Royal Academy Exhibition of 1851

The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1851 was the eighty third annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy. It was held at the National Gallery in London between 5 May and 16 August 1851 during the Victorian era. It faced strong competition in public interest from the Great Exhibition being held in Hyde Park at the same time.[1]

The exhibition marked the hight point of critical attacks on the young artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, although they were staunchly defended by the art historian John Ruskin. J.M.W. Turner who had first appeared at the Exhibition of 1790 was too ill to produce any paintings but attended the varnishing day where he was sketched by John Everett Millais. He died in December 1851.[1]

Amongst the several works submitted by Edwin Landseer was The Monarch of the Glen featuring a stag, which became one of the iconic images of the Scottish Highlands[2] Daniel Maclise displayed the history painting Caxton Showing the First Specimen of His Printing to King Edward IV depicting a scene from the fifteenth century. [3]

Francis Grant who had established himself as a leading portraitist of the early Victorian period submitted several pictures of High society figures. Clarkson Stanfield displayed the landscape Trajan's Arch, Ancona as well as the battle painting The Battle of Roveredo depicting a scene from the French Revolutionary Wars.[4]

Amongst Pre-Raphaelite paintings on display were Millaias' The Woodman's Daughter, The Return of the Dove to the Ark and Mariana as well as William Holman Hunt's Valentine Rescuing Sylvia from Proteus.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Barringer, Tim. "1851 Ruskin to the Rescue". Royal Academy Chronicle.
  2. ^ Baetjer 2009, p. 268.
  3. ^ Huckvale 2015, p. 155.
  4. ^ Stanfield 1979, pp. 133, 162.

Bibliography

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