High art and low politics: a new perspective on John Wilkes
High art and low politics: a new perspective on John Wilkes
In 1777, towards the end of his colourful career as a radical politician, John Wilkes (1725-1797) became the first politician to advocate the creation of a national gallery in Britain. More familiar for his opposition periodical The North Briton and the riotous Middlesex Campaign of 1768, Wilkes’s beliefs on the limits of royal authority with respect to parliament and the people were also expressed in his lifelong activities in support of the ‘polite arts’ in Britain. Building on his friendships with Denis Diderot and J.J. Winckelmann, as well as his links to London’s mercantile class, he challenged contemporaries who saw Britain’s commercial prowess as irreconcilable with such moral improvements. When juxtaposed to his attempts at parliamentary reform, his demonstration of liberty’s importance for the arts raised the prospect of greater public access to culture, as well as to the franchise.
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Conlin, Jonathan
3ab58a7d-d74b-48d9-99db-1ba2f3aada40
2001
Conlin, Jonathan
3ab58a7d-d74b-48d9-99db-1ba2f3aada40
Conlin, Jonathan
(2001)
High art and low politics: a new perspective on John Wilkes.
Huntington Library Quarterly, 36 (4), .
(doi:10.2307/3817917).
Abstract
In 1777, towards the end of his colourful career as a radical politician, John Wilkes (1725-1797) became the first politician to advocate the creation of a national gallery in Britain. More familiar for his opposition periodical The North Briton and the riotous Middlesex Campaign of 1768, Wilkes’s beliefs on the limits of royal authority with respect to parliament and the people were also expressed in his lifelong activities in support of the ‘polite arts’ in Britain. Building on his friendships with Denis Diderot and J.J. Winckelmann, as well as his links to London’s mercantile class, he challenged contemporaries who saw Britain’s commercial prowess as irreconcilable with such moral improvements. When juxtaposed to his attempts at parliamentary reform, his demonstration of liberty’s importance for the arts raised the prospect of greater public access to culture, as well as to the franchise.
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Published date: 2001
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Local EPrints ID: 146765
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/146765
ISSN: 0018-7895
PURE UUID: 0c4be902-15dd-4cc2-8769-c920b3b4ff4d
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Date deposited: 13 Jul 2010 14:30
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:52
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