400 YEARS OF THE SELFIE

EXHIBITION GUIDE

We look at a portrait, whether a four hundred year-old painting or a photo taken today, in many different ways.

If we know the person then we are keen to see if it is a ‘good likeness’. Does it look like the person or not? Do we recognise them?

We also can’t help but judge whether it reveals something of the character of the person in the picture. If we know them, whether personally or from history then we judge whether it captures their sense of humour or their wickedness.

Finally, we assess whether or not it is a ‘good portrait’. Do we like the colours and the arrangement of people, objects and locations?

Portraits are works of art, documentary records and sentimental objects. We can’t help treasure them, share them and look horrified when they catch our double chin or In this exhibition we bring together modern portraits and portrait paintings from four hundred years of history to show how the portrait developed in England.

We start the exhibition with two examples of modern portraits taken by Martin Parr. He is one of the most prominent photographers working in Britain today. His work focuses on everyday activities and people from all walks of life. He has taken many photographs in Sandwell and across the Black Country and you can see these on the website www.multistory.org.uk

1. Norman Soper, Sandwell Show, Sandwell Vallery, 2010Photograph by Martin Parr

2. Brian & Ross Cartwright, Griffin-Woodhouse Ltd, Cradley Heath, 2010Photograph by Martin Parr

WHO WERE THE TALBOTS?The portraits in this room come from the collection of the Talbot family. The rise of one of the most powerful aristocratic families in England lay in a member of William The Conqueror’s counsel, Roger de Montgomerie. He was granted lands across Shropshire and into mid-Wales and the title of Earl of Shrewsbury. The Talbots accumulated land, political power and titles during the Hundred Years War against France and during the Wars of the Roses. By the Tudor period they were one of the most powerful families in England and well-connected to the monarchy. Bess of Hardwick (4) and her husband were in charge of keeping Mary Queen of Scots under arrest in their own home for many years. Their houses included Alveston Hall (now the theme park Alton Towers); Heythrop Park and Ingestre Hall – where the portraits in this exhibition usually are kept. They added the family name Chetwynd in the eighteenth century.

3. Alathea, Countess of Arundel (1593-1654)Painted about 1617 by an English artist

4. Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury (1520-1608)Painted in 1575 by an English artist

We do not know the names of many painters in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. They did not sign their paintings, reflecting the fact that it was the person who was sitting for the portrait who was the most important person. The painter was, like a wedding photographer today, paid to do a specific task rather than create work for themselves.

5. John Talbot, Esq. 1542-1611

6. Margaret Talbot died. 1620

Both painted about 1640 by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen

These are much smaller pictures than those of Alathea or Elizabeth. They were painted from earlier pictures several years after the deaths of the individuals. Like a photo album today, a picture gallery in an aristocratic house would show the previous members of the family to emphasise the family’s achievements and history.

7.Walter Chetwynd III MP of Ingestre 1634/5 – 1693By Sir Peter Lely about 1655

8. Hon. John Talbot 1664-1685/6By Mary Beale between 1683 and 1686

9. Charles Talbot Duke and 12th Earl 1660-1718School of Kneller, painted about 1711

Sir Peter Lely (7) and Godfrey Kneller (9) were of Dutch and German origin, and came to England to make their careers as painters at the royal court. They both operated studios which employed large numbers of assistants to produce paintings quickly. The phrase ‘School of Kneller’ is used because we do not know whether the picture was painted by Kneller himself or one of his assistants. 10. Hon Frances Chetwynd 1725-1805By Maurice Quentin de la Tour

11. Charles Chetwynd 2nd Earl Talbot 1777-1849Painted by Marie Vigee Le Brun, 1798Marie Vigee Le Brun, like Mary Beale (8) was a professional female painter. She was the chief portrait painter at the court of Louis XVI, the king who was executed during the French Revolution. She painted many portraits of the king’s wife Marie Antoinette. This picture may have been painted in Russia, where Vigee Le Brun fled to after the Revolution, and where Charles Chetwynd worked at the British Embassy.

12. John Chetwynd 1st Earl Talbot 1750-1793Painted in Rome in 1773 by Pompeo Batoni

13. Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot Viscount Ingestre 1803-1868Painted around 1829 by John Jackson RA

14-19Photographs in the Sandwell ArchivesThese Victorian and Edwardian photo portraits give an idea how early portrait photographers looked to painting to set up their images. The group family portrait is as formal as an aristocratic family painting. The clothes that we see in the photos are evidence that individuals would ‘dress up’ for their portrait photograph to say things about themselves, as we still do for graduations or weddings.

20. Mr and Mrs RH Butler and their DaughtersPainted in 1936 by Bernard Fleetwood-WalkerWe’ve included this picture in the exhibition to show how portrait painting has become less formal over the past hundred years. The painter has attempted to catch this family in a much more spontaneous way. They are sitting on the ground in a wood and one daughter is attempting to surprise another.

The Butler family were one of the owners of Mitchells and Butlers Brewery. The original Butlers brewery was in Smethwick, but by the time of this painting the brewing operation had moved to Cape Hill.

CREDITSPictures 3-13 on loan from The Ingestre Hall collection.

Pictures 4-19 on loan from Sandwell Community History and Archives Service

Picture 20 on loan from Wolverhampton Arts and Heritage

Exhibition texts by Trevelyan Wright