The exhibition includes a selection of 10 portraits by some of the leading 18th-century British
painters, all representing a single inspirational subject: the tragic actress Sarah Siddons
(1755-1831), who revolutionized the aesthetics of the London stage.
Cultivating a complex public persona to promote her celebrity, Siddons collaborated
with the greatest artists of her day to create images which celebrated her renowned majestic
bearing and impassioned performances. Siddons was painted not only by Sir Joshua Reynolds
and Thomas Gainsborough, but also by Gilbert Stuart, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and George Romney,
each of whom is represented by major works on loan for the exhibition. These portraits were
instrumental in creating and disseminating the Siddons image, ranging from private woman to
professional actress, from society figure to allegorical emblem.
For the first time in more than 200 years, through loans from the Dulwich Picture Gallery,
London, and The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, two
versions of Reynolds remarkable Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse will be reunited.
Both paintings were the subject of a collaborative study and investigation by the Gettys
paintings conservators and conservation scientists.
The exhibition, curated by Robyn Asleson, is accompanied by a beautifully illustrated book
commemorating the Getty and Huntington exhibitions, available at both institutions bookstores
and on-line through Getty Publications.
Related Events
A related exhibition devoted to the legend of Sarah Siddons, Cultivating Celebrity:
Portraiture as Publicity in the Career of Sarah Siddons, concurrently at
the The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Additional information about this exhibition and related events can be found on the Huntington Calendar of Events.
A lecture by Robyn Asleson, Model, Muse, Myth: Incarnations of Sarah Siddons,
Star of the British Stage, August 5, 1999 at 7 PM in the Harold M. Williams Auditorium
at the Getty Center. Reservations are required; call 310 440-7300
The world premiere of The Affliction of Glory: A Comedy About Tragedy, August 14
through September 5 in the Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center. More information
and tickets.
Illustrated: Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, 1784, The Huntington Art Collections
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