The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1821 was an

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanen ...

held at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...

in London from 7 May to 14 July 1821. It was the

Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...

of the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. The exhibition featured many prominent painters, sculptors and architects and was open to submissions to non-Academy members and artists from abroad.

J.M.W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

was a notable absentee, he did not submit any paintings that year. Today the exhibition is remembered for

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

's ''

The Hay Wain ''The Hay Wain'' – originally titled ''Landscape: Noon'' – is a painting by John Constable, completed in 1821, which depicts a rural scene on the River Stour, Suffolk, River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It hangs ...

'' and the lack of interest it generated.

Exhibition

The

private view A private view is a special viewing of an exhibition by invitation only, often an art exhibition and normally a preview at the start of a public exhibition.Alice-Azania JarvisHow to behave at a private view... ''The Independent'', 10 October 2008 ...

took place on 4 May and the annual banquet the following day. There was a danger of the event being overshadowed by the huge popularity of ''

Belshazzar's Feast Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall, chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel, tells how Neo-Babylonian royal Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. ...

'' by John Martin which had been shown at the rival

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it ...

until shortly before the Exhibition opened. Two paintings that drew particular attention were William Hilton's ''Nature Blowing Bubbles for Her Children'' and

William Etty William Etty (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes. Born in York, he left sch ...

's '' The Triumph of Cleopatra''.

Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English people, English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was a ...

who had been elected

President of the Royal Academy Officers of the Royal Academy of Arts This is a list of the officers of the Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a ...

the previous year displayed

portrait painting Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

s of the Foreign Secretary

Lord Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Irish-born British st ...

and

Princess Charlotte Princess Charlotte may refer to: People * Charlotte of the United Kingdom (disambiguation), various princesses ** Princess Charlotte of Wales (born 2015), granddaughter of King Charles III and only daughter of William, Prince of Wales * Charlott ...

. Lawrence also presented his ''

Portrait of Sir Humphry Davy ''Portrait of Sir Humphry Davy'' is an oil on canvas portrait painting by the British artist Thomas Lawrence, from 1821. It depicts the scientist Sir Humphry Davy, president of the Royal Society. History and description Davy is known for the in ...

'' featuring the

President of the Royal Society The president of the Royal Society (PRS), also known as the Royal Society of London, is the elected Head of the Royal Society who presides over meetings of the society's council. After an informal meeting (a lecture) by Christopher Wren at Gres ...

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...

with whom he took part in the ceremony of

Coronation of George IV The coronation of the British monarch, coronation of George IV as king of the United Kingdom took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 19 July 1821. Originally scheduled for 1 August of the previous year, the ceremony had been postponed due t ...

shortly after the Exhibition closed. The Scottish painter

Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a f ...

exhibited his ''Portrait of the Marquess of Bute''. John Jackson submitted a portrait of the

stage actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

William Macready as

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

. David Wilkie displayed two

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...

s '' Newsmongers'' and ''Guess my Name''. Andrew Geddes exhibited a now-lost large

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

esque group portrait ''The Discovery of the Regalia of Scotland'' featuring

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

and others discovering the

Honours of Scotland The Honours of Scotland (, ), informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, are the regalia that were worn by List of Scottish monarchs, Scottish monarchs at their Coronation_of_the_British_monarch#Scottish_coronations, coronation. Kept in the ...

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

in 1818. William Collins presented a view of

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland, England. It is in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, and is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' to distinguis ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. The young specialists in animal paintings

Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. His best-known work is the lion sculptures at the base of Nelso ...

also featured at the exhibition. Charles Robert Leslie showed a history piece ''May Day in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth'' while William Mulready displayed the genre work ''The Careless Messenger Detected''.

The Hay Wain

The

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

-born

displayed the

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

'' under its original title of ''Landscape: Noon''. It portrays a scene on the River Stour near Flatford Mill in what is now known as

Constable Country Dedham Vale may refer to * Dedham Vale National Landscape, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England * The Vale of Dedham (painting), painting by John Constable * Dedham Vale (painting), painting by John Constable John Constab ...

, but attracted very little attention. This was possibly due to it being hung in an unfavourable location in the Academy School rather than the main room, although Etty's ''The Triumph of Cleopatra'' was also hanging there and received widespread coverage.https://chronicle250.com/1821 The painting remained unsold at the end of the exhibition and Constable displayed it again at the British Institution the following year where it was bought by the French

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

John Arrowsmirh who then entered it into the

Salon of 1824 The Salon of 1824 was an art exhibition held at the Louvre in Paris between 25 August 1824 and 15 January 1825. It took place during the Second Bourbon Restoration, Restoration Era that followed the downfall of Napoleon's First French Empire, Fre ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to widespread acclaim.

Gallery

File:Sir Humphry Davy, Bt by Sir Thomas Lawrence.jpg, ''

'' by

File:John Crichton-Stuart (1793–1848), 2nd Marquess of Bute, by Henry Raeburn, c. 1829.jpg, ''Portrait of the Marquess of Bute'' by

File:William Charles Macready (1793–1873), as Macbeth (from 'Macbeth', Act II, Scene 2) John Jackson (1778–1831) Royal Shakespeare Theatre.jpg, ''William Macready as Macbeth'' by John Jackson File:David Wilkie (1785-1841) - Newsmongers - N00331 - National Gallery.jpg, '' Newsmongers'' by David Wilkie File:The Careless Messenger Detected.png, ''The Careless Messenger Detected'' by William Mulready File:Nature Blowing Bubbles for Her Children.png, ''Nature Blowing Bubbles for Her Children'' by William Hilton File:William Hilton (1786-1839) - The Rape of Europa - 486141 - National Trust.jpg, ''The Rape of Europa'' by William Hilton File:Francis Danby (1793-1861) - Disappointed Love - FA.65(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg, '' Disappointed Love'' by Francis Danby

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

* Hamilton, James. ''Turner - A Life''. Sceptre, 1998. * Hebron, Stephen, Shields, Cobalt & Wilcox, Timothy. ''The Solitude of Mountains: Constable and the Lake District''. Wordsworth Trust, 2006 * Levey, Michael. ''Sir Thomas Lawrence''. Yale University Press, 2005. * Macmillan, Duncan. ''Scottish Art, 1460-2000''. Mainstream Publishing, 2000. * Noon, Patrick & Bann, Stephen. ''Constable to Delacroix: British Art and the French Romantics''. Tate, 2003. * Payne, Reider. ''War and Diplomacy in the Napoleonic Era: Sir Charles Stewart, Lord Castlereagh and the Balance of Power in Europe''. Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. * Tromans, Nicholas. ''David Wilkie: The People's Painter''. Edinburgh University Press, 2007. 1821 in London 1821 in art May 1821 June 1821 July 1821 Royal Academy Exhibitions

Exhibition

The Hay Wain

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography