On Wednesday 20th June we visited the Holburne Museum in Bath to gain knowledge and an insight into 18th century Art, in order to prepare us for our A2 course. The Museum exhibited examples of paintings, porcelain objects and items for handling.The Holburne Museum taught us the significance of family, the movement from Rococo to Neo-Classicism and the impact of society’s values in the presentation and style of the paintings. This helped with our HART 4 course and gave us an initial view of contextual issues at the time such as the type of people having portraits done of their families and estates.As a group we particularly enjoyed the artwork of Gainsborough, for example The Byam Family. We felt this portrayed clear elements of the 18th century style; the family was portrayed in a naturalistically and therefore reflected the social context of the time. The painting illustrates male dominance as well as the significance of family. The landscape represents Lord Bathurst’s love of nature and his lineage is evident in the suggestion of the estate whilst the wealth and status of the family can be seen in the elaborate drapery and the scale of the portrait. Witnessing the painting at first hand enabled the group to clearly understand the significance of wealth and status within the upper class in the 18th century.The Museum also exhibited examples of Wedgwood objects illustrating the importance of taste in the 18th century in order to for the upper class to distinguish themselves from the rising middle class. This was important because a wider range of sitters were commissioning portraits due to the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent increase of wealth. The Museum provided magnifying glasses in order to see the designs on the Wedgwood more clearly. The rise of the drinking of tea, coffee and hot chocolate amongst the upper and middle classes led to the creation of ornate designs on tea pots and porcelain reflecting the vogue for Chinoiserie which also dominated the 18th century.
Venetia ( Upper VI Form )