The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1802 was the thirty fourth annual Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. It was held at Somerset House in London between 3 May and 12 June 1802 and featured submissions from over five hundred artists and architects. [1] As was common during the period, there was a strong preponderance of portrait paintings over other genres. Critics drew particular attention to the works of three artists Thomas Lawrence, Martin Archer Shee and William Beechey. Beechey attracted interest for his Royal portraits of Cumberland and Princess Augusta, as well as one of the inventor James Watt.
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Aside from his portraits of aristocratic figures Lawrence also painted a notable royal picture. Caroline, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte a dual portrait featuring the king's daughter-in-law Caroline of Brunswick and granddaughter Charlotte. Caroline was estranged from her husband the Prince of Wales and living in Blackheath where the painter visited her for sittings. The work was well received at the exhibition, but the circumstances around the paintings production later led to Lawrence being dragged into the Delicate Investigation and accused of adultery with Caroline. Archer Shee displayed portraits of the politician Earl Spencer and his wife.
The Pennsylvania-born President of the Royal Academy Benjamin West submitted a genre scene Paddington Canal alongside several historical paintings. His fellow American Washington Allston submitted three works. Philip James de Loutherbourg featured a romantic battle painting The Capture of the Chevrette depicting a naval action from the French Revolutionary Wars. [2] Mary Moser, one of the two female founding members of the Academy, submitted her final work the history painting Queen Eleanor’s Confession to King Henry the Second. [3]
The young J.M.W. Turner, recently elected as a full member of the academy, sent in a batch of works there that included several seascapes. Turner also exhibited watercolours from his journeys around Britain. Turner's future rival John Constable made his debut with a landscape The Edge of a Wood. Although it has not been identified amongst his works, it likely featured his native Suffolk. [4]
