositions and protégé of Garrick, who also left an unparalleled record of the contemporary stage. Less familiar is the fact that Hogarth was reasserting age-old ideas about the interaction between the visual arts and the drama that had recently been re-examined in academic discussions in France. It was of particular significance in the making of ‘histories’, when a shared language of gesture and expression was deployed and when particular rules were held to apply. Actors such as Garrick were explicit about finding inspiration in painting and sculpture, and the habit was maintained by such later giants of the theatre as Henry Irving (1838–1905) and Laurence Olivier (1907–89).
William Hogarth, The Beggar’s Opera (detail), 1729. Yale Center for British Art
14 January: ‘An unjointed caterpillar’: Richard III on Stage, Screen and Canvas 21 January: Making History: ‘history painting’ and the theatre 28 January: ‘Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood’: shared concepts of expression and gesture 4 February: Performing Artists: actors, artists, and the paradox of performance 11 February: ‘All the original music’: adapting and immortalising
Tickets are available now at £6 (£4 concessions): Online via the National Gallery at http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paul-mellon-lectures-2013. By post: cheques made payable to the National Gallery and sent to Advance Tickets Sales, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. In person from the Advance Tickets and Audio Guide desks, Level 2, Sainsbury Wing. On the day any remaining tickets will be on sale, cash or cheque only, half an hour before the start of each event. For information only, please telephone The National Gallery on 020 7747 2888. The Paul Mellon Centre Staff Director of Studies: Mark Hallett Deputy Director of Studies: Martin Postle Assistant Director for Finance and Administration: Sarah Ruddick Librarian: Emma Floyd Archivist and Records Manager: Charlotte Brunskill Archives and Library Assistant: Jenny Hill Picture Research and Online Cataloguing: Maisoon Rehani Director’s Assistant and Events Administrator: Ella Fleming Yale-in-London Coordinator: Nermin Abdulla IT Officer: Zulqarnain Swaleh Grants Administrator: Mary Peskett Smith Editor Research Projects: Guilland Sutherland Senior Research Fellows, Special Projects: Hugh Belsey, Elizabeth Einberg, Alex Kidson, Eric Shanes, Paul Spencer-Longhurst Advisory Council: Caroline Arscott, Paul Binski, David Peters Corbett, Penelope Curtis, Philippa Glanville, Michael Hatt, Nigel Llewellyn, Andrew Moore, Gavin Stamp, Christine Stevenson, Alison Yarrington Company Registered in England 983028 Registered Charity 313838 16 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA
Tel: 020 7580 0311
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www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk