This three part documentary tells the surprisingly interesting story of how the British became art collectors. This is the story of the aristocracy, wealth and patronage. It’s also a story about culture, status and the market…and quite a lot of cut-throat conspiracy.
The story is remarkably recent too. Its origins go back only as far as the 17C, and the discovery of the sophisticated visual culture of Italy, France and the Netherlands. It’s worth remembering that, for most of the modern period, British culture has depended on the import of continental artists…Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck especially back then.
The Whitehall Circle were a group of court favourites who, with Charles I as their leader, pioneered the aggressive and competitive buying of art
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall_Group
The major figures in the group were the Arundels, the Buckinghams and the Pembrokes, but they also employed a series of agents and dealers to source their pictures and artworks for them. The figures of Balthazar Gerbier and William Petty are especially significant…
The modern art market was kick-started by the fire-sale of artworks belonging to the Royal collection when Charles I was deposed in the 17C. The buy-backs and dealing that followed were supported by the advent and loss of great fortunes and, within 100 years, each if the major London auction rooms had been established.
The second chapter of this story looked at “the golden age” period of the 18C – Chiswick House, Holkham Hall, Goodwood and Petworth…all magnificent houses. At Holkham, the collection had been built around the established taste for Italian masters…at Goodwood, a new patronage supported Stubbs. And at Petworth the artists in residence included Turner and Constable…There was an interesting section in the film about the origins of the RA and the beginnings of systematic art teaching in Britain.
The exact origins of the great wealth that supported each of these great estates remained largely unexamined.
If you are interested in the English baroque and the import of continental sophistication after the Restoration of Charles II, watch Peter Greenaway’s The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982). New ways of seeing indeed…
Don’t think that this all just ancient history, a number of important country houses have displays of contemporary art in their grounds, see Anish Kapoor at Chatsworth House, for example, and the various exhibitions at Blenheim Palace.