Charles Eastlake may not be a household name but his legacy places him among the most significant contributors to the development of museum and gallery practice in the 19th century.
He is best remembered for being the first director of the National Gallery but he was also an artist, art historian and, for many years, president of the Royal Academy (RA).
It is right that this exhibition is being staged in Plymouth. Not only was it Eastlake’s birthplace but Devon has been described as the “art-producing” county above any other in Britain.
Among artists whose work is represented in the National Gallery are Devonians Sir Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin Haydon. Even JMW Turner claimed he had been born in the county – his father was from South Molton but in fact JMW was born in London.
The first part of this exhibition covers Eastlake’s life up to his appointment as director of the National Gallery. He was born in Plymouth in 1793 and his father’s prominent post in the Admiralty made his family one of the most respected in town.
Eastlake decided early in life that he wanted to be an artist. Art lessons were organised for him locally and then in London from Haydon. In 1809 he was admitted to the Royal Academy School where his teachers included Reynolds and Turner.
British Academy
News of European events often reached Plymouth before they arrived in London and this may well have contributed to Eastlake’s desire to travel. His first European journey was funded in part by exhibiting his portrait of Napoleon.
Napoleon’s time on board the Bellerophon in Plymouth Harbour in 1815 was in itself a major tourist attraction. Napoleon was a great self-publicist and even helped Eastlake with his portrait, posing on deck for him and sending his uniform and decorations ashore for him to copy. This painting is now in the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall, and is a notable absentee from this exhibition.
Eastlake spent 14 years in Rome, returning only twice to England in that time. He also travelled extensively in Europe visiting museums and galleries. This experience, along with his wide knowledge of European languages was to stand him in good stead in the future.
He mixed with many artists, including Turner, who shared his Rome studio for a few months. Eastlake first met Turner in 1808 and it is possible that he sketched with him on his 1813 tour of Devon.
It was in Rome that he was drawn into arts administration as a founding member and then secretary of the organisation that would become the British Academy, which was based in the city.
Eastlake’s success as a painter led him to be elected an associate of the RA in 1827 and a full academician in 1830. He returned to England and led an increasingly busy life as a successful artist.
By the 1840s he was regarded as an artist who had truly succeeded in popularising “high-class art” and he included Queen Victoria and Prince Albert among his patrons.
But he was also a successful arts administrator, which meant he had less time to paint. He probably came to realise that it would be as an arts manager and writer on art history that he would have the best chance to influence the art world.
Based on the works by Eastlake exhibited here, he did the art world a greater service by choosing to be involved in the arts by lecturing, writing and managing.
After spells as a keeper and as a trustee of the National Gallery, Eastlake became its first director in 1855. In this role he brought order to its management and laid the foundations of modern gallery practice.
Arts administration
He simplified the displays and arranged works by date or country; pictures were put in appropriate frames; galleries were given new colour schemes and lighting; and informative labels and scholarly catalogues were introduced.
It could be argued that, in the words of the leaflet created by the Plymouth museum Young Explainers to accompany the exhibition: “Eastlake gave us public art.”
Undoubtedly, Eastlake’s greatest legacy was his collecting and the second half of the exhibition illustrates this. He set out a collecting policy that aimed to represent the whole history of western European painting.
The most spectacular of these works in this exhibition is The Virgin and Child with St Anne by Gerolamo Dai Libri, acquired by Eastlake in 1864. Eastlake was also collecting contemporary works, as the inclusion of a painting by Turner shows.
In Pursuit of Art is a small but beautifully executed exhibition, occupying one of the smaller gallery spaces in Plymouth Museum. This is the sort of original show that regional galleries should be mounting.
It celebrates the life of a local person, draws on local history sources and works in partnership with a national museum. The exhibition also brings together artworks from other museums – in this case the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter,
as well as the National Gallery.
The free public gallery was a Victorian innovation – the National Gallery was created by an act of parliament. We often take museums and galleries and the opportunities for enjoyment and education that they provide for granted.
As well as being given the opportunity to learn more about an important 19th-century figure, it is salutary to be reminded, in the current climate of financial cutbacks in the public sector, of the origins of institutions such as the National Gallery.
