SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you!

Other

Royal Collection Trust announce upcoming programme of exhibitions and displays

The Royal Collection Trust have announced their upcoming programme of exhibitions and displays at royal residences and The Queen’s Galleries for the year ahead. Highlights of the upcoming programme include an exhibition marking the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and an exhibition telling the story of German artist Maria Sibylla Merian.

An example of a piece from The Royal Collection by Sir David Wilkie. Queen Victoria's first portrait as Queen.

An example of a piece from The Royal Collection by Sir David Wilkie. Queen Victoria’s first portrait as Queen.

See below for a full outline on the Royal Collection Trust’s upcoming exhibitions and displays.

The Queen’s Gallery – Buckingham Palace

Painting Paradise: The Art of Garden – Until the 11th October 2015, Painting Paradise will be taking over The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace and will give visitors the chance to learn how gardens have been celebrated in art across the last four centuries. The exhibition will bring together paintings, botanical studies, drawings, books, manuscripts and art to explore the changing character of the garden from the 16th to the early 20th century.

Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer – From the 13th November 2015 to 14th February 2016, the Masters of the Everyday will bring together 27 of the finest 17th and 18th century Dutch paintings in the Royal Collection alongside Johannes Vermeer’s ‘The Music Lesson’. The exhibition depict ordinary scenes of everyday life captured in extraordinary detail representing a high point in ‘Genre Painting’.

High Spirits: The Comic Art of Thomas Rowlandson – Running alongside the Masters of Everyday exhibition, High Spirits will show the perils of love, political machinations and royal intrigue that were the daily subject matter of Thomas Rowlandson. A number of the works in the exhibition were purchased by the Prince Regent, later King George IV. Through the humour or Rowlandson’s work, this exhibition will examine life in Britain at the turn of the 19th Century.

Scottish Artists 1750-1900: From Caledonia to the Continent – This exhibition will present some of the finest works from Scotland’s most celebrated artists. From Allan Ramsay to Sir David Wilkie, from romantic Highland escapes to exotic scenes of the Continent, Scottish Artists will bring together works of art acquired by Monarchs from King George III to Queen Elizabeth II. This exhibition will run from 18th March 2016 to 9th October 2016.

Maria Merian’s Butterflies – From 15th April 2016 to 9th October 2016, Maria Merian’s Butterflies will run alongside the Scottish Artists exhibition and will tell the story of Maria Sybylla Merian, former German artist and entomologist. The exhibition will tell her story through over 50 works of hers acquired by King George III and now in the Royal Collection.

Portrait of the Artist – From 4th November 2016 to 23rd April 2017, Portrait of the Artist will be the first ever exhibition to focus on images of artists in the Royal Collection including both self portraits of artists such as Rembrandt and Hockney as well as representations of artists by their friends, relatives and pupils. The exhibition will comprise of over 150 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and decorative arts from the 15th to the 21st century. It will also examine the role of the monarch in commissioning, collecting and displaying portraits of artists.

The Queen’s Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse will play host to three of the exhibitions that The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace is hosting. Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer, Painting Paradise: The Art of Garden, Scottish Artists 1750-1900: From Caledonia to the Continent.

Windsor Castle

Waterloo at Windsor – Running until 6th January 2016 the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and defeat of Napoleon is commemorated in this exhibition at Windsor. Being held in the Waterloo Chamber, created by George IV in celebration of the allied victory, the exhibition will be filled with portraits of those who were instrumental in the victory. The exhibition also comprises a themed trail through the State Apartments with a display of prints, drawings and archival materials that explores the battle and its aftermath.

Long to Reign Over Us – To commemorate Her Majesty The Queen becoming Britain’s longest reigning monarch, this exhibition will be running until 27th January 2016. In a unique outdoor display, Long to Reign Over Us celebrates the momentous occasion through a series of photographs from 1952 to the present day. Images include official portraits and photographs of Her Majesty undertaking visits in the UK and across the Commonwealth.

A Regency Christmas at Windsor Castle – In a Regency themed display, Windsor Castle will show us how King George IV celebrated Christmas in the early part of the 19th century. The Waterloo Chamber will play host to a 16-metre long table laid for a festive feast with pieces from the spectacular Grand Service. Decorated Nordmann Fir Christmas Trees will adorn St George’s Hall and the Crimson Drawing Room while the Octagon Dining Room will be decorated with a Yew to emulate how Queen Charlotte would have decorated for the festive season. The display runs from 21st November 201 to 5th January 2016.

Shakespeare in the Royal Library – To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, this display will draw on material from the Royal Library, including works of Shakespeare collected by The Royal Family, accounts of performances at Windsor Castle and art by members of The Royal Family inspired by Shakespeare. The display will run from 13th February 2016 until January 2017.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Christmas at the Palace of Holyroodhouse – To mark the festive season, the Palace of Holyroodhouse will this year be decked out with over 20,000 twinkling lights while the Royal Dining Room will have a table laid with pieces from a silver service presented by Scottish benefactor Sir Alexander Grant to King George V and Queen Mary in 1935, celebrating their Silver Jubilee.

The Last of the Tide – Running from 15th January to 28th March 2016, The Last of the Tide is an exhibition of 12 portraits of D-Day Veterans inspired and commissioned by the Duke of Rothesay following his attendance at the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy last summer. The 12 Veterans are shown wearing their medals and in some portraits, their regimental berets. All Veterans served in regiments in which the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay have a formal affiliation.

The Royal Collection Trust is a department of the Royal Household and is responsible for the care of the Royal Collection and also manages the public opening of the official residences of The Queen.

For more information on any of the exhibitions and displays featured and to book tickets visit www.royalcollection.org.uk

Photo Credits: By Sir David Wilkie (Royal Collection Trust) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons  &”Buckingham Palace, London – April 2009” by DiliffOwn work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.