State, Nation, and Empire in the History of Georgian Art

Douglas Fordham, State, Nation, and Empire in the History of Georgian Art Over the past decade, historians of British art have become increasingly interested in the structure of the British state and in its relationship to fine art. Art historians have initiated what could be termed a "political turn" in the field through a series of studies on slavery and the Black Atlantic, empire and national identity, and the heterodox nature, both public and private, of British cultural institutions. This essay examines the timing of this political turn, and it discusses recent monographs, edited volumes, and exhibition catalogues dealing with visual art and the state between the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 and the full emancipation of slaves in 1838.