The Shock of the Real

Transcription

1 The Shock of the Real

2 This page intentionally left blank

3 The Shock of the Real Romanticism and Visual Culture, Gillen D'Arcy Wood Palgrave

4 THE SHOCK OF THE REAL Copyright Gillen D'Arcy Wood, 2001 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 200 I All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2001 by PALGRAVE 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE is the new global publishing imprint of St. Martin's Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wood, Gillen D'Arcy. The shock of the real : romanticism and visual culture, / Gillen D'Arcy Wood. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Romanticism in art. 2. Arts, Modern-18th century. 3. Arts, Modern- 19th century. I. Tide. NX452.5.R64 W '.03'42-dc A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Westchester Book Composition First edition: January

5 CONTENTS c..o fllustrations Vlll Acknowledgments xi Introduction Belzoni's Tomb 1 Chapter 1 Theater and Painting 17 Chapter 2 Prints and Exhibitions 67 Chapter 3 The Panorama 99 Chapter 4 Ruins and Museums 121 Chapter 5 Illustration Tourism Photography 171 Afterword Visual Culture Notes 225 Bibliography 257 Index 269

6 This page intentionally left blank

7 ILLUSTRATIONS ~ Cover Figure 1.1 Figure 1.2 Figure 1.3 Figure 1.4 Figure 1.5 Horner's "Panorama of London," interior of Regent's Colosseum, Guildhall Library, Corporation of London. George Carter, The Apotheosis of David Garrick (1780). From the RSC Collection with the permission of the Governors of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. 26 Johann Zoffany, Mr. Garrick and Mrs. Pritchard in the Tragedy cif Macbeth, engraving by Valentine Green, for John Boydell (1776). By permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library. 34 Matthew Darly, "Caricature of Reynolds' 'Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy'," tide page engraving to The Theatres: A Poetical Dissection by Sir Nicholas Nipclose [pseud.] (1772). General Research Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. 43 Sir Joshua Reynolds, Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen (1773). 53 Tate Gallery, London/ Art Resource, New York. Reynolds, Lady Sarah Bunbury Sacrificing to the Graces ( ). Oil on canvas, 242.6x151.5 em, Mr. and Mrs. W W Kimball Collection. Photograph courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago. 56

8 viii fllustrations Figure 1.6 Figure 1.7 Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2 Figure 2.3 Figure 3.1 Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3 Figure 5.1 Figure 5.2 Reynolds, Mrs. Hale as Euphrosyne (1766). Reproduced by the kind permission of the Earl and Countess of Harewood and Trustees of the Harewood House Trust. Reynolds, Mrs. Abington as Miss Prue in Congreve's Love for Love (1771). Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe, engraving by William Woollett, for John Boydell (1776). The British Museum. Benjamin Robert Haydon, Christ's Entry into Jerusalem (1820). Reprinted by courtesy of the Athenaeum of Ohio/ Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio. 89 John Martin, Belshazzar's Feast (1820). Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Cross section of Robert Barker's two-level Panorama in Leicester Square. Robert Mitchell, Plans and View in Perspective of Buildings Erected in England and Scotland (1798). Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. 102 Hubert Robert, La Passerelle [Un Pont sous lequel on voit les campagnes de Sabine] (1767). 127 A. Archer, The Elgin Marbles at the British Museum (1819). The British Museum. 135 Joseph Severn, Portrait of john Keats (1819). By courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London. 136 John Martin, "Ivanhoe," frontispiece illustration to Sir Walter Scott, Waverley Novels (London: Robert Cadell, 1830), vol J. M. W Turner, "Melrose:' frontispiece illustration to Sir Walter Scott, Poetical Works (London: Robert Cadell, ), vol

9 Illustrations IX Figure 5.3 Turner, "Loch Coriskin," frontispiece illustration to Scott, Poetical Works, vol Figure 5.4 Turner, "Loch Katrine," frontispiece illustration to Scott, Poetical Works, vol Figure 5.5 William Henry Fox Talbot, "View of Loch Katrine." Sun Pictures in Scotland, plate 10 (1845). Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Fine Photographs, New York. 188 Figure 5.6 Fox Talbot, "View of Loch Katrine." Sun Pictures in Scotland, plate 11. Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Fine Photographs, New York. 189 Figure 5.7 Felix Nadar, Portrait of Eugene Pelletan (ca.1855). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Howard Gilman Foundation Gift and Rogers Fund, Figure 5.8 Nadar, Portrait cif Jean Journet (ca.1856). Cliche Bibliotheque nationale de France, Paris. 199 Figure 5.9 Nadar, Portrait ciftheophile Gautier (1854). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. 200 Figure 5.10 Nadar, Portrait cif Franfois Asselineau (1855). Photo RMN-Reunion des musees nationaux. 201 Figure 5.11 Nadar, Portrait cif Charles Baudelaire (1855). Photo RMN-Reunion des musees nationaux. 202 Figure 5.12 Nadar, Portrait of Charles Baudelaire (ca.1856). Photo RMN-Reunion des musees nationaux. 203 Figure 5.13 Nadar, Mannequin tirant un chariot d'ossements. From Paris Souterrain (1861). Felix Nadar/ Arch. Phot. Paris/Caisse nationale des monuments historiques et des sites, Paris. 215 Figure 5.14 Nadar, Un element de lumiere art!ficielle. From Paris Souterrain. Felix Nadar/ Arch. Phot. Paris/Caisse nationale des monuments historiques et des sites, Paris. 216 Figure 5.15 Nadar, Fafade de tibias avec ornamentation horizontale de m1nes. From Paris Souterrain. Felix Nadar/ Arch. Phot. Paris/Caisse nationale des monuments historiques et des sites, Paris. 217

10 This page intentionally left blank

11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ~ Many people aided me in the writing of this book. Marilyn Gaull, in her editorial role, offered tireless support and showed infinite patience in bringing it to press. My sincere thanks are due also to Karl Kroeber and David Simpson for their great encouragement, careful reading (and rereading) of the manuscript, and always pertinent advice. Others who read part or all of the manuscript in draft versions, and offered indispensable help, were Martin Meisel, Jonathan Crary, William Galperin, Nick Roe, Anna Brickhouse, and Laura Engel. I likewise owe a debt of gratitude to David Ferris and Andreas Huyssen, whose inspiration was critical to my development of this study at its embryonic stages. At Palgrave, my thanks go to Kristi Long; her enthusiasm and professional acuity has made the road to publication mercifully smooth. On a personal note, I am deeply grateful to my family in Australia for their unstinting support, and to my wife, Nancy Castro, without whom I could never have enjoyed the requisite good health, of both body and mind, to finish this book. My debts to her are beyond measure.

12 To Nancy... happy changes in emphatic dreams

13 an Imperial City stood, With Towers and Temples proudly elevate... By what strange Parallax or Optic skill Of vision multiplyed through air, or glass Of telescope, were curious to enquire: And now the Tempter thus his silence broke... -Milton, Paradise Regained IV33-34, 40-43