Exhibitions as palimpsest: the New Gallery, Regent Street, 1888-1910

This thesis marks the first in-depth study of the New Gallery in Regent Street, London, which operated as an exhibition venue from 1888 to 1910. The study proposes that the location and physical attributes of the site and its spaces marked the New Gallery as both unique and versatile and that these qualities made it a particularly appropriate venue for the shifting exhibition scene of the fin de siècle. Using the metaphor of the palimpsest, the thesis opens with an in-depth analysis of the building, uncovering layers of physical, social and artistic histories embedded within its walls. The project then focusses on four case studies, using a close reading of archival and secondary sources, as well as an examination of installation photographs from the exhibitions. The case studies include the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, the Eastman Kodak Photographic Exhibition, the Edward Burne-Jones Memorial Exhibition and the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. The thesis proposes that the New Gallery was pivotal in the art world at the fin de siècle, in the rare position of traversing between the two centuries, embracing both Victorian artists and those who found fame in the Edwardian era. As well as supporting contemporary artists, the New Gallery embraced new types of art including photography and decorative works, thus proving itself to be looking forward to the new century. This study reveals the building itself as central to an understanding of exhibition history in London and engages with a number of wider issues, including the development of London’s West End as a retail and commercial centre, opportunities for artists to display and sell their works, and changes in exhibition practice, especially a general move to a white cube aesthetic.