Shakespeare in Art: Tempests, Tyrants and Tragedy, Compton Verney, Warwickshire CV35 9HZ, until 19th June 2016
OpheliaÔÇÖs Ghost
® Kristin and Davy McGuire, photograph by Electric Egg
Many of you will have heard of the national award-winning art gallery Compton Verney which as well as having permanent collections which are well worth visiting (Naples, Northern European Art 1450-1650, British Portraits, Chinese, British Folk Art & The Marx-Lambert Collection) also hosts special exhibitions and one can certainly say that this one – Shakespeare in Art – is indeed special.
Dame Diana Rigg and Dame Helen Mirren in the grounds at Compton Verney between takes – Sir Peter Hall’s film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1968.
Photograph by David Farrell, courtesy of the David Farrell Estate (c) DFP
Fittingly, as it marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death, the exhibition has been designed by the The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Director of Design, Stephen Brimson Lewis. There are more than seventy works on view from the 18th century to contemporary and they are divided thematically into eight acts which include The Tempest, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, King Lear and Henry VIII. It is an engrossing experience that underlines the magic of Shakespeare’s plays.
John Singer Sargent,
Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
© Tate, London 2015
In addition to this exhibition is a complimentary one which introduces us to John Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery which used to be on London’s Pall Mall (the sight is now occupied by the new Philip Mould Gallery). Boydell, a print publisher, opened it in 1789 and commissioned prominent artists of the day, including Romney, Fuseli and Northcote to produce works (history paintings) inspired by Shakespearian scenes.
Henry Fuseli, Prospero, Miranda, Caliban and Ariel, Plate 4 from The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery 1786-89
® York Museums Trust
http://www.comptonverney.org.uk
Tim Forrest's E & A 