Art News

George IV’s Tastes in Dutch Art on Show in Scotland

EDINBURGH (REUTERS).- The French Revolution of 1789 and the Napoleonic wars opened up a massive European art market, and some of the British royal purchases of the time are featured in a new exhibition of Dutch landscape and marine paintings in Edinburgh. The exhibition of 42 works by 17th century Dutch artists from the royal collection runs at the Queen’s Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse from Thursday through to January 9 2011. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, surveyor of the Queen’s pictures who curated the exhibition, said 34 of the paintings were bought by the Prince Regent (subsequently King George IV) between 1809 and 1820. “A lot of major collections of Dutch art around the world were formed around that date. The French Revolution and the invasion of Holland which followed released into the market huge quantities of fabulous works — émigrés needing to support their émigré habit, loot sort of getting into circulation again — so it was an incredibly good time to be buying,” he