BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Folger Shakespeare Library -- Exhibit: Painting Shakespeare

DC -- Folger Shakespeare Library -- Exhibit: Painting Shakespeare:

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Description of Pictures: Painting Shakespeare
May 13, 2017 – Feb 11, 2018
Discover the paintings collection at the Folger—its stories, its glories, and Shakespeare’s power to inspire visual artists. From humble oil sketches to international masterpieces, this exhibition presents a sometimes surprising, and always eye-catching, view of the man and his works.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FOLPS_170516_004.JPG: Painting Shakespeare Shakespeare was a man of words. Over 400 years after he wrote them, his words continue to be spoken aloud, spoken in sign language, printed on the page, and printed on T-shirts. This exhibition invites you to explore how Shakespeare's words can be represented in pictures, too, by showcasing selections from the collection of paintings at the Folger Shakespeare Library. It might seem unusual for a library to have a paintings collection, but Henry and Emily Folger knew that it takes more than books and manuscripts alone to understand Shakespeare and his era. They also collected scrapbooks, posters, programs, figurines, prints, drawings, and photographs. Then they placed this collection in a building that included not only space for researchers, but also a theater and an exhibition hall. Major support for this exhibition is provided by the Winton and Carolyn Blount exhibition fund of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
2. FOLPS_170516_011.JPG: Viewing Shakespeare in 1932: When the Folger Shakespeare Library opened in April 1932, this hall was packed with Shakespeare artifacts, including many paintings. This display reflected Henry and Emily Folger's vision of the public role that paintings would play in the library, but Mr. Folger never had the chance to see it. He died in 1930, leaving Mrs. Folger to complete their work.
3. FOLPS_170516_026.JPG: Studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds David Garrick, c 1776-79 Seated before a page entitled Prologue, David Garrick here appears thoughtful and composed. This is Garrick the writer and manager, not Garrick the famously emotive actor seen in the portrait to the left. For some unknown reason, the painting now has a different frame than the one in the photograph.
4. FOLPS_170516_032.JPG: J. Ber Rape of Lucrece Painting Shakespeare focuses on oil paintings, but this watercolor was also hung here in 1932. Depicting the tragic figure of Lucrece, it is displayed as a reproduction in its original frame because of its sensitivity to light.
5. FOLPS_170516_036.JPG: Unknown British painter Dexter Portrait of Shakespeare, 19th century Near a window, which reveals a town that is probably Stratford, Shakespeare leans his head on his hand in thought -- a posture that is also meant to convey melancholy.
6. FOLPS_170516_038.JPG: John Cawse Falstaff Mocking Bardolph's Bose, c 1820s from Henry IV, Part 1 (act 3, scene 3) In this comparison piece to the other Cawse painting, Falstaff still holds the same buckler (a small shield). The slanted lines in the floors of both paintings point toward each other, uniting the pictures across the space that separates them.
7. FOLPS_170516_041.JPG: John Cawse Falstaff Boasting to Prince Hal and Poins, c 1820s, from Henry IV, Part 1 (act 3, scene 3) A former political cartoonist, Cawse often painted comedic scenes from Shakespeare that included Falstaff; this painting is designed as a pendant (a pair) with the other work by Cawse in this group.
8. FOLPS_170516_044.JPG: Rev. Matthew William Peters The Death of Juliet, 1793 from Romeo and Juliet (act 5, scene 3) Juliet is so central to this painting, made for the Irish Shakespeare Gallery in Dublin, that it is easy to miss the dead Romeo, the cause of her grief, in the lower right.
9. FOLPS_170516_047.JPG: Robert Edge Pine Portrait of David Garrick, c 1780 David Garrick's work as an actor, theater manager, and writer is credited with reviving Shakespeare on stage and enshrining him as a cultural icon. The loose brushwork in this painting, combined with the sitter's wide-eyed stare and the flying pages of a script, creates a liveliness that contrasts with the sedate version of the same man to the right.
10. FOLPS_170516_052.JPG: Francesco Zuccarelli. Macbeth Meeting the Witches. Oil on canvas, 1760. Folger Shakespeare Library. Can you identify Macbeth, Banquo, and the Witches? Instead of Shakespeare's "blasted heath" in Scotland, the characters in Francesco Zuccarelli's Macbeth Meeting the Witches (1760) appear in the kind of fantasy landscape typically associated with 18th-century Italy. However, their attire reflects traditional Scottish dress, with kilts and tartan stockings. According to William L. Pressly's A Catalogue of Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, it is one of the earliest paintings from this play. "It is a remarkable example of epic or historical landscape, a genre originating with the Franco-Italian artists Poussin and Claude Lorraine," Pressly writes. "The painting is a reflection of aristocratic Italianate tastes." Macbeth Meeting the Witches was selected for the Painting Shakespeare exhibition as a work of fine art that exemplifies the best of eighteenth-century painting.
