VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Rienzi Center for European Decorative Arts, MFAH presents a Rienzi Public Lecture - King George III and Queen Charlotte: Contrasts in Taste and Patronage, Thursday, Nov 03, 2011, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM. FREE.  Presented by Sir Hugh Roberts, GCVO, FSA, surveyor emeritus of The Queen’s Works of Art, and former director of the Royal Collection of Great Britain.

King George III (reigned 1760–1820) is perhaps best known—on both sides of the Atlantic—as the British king who “lost America” and “went mad.” But he and his wife, Queen Charlotte (pictured), have seldom been seen in their true light: as exemplary Enlightenment figures who actively promoted the arts and sciences in Great Britain and greatly enriched the Royal Collection with works of art of the finest quality.

Sir Hugh Roberts offers an account of the individual tastes and interests of the King and Queen, concentrating in particular on the leading 18th-century metropolitan upholsterers and cabinet makers who helped to furnish and decorate the principal royal residences: St. James’s Palace, Buckingham House, and Windsor Castle. The lecture also expands on how and why the royal couple’s complementary yet different tastes evolved—King George III’s preferences were greatly influenced by his inherited possessions, whereas Queen Charlotte’s resulted from her continental upbringing.

This lecture is open to the public, and admission is free. A reception to meet the speaker follows.

The Rienzi Lectures are generously funded by the Carroll Sterling and Harris Masterson III Endowment Fund for Rienzi, and the Caroline Wiess Law Endowment Fund for Rienzi.