Dempsey's People - A Folio of British Street Portraits 1824-1844
Author(s): David Hansen
History tends to ignore the lowly. Those who dwelt at the fringes
of society, or among the ranks of the sick, poor or destitute, have
rarely left more than the faintest mark upon it, more usually none
at all.<BR>
This story begins with curator David Hansen's chance discovery
of a set of watercolour portraits over 20 years ago, and culminates
with a new body of research into little-known portraitist John
Dempsey and his enchanting portrayal of British street people.
For the first time, 52 of Dempsey's beguiling watercolour portraits
are brought together to provide a fresh perspective on the arthistorical
narrative of 19th century society. It is a story of the
extraordinary travels of Dempsey around Britain, in a time of
limited transportation, through to the eventual downturn in the
fortunes of travelling painters with the emergence of photography.
Nearly 200 years later, many of the subjects of these portraits
are identifiable. Dempsey's ode to the town personalities he
encountered on his travels provide rare insight into the individuals
who populated small towns across Britain. There are bellmen and
beggars; hawkers and match-sellers; old soldiers, poets, eccentrics;
and the physically and mentally disabled.<BR>
Drawn from the collections of Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
and the Alexander Turnbull Library in New Zealand, Dempsey's
People will draw you into the life and times of Georgian England.
Product Information
General Fields
- :
- : National Portrait Gallery of Australia
- : NPG Australia
- : 01 June 2017
- : 4 Centimeters X 20 Centimeters X 28 Centimeters
- : books
Special Fields
- : David Hansen
- : Hardback
- : English
- : 272