LONDON’S National Gallery has opened up two new exhibitions, which, together, aim to explore national identity.
The first exhibition, Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen takes as the focus of its 14 piece exhibit the instantly recognisable Monarch of the Glen; a painting of a red deer stag stood proudly in the Scottish highlands painted in 1851 by Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1973).
Edwin Landseer’s The Monarch of the Glen
The piece was originally painted to hang in the new Houses of Parliament, but a lack of funds meant that it never found a home there. Instead, bought by a private owner, the painting was lent to the Royal Academy before making itself famous as the logo for a number of different brands. It remained in private ownership until the National Galleries of Scotland raised a public funding appeal to buy the work in 2017, lending it to the National Gallery in London for this exhibit.
Dr Susan Foister, National Gallery Deputy Director and curator for this exhibition explained that much of Landseer’s success came from his charm and popularity. Highly ambitious, he quickly gained the attention of the British aristocracy, including Queen Victoria herself, whom he gave lessons in etching and sketching.
The Monarch of the Glen exhibition includes a sketch by Queen Victoria, as well as an anatomical study of a horse, drawn by George Stubbs, whose famous Whistlejacket also currently resides in the National Gallery. Inspired by Stubbs, Landseer made many anatomical studies himself, often visiting menageries to study the animals up close.
It was in this way that Landseer prepared to create the lions that today stand at the base of Nelson’s Column outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, although many at the time thought that, as a painter rather than a sculptor, he was not the right man for the job.
Trips to the Scottish highlands became very popular with the aristocracy of Victorian England, including with the Queen and her husband, who bought Balmoral in 1852.
Director of the National Gallery, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, explained that the Landseer exhibition examines the way artists create myth though art. In particular, he said, The Monarch of the Glen depicts a romanticised myth of the Scottish highlands, created by an English aristocracy who found the approval of fashion by visiting its rugged landscapes and appropriating its way of life.
Introducing Scottish artist Rachel Maclean, whose exhibition is part of the gallery’s Modern and Contemporary Programme for 2018-2019, Finaldi explained the link between the two new exhibitions.
“Rachel Maclean too, in a more caustic way, wants us to think about national identity, a very topical issue for our nation” he said.
Her exhibition, The Lion and the Unicorn, includes a 2012 video which she was commissioned to produce by the Edinburgh Printmakers in the lead-up to the 2014 Scottish Referendum.
Rachel Maclean’s The Queen
Alongside her portraits, the video is a satirical examination of what it means to be Scottish as well as subject to a British culture and rule.
Elaborately made-up in fancy dress costume, Maclean performs each of the characters in her film herself. A figure based on Queen Elizabeth I mouths along to audio excerpts from Elizabeth II’s 1957 Christmas broadcast. At other times, a lion and unicorn argue over the state of Scotland, using audio from conversations between Jeremy Paxman and Alex Salmond.
Being based on a 2012 video exploring a 2014 political situation, it could be argued that the exhibition is somewhat dated. However, the discussion of national identity that the two exhibitions inspire remains important in light of our current political situation, raising the question of whether the artistic mythology of our national identities might not look very different in the future.
by Hannah Valentine
Landseer’s The Monarch of the Glen and Rachel Maclean: The Lion and The Unicorn are at the National Gallery, London, from 29 November to 3 February.
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