11. FOLPS_170516_057.JPG: Henry Fuseli: Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head Henry Fuseli's Macbeth Consulting the Vision of the Armed Head is considered a great work of art in its own right and has been loaned to exhibitions at Kunsthaus Z�rich (2005), Tate Britain (2006), and the Art Institute of Chicago (2015), among others. Fuseli's image of the cauldron scene draws on his fascination with fantasy, terror, and the supernatural. Painted for the Irish Shakespeare Gallery in Dublin in 1793, it is still in its original frame. In A Catalogue of Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, William L. Pressly writes that "Fuseli considered [it] one of his best poetical conceptions. One critic was so impressed on seeing it exhibited in 1794 in London at the New Shakespeare Gallery that he wrote that it was 'perhaps the very best picture he has ever painted.'"
12. FOLPS_170516_059.JPG: Who Am I?
13. FOLPS_170516_060.JPG: Only two portraits of Shakespeare are widely accepted as genuine likenesses: the engraving on the title page of the First Folio (displayed in the glass case on the far left), and the sculpture on his memorial in Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-upon-Avon. Both are undeniably dull, making contenders such as [the Zuccaro Shakespeare, shown here at the left] an attractive alternative. Though still referred to as The Zuccaro Shakespeare, we now know the artist was not Frederico Zuccaro (1540/41-1609), and the sitter was not Shakespeare. Someone in the 18th century painted a heavy moustache, pointy beard, and small earring, and the inscription "W Shakespeare" to disguise a now-unknown man. Conservation treatment in 1988 restored the painting to its original look.
14. FOLPS_170516_079.JPG: George Romney The Infant Shakespeare Attended by Nature and the Passions, c 1791-92 This painting formed the grand finale of the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery, which you can visit virtually at the touch-screen station on the opposite wall. It's the most expensive painting Mr. and Mrs. Folger ever purchased, at $51,075.94 (10,500 pounds before currency conversion).
15. FOLPS_170516_086.JPG: Thomas Sully Portrait of Shakespeare, 1864 Philadelphia portraitist Thomas Sully painted this picture in just five days, with freewheeling brushwork that would have looked unfinished to his contemporaries. The Folger collection has three other oil paintings by Sully; Portia and Shylock from The Merchant of Venice (1835); Macbeth in the Witches' Cave from Macbeth (1840); and a portrait of actress Charlotte Cushman (1843).
16. FOLPS_170516_091.JPG: Thomas Nast Study for "The Immortal Light of Genius," 1895 Best known for his powerful political cartoons, Thomas Nast was also an accomplished painter. British actor Sir Henry Irving commissioned him to create a painting representing devotion to Shakespeare. In this preparatory study for it, the room, furniture, and bust of Shakespeare come from a photograph of Shakespeare's birthplace; Nash added the supernatural glow and the worshippers himself.
17. FOLPS_170516_093.JPG: Umberto Romano (American, 1905–82). Shakespeare Recites Shakespeare, circa 1960s. Oil on canvas, 127.3 x 102 cm. Gift of Mrs. Clorinda Romano, widow of the artist, and Robin Romano, their son, 1984. How do you represent the man named Shakespeare if you've never seen him with your own eyes? Umberto Romano (1905-1982) reinterpreted the iconic Chandos portrait through the lens of modern art, surrounding the man with an abstract field of swirling paint in Shakespeare Recites Shakespeare. In A Catalogue of Paintings in the Folger Shakespeare Library, William L. Pressly notes how Shakespeare's "body dissolves into the background at the edges, and, reflecting the influence of abstract expressionism, drips of brown and orange-red paint energize the black portions of the surface." Romano created this portrait as part of a series he called "Great Men," which included the prophet Muhammad (circa 570–632), artist Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), and musician Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970). Shakespeare is one of five writers depicted; the other four are Dante, Cervantes, Voltaire, and Dostoevsky. This painting appears in the "Imagining Shakespeare" section of the Painting Shakespeare exhibition.
