This talk explores the close relationship between Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) and his friend and fellow fisherman, the architect Sir John Soane (1753–1837). It looks specifically at Turner’s design for his suburban retreat at Twickenham and illustrates how Soane’s fascination for classical and Renaissance architecture helped Turner define its appearance and implied associations.
Orleans House was a home and meeting place for royalty, politicians and gentry in the two centuries it stood on the Twickenham riverside. It was demolished in 1926. Without the foresight of local resident The Honourable Nellie Ionides, reputed to be the richest woman in England in the 1950s, it is likely that the glorious Octagon Room would have suffered the same fate.
Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk (1689-1767), has perhaps been best known as mistress to the Prince of Wales, later George II. However, this talk will show that Howard was much more than a mistress.
Horace Walpole was the son of Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. He devoted his life to politics, the arts, antiquarianism, history, collecting and authorship and, from 1749, the creation of Strawberry Hill, his summer villa.
More images were created of the exterior of Alexander Pope’s Thameside villa than of any other private residence in the eighteenth century. After his death, his home and garden attracted so many visitors that a later owner razed the villa to the ground in order to preserve her privacy.