Art

Peers and tiaras

by Anne Gray •

July–August 2013, no. 353

Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century edited by Angus Trumble and Andrea Wolk Rager

Yale University Press (Inbooks), $99.95 hb, 421 pp, 9780300190250

Art

Peers and tiaras

by Anne Gray •

July–August 2013, no. 353

Edwardian Opulence is the book for the sumptuous survey exhibition of Edwardian art which was shown at the Yale Centre for British Art from 28 February to 2 June 2013. It is a sweeping look at the visual arts in Britain in all its manifestations during the period roughly corresponding with the reign of Edward VII. This substantial book contains important essays by the curators, Angus Trumble and Andrea Wolk Rager, as well as contributions from leading art historians such as Tim Barringer, Pamela Fletcher, Elizabeth C. Mansfield, and Alexander Nemerov. Many of the paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works of decorative art in this publication reflect the supreme self-confidence and wealth of the ruling élite at that time. However, it was also a period of dramatic change; and this too is reflected in the publication.

Anne Gray

Anne Gray is an art historian and independent curator. She has worked in the art museum profession for more than forty years. She was previously head of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia, Director of the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery at The University of Western Australia, head of Art at the Australian War Memorial, and an educator at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. She has curated around forty exhibitions and has written widely on Australian and British art and artists, and more recently has published three children’s books on Australian art, including After Hours: Children’s adventures in women’s art. kidsartbooks@com.au