Exhibition Room 1 - 1808

Augustus Charles Pugin created this aquatint print called "Exhibition Room" at Somerset House. The piece depicts a room where paintings cover almost every inch of the walls from floor to ceiling. The scene is filled with figures elegantly dressed who seem to be in awe and admiration of the art on display. The perspective is especially interesting, as it creates a somewhat distorted view of the room. It seems as though the walls are converging at an impossible angle, which draws attention to the artificiality of the pictorial space. The arrangement of paintings challenges traditional ideas about how art should be displayed, questioning established aesthetic values. The architecture with its arched window at the back, is seemingly flattened as it vies for space between the dense collection of paintings. Through the structure of his composition, Pugin explores perception, representation, and the changing nature of artistic display in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.