Peter Mason is a writer on culture
He is best remembered for being the first director of the National Gallery but he was also an artist, art historian and, for many years, president of the Royal Academy (RA).
It is right that this exhibition is being staged in Plymouth. Not only was it Eastlake’s birthplace but Devon has been described as the “art-producing” county above any other in Britain.
Among artists whose work is represented in the National Gallery are Devonians Sir Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin Haydon. Even JMW Turner claimed he had been born in the county – his father was from South Molton but in fact JMW was born in London.
The first part of this exhibition covers Eastlake’s life up to his appointment as director of the National Gallery. He was born in Plymouth in 1793 and his father’s prominent post in the Admiralty made his family one of the most respected in town.
Eastlake decided early in life that he wanted to be an artist. Art lessons were organised for him locally and then in London from Haydon. In 1809 he was admitted to the Royal Academy School where his teachers included Reynolds and Turner.
British Academy
News of European events often reached Plymouth before they arrived in London and this may well have contributed to Eastlake’s desire to travel. His first European journey was funded in part by exhibiting his portrait of Napoleon.
Napoleon’s time on board the Bellerophon in Plymouth Harbour in 1815 was in itself a major tourist attraction. Napoleon was a great self-publicist and even helped Eastlake with his portrait, posing on deck for him and sending his uniform and decorations ashore for him to copy. This painting is now in the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall, and is a notable absentee from this exhibition.
Eastlake spent 14 years in Rome, returning only twice to England in that time. He also travelled extensively in Europe visiting museums and galleries. This experience, along with his wide knowledge of European languages was to stand him in good stead in the future.
He mixed with many artists, including Turner, who shared his Rome studio for a few months. Eastlake first met Turner in 1808 and it is possible that he sketched with him on his 1813 tour of Devon.
It was in Rome that he was drawn into arts administration as a founding member and then secretary of the organisation that would become the British Academy, which was based in the city.
Eastlake’s success as a painter led him to be elected an associate of the RA in 1827 and a full academician in 1830. He returned to England and led an increasingly busy life as a successful artist.
By the 1840s he was regarded as an artist who had truly succeeded in popularising “high-class art” and he included Queen Victoria and Prince Albert among his patrons.
But he was also a successful arts administrator, which meant he had less time to paint. He probably came to realise that it would be as an arts manager and writer on art history that he would have the best chance to influence the art world.
Based on the works by Eastlake exhibited here, he did the art world a greater service by choosing to be involved in the arts by lecturing, writing and managing.
After spells as a keeper and as a trustee of the National Gallery, Eastlake became its first director in 1855. In this role he brought order to its management and laid the foundations of modern gallery practice.
Arts administration
He simplified the displays and arranged works by date or country; pictures were put in appropriate frames; galleries were given new colour schemes and lighting; and informative labels and scholarly catalogues were introduced.
It could be argued that, in the words of the leaflet created by the Plymouth museum Young Explainers to accompany the exhibition: “Eastlake gave us public art.”
Undoubtedly, Eastlake’s greatest legacy was his collecting and the second half of the exhibition illustrates this. He set out a collecting policy that aimed to represent the whole history of western European painting.
The most spectacular of these works in this exhibition is The Virgin and Child with St Anne by Gerolamo Dai Libri, acquired by Eastlake in 1864. Eastlake was also collecting contemporary works, as the inclusion of a painting by Turner shows.
In Pursuit of Art is a small but beautifully executed exhibition, occupying one of the smaller gallery spaces in Plymouth Museum. This is the sort of original show that regional galleries should be mounting.
It celebrates the life of a local person, draws on local history sources and works in partnership with a national museum. The exhibition also brings together artworks from other museums – in this case the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter,
as well as the National Gallery.
The free public gallery was a Victorian innovation – the National Gallery was created by an act of parliament. We often take museums and galleries and the opportunities for enjoyment and education that they provide for granted.
As well as being given the opportunity to learn more about an important 19th-century figure, it is salutary to be reminded, in the current climate of financial cutbacks in the public sector, of the origins of institutions such as the National Gallery.
Peter Mason is a writer on culture
Project data
- Cost Undisclosed
- Main funder Elizabeth Cayzer Charitable Trust
- Exhibition design in-house
- Exhibition ends 15 December