NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.- The Yale Center for British Art presents "Romantics and Revolutionaries: Regency Portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, London," on view through March 30, 2003. Romantics and Revolutionaries brings to the Center over 90 stunning portraits of the most charismatic and engaging personalities from the Regency period (1790-1830). It presents some of the most famous images of the heroes and heroines of the age, including Lord Byron, Keats, Shelley, Jane Austen, Wordsworth, Lady Emma Hamilton and her lover Lord Nelson, as well as the Regent himself, who later became George IV.
Drawn entirely from the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, these paintings are among that institution’s most precious treasures. They have been made available for a tour in the United States while the museum’s Regency galleries are undergoing refurbishment.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue, written by Richard Holmes with contributions by David Crane, Stephen Hebron, and Robert Woof. It is a project of the National Portrait Gallery, London. The tour is organized by ArtReach International.
Related rare books and manuscripts will also be on view. They have been selected from Yale collections by Elisabeth Fairman, Curator of Rare Books and Archives, and will complement the exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery.