Comic Acting and Portraiture in Late-Georgian and Regency England

An original study of the relationship between comic acting and the visual arts in late-Georgian and Regency England.

Jim Davis (Author)

9781107098855, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 October 2015

287 pages, 76 b/w illus.
25.3 x 18.1 x 1.8 cm, 0.75 kg

The popularity of the comic performers of late-Georgian and Regency England and their frequent depiction in portraits, caricatures and prints is beyond dispute, yet until now little has been written on the subject. In this unique study Jim Davis considers the representation of English low comic actors, such as Joseph Munden, John Liston, Charles Mathews and John Emery, in the visual arts of the period, the ways in which such representations became part of the visual culture of their time, and the impact of visual representation and art theory on prose descriptions of comic actors. Davis reveals how many of the actors discussed also exhibited or collected paintings and used painterly techniques to evoke the world around them. Drawing particularly on the influence of Hogarth and Wilkie, he goes on to examine portraiture as critique and what the actors themselves represented in terms of notions of national and regional identity.

Part I. English Comic Actors and their Representation: 1. The low comic actor
2. Artists and comic actors
3. Perspectives on comedy and comic acting
Part II. Humorous as a Sketch by Hogarth: 4. Comedy and caricature: Joseph Munden and Isabella Mattocks
5. John Liston: caricaturing preachers and cockneys
6. The low comedian as material object
7. Caricature, degradation, persona and portraiture
8. Paintings by George Clint
Part III. Chaste as a Picture by Wilkie: 9. Wilkie, everyday life and the theatre
10. Acting from nature and observation
11. John Bannister: 'the best kind of Englishman'
12. John Emery: 'this Wilkie of Actors'
13. Actors as artists and connoisseurs
Part IV. Alone I Did It! The Case of Charles Mathews: 14. Charles Mathews 'at home'
15. Charles Mathews: paintings, portraits and prints
16. The Harlow portrait of Charles Mathews.

Subject Areas: Theatre: individual actors & directors [ANB], Portraits in art [AGHF], Drawing & drawings [AFF]