Thomas Rowlandson Pleasures and Pursuits in Georgian England
Patricia Phagan. Essays by Vic Gatrell and Amelia Rauser
Published by GILES in association with the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie
Publish Date — February 2011 (UK and USA)
Dimensions — 184 pages, 305 x 229mm (9 x 12 in.), portrait
Illustrations — 127 colour
Hardback price — UK£39.95 / US$59.95
ISBN — 978-1-904832-78-2
Trade Orders — Please visit our Trade Orders section
Press Release — Pleasures and Pursuits in Georgian England
News — Thomas Rowlandson to open at Frances Lehman Loeb...
— Rowlandson exhibition opens at the Mary & Leigh...
Sales Points
“A lavish catalogue.” “Vic Gatrell’s introductory essay…provides a brilliant overview of 18th-century London.” Hugh Belsey, The Art Newspaper
“The catalogue includes an outstanding and stimulating essay ‘Rowlandson’s London’ by Vic Gatrell.” ”This attractive catalogue is a valuable record of the ‘first major exhibition of Rowlandson’s work in North America for twenty years’” Luke Herrmann, The Burlington Magazine
“Patricia Phagan’s glorious biographical catalogue of Rowlandson’s work is the result of an enthusiastic collaboration between academics on both sides of the Atlantic.” “This is an absorbing social history as well as a good-looking catalogue of works by an important artist.” Joceline Bury, Jane Austen’s Regency World
“Especially valuable for British art studies are the two essays by Vic Gatrell… and Amelia Rauser” Amanda Lahikainen, Enfilade
“As much a picaresque adventure as a richly illustrated book” Lynn Roberts, The Tablet
“Phagan’s catalogue entries are informative and insightful, and the generous, crisp color images invite the sort of attentive viewing Rowlandson’s prints originally would have solicited” Choice
About the Book
With heavy-handed humour and a low subject-matter, the work of Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) provides an invaluable insight into the workings and mentality of late Georgian society. He was quite simply a product of his times, who relished recording the street life of London and whose drawings and etchings reveal an attraction to repulsive visions of wickedness and hardship, whilst maintaining a high degree of humanity.
A completely new illustrated volume which presents 72 watercolours, drawings, prints, and illustrated books to reassess the legacy of this renowned 18th-century satirist, Thomas Rowlandson: Pleasures and Pursuits in Georgian reflects the growing emphasis on the social and political context of the satirical art of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. In so doing, it rescues Rowlandson from what co-author Vic Gatrell calls “the immense condescension of posterity.” This catalogue explores Rowlandson’s unique perspective on Georgian society,on leisure and social life, and the crossing of class boundaries.
An introduction by curator Patricia Phagan describes Rowlandson’s position within a hierarchical society. Illustrated essays by Vic Gatrell and Amelia Rauser examine Rowlandson’s view of social life and leisure in London and his political satires.The images are drawn from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College as well as from the Metropolitan Museum of Art,Yale Center for British Art, Lewis Walpole Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and Vassar College Libraries, Archives and Special Collections.