18. FOLPS_170516_110.JPG: Robert Smirke (British, 1752–1845). The Awakening of King Lear, circa 1792, from King Lear (act 4, scene 7). Oil on canvas, 78.7 x 54 cm. Folger FPa53. Purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Folger, 1922. King Lear, woken by Cordelia's kiss, is scared and confused, unsure whether he is alive or dead. Instead of emphasizing the fear, Robert Smirke's composition visually foreshadows a happy reunion by placing father and daughter together in a stable pyramid at the base of the picture. The Awakening of King Lear is one of twelve Folger paintings from the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery (1789–1804), a London art gallery that broke the mold by admitting members of the paying public rather than just the people who moved in the social circles of private collectors. According to art theory at the time, great paintings capture a meaningful moment in a grand narrative, usually from a bible story or classical mythology. The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery laid claim to a uniquely British source of momentous stories: Shakespeare. By the time it closed, the Boydell gallery contained 167 Shakespearean paintings. Most are now considered lost, and some are just fragments. The Awakening of King Lear is one of three Boydell paintings in the Folger collection that still have their original frames. The neoclassical frames at the Boydell gallery let viewers know to expect something with cultural weight. Instead of elaborate curlicues and contrasts, the frames have straight lines and restrained patterns befitting "serious art." William Adair of Gold Leaf Studios in Washington, DC, recently conserved this frame by stripping away old touch-up paint to reveal the original gilding, replacing missing bits of ornamentation, and re-gilding as needed.
19. FOLPS_170516_123.JPG: Richard Westall: Imogen Entering the Cave of Belarius This is one of two Boydell Shakespeare Gallery paintings recently added to the Folger collection. Painted by Richard Westall, it depicts Imogen, the heroine of Shakespeare's play Cymbeline, entering a cave -- a seemingly straightforward description. At one time, however, the painting's association with Shakespeare was forgotten, and the figure was misidentified as a young man. In 2012, an art collector in New York purchased the painting at auction under the vague title Allegorical Scene of a Youth with a Sword Near a Cave. Fortunately, it was still attributed to Westall. By researching the artist, the collector discovered that it came from the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery and contacted the Folger. The Folger acquired it in 2012 under its Boydell title, Imogen Entering the Cave of Belarius.
20. FOLPS_170516_152.JPG: Francis Hayman The Play Scene from "Hamlet," c 1745 from Hamlet (act 2, scene 2) Hayman's composition focuses on King Claudius, who leaps up from his chair when he sees the "play-within-a-play" that recreates the way he murdered Hamlet's father. In addition to working out the positions of the figures, Hayman paid particular attention to where each person directs his gaze.
21. FOLPS_170516_163.JPG: Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle (French, 1778–1865). Othello and Desdemona, 1827. From Othello (act 3, scene 4). Oil on panel, 30.5 x 26 cm. Folger FPb21. Purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Folger, 1926. Henri Fradelle painted Othello and Desdemona as a working tool for Charles Pye, the engraver who transformed it into a print. By using shades of gray, Fradelle saved Pye the step of converting colors into different line densities. The technique is known as grisaille, from the French word "gris," meaning "gray." Fradelle highlights Othello's anger towards his wife by crowning him with storm clouds, and his exoticness by framing him in a three-lobed pointed arch, a shape associated with Islamic architecture. Desdemona looks up in bafflement, not realizing that he thinks she is having an affair.
22. FOLPS_170516_171.JPG: Copy of Thomas Gainsborough's "David Garrick Leaning on a Bust of Shakespeare" Unknown British painter after Thomas Gainsborough (British, 1727–88). David Garrick Leaning on a Bust of Shakespeare, after 1769. Oil on canvas, 114.3 x 76 cm. Folger FPb27. Purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Folger, 1926. Some paintings in the Folger collection are valuable as reminders of other works of art rather than as fine paintings in their own right. This is a copy of a portrait of actor David Garrick painted by Thomas Gainsborough, one of the most notable portrait painters working in England in the late eighteenth century. The town of Stratford-upon-Avon acquired the original portrait in 1769 in order to commemorate the Shakespeare Jubilee that Garrick organized there that year. It hung in the Town Hall, and was destroyed when that building caught fire in 1946. David Garrick's devotion to Shakespeare and revolutionarily informal acting style come across wordlessly here. Viewers familiar with Westminster Abbey will recognize that Garrick's relaxed pose echoes the life-sized marble statue of William Shakespeare in Poets' Corner.
23. FOLPS_170516_185.JPG: Painting Shakespeare Replica of a bust of Shakespeare by Louis-Francois Roubiliac Please put your arm around me!
24. FOLPS_170516_192.JPG: George Francis: Mr. Garrick in the Character of King Lear Using the flat, simplified shapes typical of American folk art, George Francis based his painting of King Lear in the storm on an engraving published in London in 1761, as the video above explains. He even imitated the engraved caption in the bottom margin, and followed the convention of placing the copyist's name in the lower right. The painting shows the actor David Garrick in the character of King Lear in Act 3, Scene 2. The painting was purchased by the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1945, deaccessioned in 1962, and repurchased in 2012.
25. FOLPS_170516_205.JPG: Attributed to William Hamilton Scene from Othello, late 18th century from Othello (act 1, scene 3) The artist captures the moment where Desdemona's father, Brabantio, accusingly asks where her duty lies. The visual gulf between Desdemona and Brabantio makes her answer apparent: she owes obedience to her husband, Othello, who stands next to her.
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