British collection of Victorian era paintings at Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum of Art
Edwin Longsden Long, “The Babylonian Marriage Market” (1875, oil on canvas)
From Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Important British collection in Tulsa
Philbrook art museum showing touring exhibit of Victorian paintings
TULSA – Polar bears ravaging a wrecked ship, Babylonian maidens waiting their turn at a marriage market and a diverse crowd thronging London’s Paddington Station inhabit three canvases on exhibit at the Philbrook Museum of Art.
Through Jan. 4, the museum is offering a rare chance to view Victorian era British paintings covering an array of subject matter, from historical moments and social commentary to rural scenes and seascapes.
“I think what this show really does is show diversity of artistic expression, that was still part and parcel of the Victorian era,” said Philbrook Director Randall Suffolk. “If people assume that they’re going to come here and see painting after painting that looked as though it came out of a Charles Dickens novel, that’s not what this is.”
The Philbrook is the first U.S. venue for the three-year tour of “Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London” an exhibit of 60 paintings from Royal Holloway, University of London.
“Most of the works on display here have never been seen outside of the United Kingdom before,” he said. “This gives us an opportunity to present some of the finest examples of Victorian painting to our community.”
The Royal Holloway Collection is the greatest university art collection in the world, with a fascinating history, said its curator, Mary Cowling, in an e-mail interview.
In 1879, self-made millionaire Thomas Holloway, a patent medicine seller and philanthropist founded Royal Holloway College as a school for women women. From 1881-83, he amassed a collection of contemporary British paintings for the school.
“They’re a perfect illustration of late Victorian taste,” Cowling said. “The paintings haven’t been over-cleaned or in other ways interfered with, so you’re seeing them much as they were when they were painted, which is a rare thing these days. Visitors will also be struck by the sheer craftsmanship on display. Victorian artists spent years on their training. They were superb painters and draftsmen.”
The traveling exhibit was planned to coincide with the refurbishment of the college’s Picture Gallery, where the collection usually hangs. Cowling said so many U.S. institutions wanted to show the world-famous paintings that the tour was extended. Other venues it will visit include Yale University’s Yale Center for British Art, Delaware Art Museum and Stanford University’s Canter Center for the Visual Arts.
Organized by Art Services International in Virginia, the tour also will help make more Americans aware of Royal Holloway, now a co-ed college with students from more than 130 countries, including the United States, she said.
The exhibit includes some of the important paintings produced in the 19th century, including William Powell Frith’s “Railway Station.” An expansive view of crowded Paddington Station, it portrays people from all walks of Victoria life, from an aristocratic bride to a caught criminal.
Since the Picture Gallery at Royal Holloway also serves as an exam hall, Cowling said it is tradition to cover Edwin Landseer’s “Man Proposes – God Disposes,” a painting of two polar bears destroying the remains of Sir John Franklin’s failed 1845 Arctic expedition, during test time.
“The message the painting sends out about man’s limitations and unfulfilled hopes led to the superstition that anyone seated next to it would fail the examination; but a member of the staff had the ingenious idea of draping the picture with the Union Flag,” she said.
Edwin Longsden Long’s exotic historical depiction of “The Babylonian Marriage Market” has been a favorite at the Philbrook, Suffolk said.
“This has been a great show for us. … Given the diversity of subject matter, there’s a lot here for a lot of different tastes,” he said.
On exhibit
“Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London”
Where: Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Rd. Tulsa.
When: Through Jan. 4.
Information: (918) 749-7941 or www.philbrook.org.
-BAM
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I have three tips for beginning art collectors as well as for experienced art collectors. Good reminders for anyone interested in art or already collecting art. 1) Buy art because you like it and because it moves you, and because it will enhance your life. 2) Visit as many art galleries as you can, gallery staff can be helpful guides in your art education. 3) Get on gallery mailing lists so you’ll be invited to openings and special events for beginning art collectors. Jennifer.