Exhibition: Georgian Illuminations

This is an exhibition of works on paper focusing on the spectacular illuminations which were popular in the Georgian period.

This exhibition will concentrate on specific, well-publicised light shows of the period and the impressive and the elaborate temporary architectural structures created for them, often designed by leading architects and artists, including Soane. Royal entertainments, pleasure gardens, national celebrations, and illuminations by Soane will all feature, demonstrating that these ephemeral cultural practices were drivers of architectural and technological innovation.

Newly discovered vast linen transparencies, which were back lit in Georgian windows as patriotic decoration during the Napoleonic Wars, will be placed on lightboxes and displayed for the first time in the Foyle Space.

Additionally, the Soane has commissioned a contemporary equivalent of the illuminated architecture explored in the exhibition. The light artist Nayan Kulkarni developing a new work to illuminate the façade of the Museum on Lincoln’s Inn Fields, reinforcing how light was a central element of design for Sir John Soane.