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Art in the Regency Era

By Jaymi Thibault and Ryan Brewer

Decor

Decor was important to those who lived in the Regency period because good decor meant that you had good taste. Since people were constantly inviting new acquaintances to their homes for dinner or for balls, decor was a big deal because it made a significant impression on others.

Elaborate decor gave the wealthy an opportunity

to show off.

Walls lined with portraits of royalty or other art forms

showed others that you had enough money to spend on

items that weren't particularly necessary.

Home decor in the Regency Era included artwork, chandeliers, fancy curtains, and sculptures, to name a few.

Inspiration came from...

  • The Greeks and Romans

The Greeks and Romans paid great attention to detail and uniqueness of structure in their decor.

  • The Egyptians

Napoleon's expeditions to Egypt inspired Egyptian-style home decor back in the United Kingdom. Egyptians often sculpted animals or religious figures.

A sculpture of a Pharaoh that might have

been seen on the walls of a Regency home.

As you can see, the artwork contributes to the wealthy and elaborate look of this home.

INTRODUCTION

The Regency era was a time period, mainly referring to the United Kingdom, from 1811-1820. The arts of this time period included visual, musical, and theatrical arts. You may find that many aspects of this culture seemed to have borrowed ideas from previous cultures and time periods, such as the art of the Greeks and Romans.

Visual Arts

Music & Theater

The dominant genre of music during the Regency was classical.

Popular composers included:

  • Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Franz Schubert
  • Franz Liszt

Here is one of the most popular pieces, Beethoven's ninth symphony:

A few of the most popular forms of visual arts during the Regency included:

The most common subject for any form of visual art during this time period was people. Typically, those who were lucky enough to be featured in art were wealthy or royalty.

Music was important because dancing was such a popular activity during the Regency. The waltz was the most popular dance, which was a ballroom and folk dance in 3/4 time.

  • Silhouette ink drawings
  • Paintings
  • Sculpture
  • Wood Carvings

Paintings were by far the most popular!

Shown at left is a portrait of the

Prince of Wales, painted by Sir Thomas

Lawrence, a well-known portrait painter.

Paintings did not ALWAYS focus on portraits of people, however;

other common subjects were...

Regency paintings of women often were nude or at least showing a bit of skin. (Not always, but it was certainly common.)This seems to borrow from the Greek and Roman concepts of admiring and embracing "natural beauty".

Because sheet music was so expensive, only very wealthy people went on to became famous and skilled musicians. However, many people dabbled in music by playing an instrument to pass the time. Popular instruments included:

  • Piano (By far the most popular)
  • Harp
  • Flute
  • Violin
  • Tambourine

The waltz began in Vienna, Austria and was made popular by Franz Lanner and Johann Strauss. The "Viennese Waltz" was a faster version of the waltz.

A typical landscape piece of a wooded area

A battle scene from the French Revolution

As for theater, the first diorama theater was constructed during the Regency Era, which sparked a lot if interest in theater. Again, only the wealthy became playwrights and actors, and unfortunately you had to be someone wealthy to even afford attending a play. Shown below is one of the first ground plans for a diorama theater built in the early 1800s.

A painting of a typical Regency home's interior

  • Landscapes
  • War Scenes/Historical Events

(mainly the French Revolution

/Napoleonic Wars)

  • Groups of people in action
  • Objects from everyday life

A realistic painting of people enjoying a fair in 1804

To call yourself a skilled artist in the Regency era, you typically had to be wealthy, because art school was very expensive. Additionally, although women were allowed to attend art school, their artwork was considered by many to be inferior and there are few notable female artists from this period. The most notorious art school during this time period was the Royal Academy of Art in London, which still exists today.

Despite the fact that only wealthy artists could make a living off of their art, many people during the Regency era "dabbled" in all different forms of art, including theatrical and musical art.

Dabbling means that they have a little bit of experience with some kind of art. For example, someone who dabbles in the visual arts would see painting as a hobby, but not necessarily a career. This concept can be applied to any type of art -- people can dabble in music or drama as well.

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