Media Release

The Art Gallery of South Australia is holding the first ever Australian exhibition of art of the British Regency period, the period during which the Prince Regent (later George IV) was Regent for his mad father George III.

REGENCY has been selected from the best public and private collections across Australia and presents a breathtaking display of paintings, furniture, porcelain, silver objects, glass, costume, prints and books and children’s toys. This is the public’s only chance to see such an extraordinary array of Regency art and design in Australia and provides a unique opportunity to view works from hitherto unseen private collections.

This dazzling period covering the first three decades of the nineteenth century in Britain was one in which the Napoleonic wars, high living and extravagant spending formed a background against which there was an outpouring of creative brilliance in all the arts.

The manners and attitudes of early-nineteenth-century English life have been immortalised in the novels of Jane Austen and the exhibition surveys the visual arts of her contemporaries. J.M.W. Turner, John Constable and William Blake are some of the more famous painters represented, along with works by the other important artists of the day including John Glover, Thomas Lawrence, Samuel Palmer and Benjamin West. Sumptuous gold-plated silver objects by Paul Storr, who supplied much to the royal family, and opulent furniture by the most celebrated makers and designers of the day including George Bullock and Thomas Hope attest to the wealth, creativity and eclecticism of the period.

"The people of Adelaide must visit this extraordinary exhibition which brings to life the controversial and exotic age of the romantic English poets, Jane Austen, and the succession crisis in the royal family. The Prince Regent, later George IV, ran the risk during his brief tenure of bankrupting the state with his extravagant and extraordinary commissions of art and design. The objects in this exhibition were designed for the wealthy of the age and took pride of place in their palaces and mansions. Many of these wonderful pieces are loans from private collections never seen before in public. Now these splendid treasures reside for the next nine weeks in the Gallery. See them before the exhibition becomes too crowded!"

Christopher Menz Curator of Decorative Arts 08 82077015

Ron Radford Director 08 82077002

Nat Williams Manager Public Programs 08 82077009

REGENCY is accompanied by a large-format, lavishly illustrated colour catalogue which has been generously assisted by The Paul Mellon Centre for British Studies in London.

Sponsor: Tempo Group of Companies