Georgiana

John Downman

Posted Jul 2, 2009 at 13:28 CEST in Artists, Drawings and prints, Fashion, Georgiana, Paintings, and People.

[Image]
Portrait of a lady said to be Lady Bessborough.

John Downman was an English portrait painter and he’s one of my favourite 18th century artists. He made lots of beautiful little portrait drawings.

As always, let me know if you know where to find more or bigger pictures or perhaps know of a book featuring his work.

John Downman on Wikipedia.

John Downman on Answers.com.

More paintings »

Comments

The Duchess

Posted Jan 16, 2009 at 14:35 CET in Fashion, Georgiana, Movies and television, People, and Photos.

[Image]
The Duchess

When I first heard they were making a movie about Georgiana I was so exited, but when I heard Keira Knightly was playing her I was very disappointed. Not that I have anything against Keira Knightly but I couldn’t think of anyone who looks less like Georgiana and I just couldn’t see her in the role. I was happily surprised when seeing the movie though. Even though it’s not the amazing movie I expected when I first heard of the plans, Keira did a great job playing Georgiana, and even though she didn’t really look the part she looked beautiful in her own right and was very charming.

[Image]

The movie was more serious and somber than I expected. I was hoping for more frivolity, society life, parties and gambling, but the focus is all on the unhappy marriage. It’s not the kind of movie I’d want to watch over and over again, but it was definitely entertaining the first time. There are little inaccuracies and things left out and switched around in Georgiana’s life, but it’s all understandable for the purpose of the movie. Since it’s just about a part of her life, it has a bit of a non-ending, just like Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.

[Image]

The costumes were overall amazing, lots of beautiful redingotes and jackets. There were some hairstyles I didn’t like but for the most part the hair was great too. I loved the scenes with many extras, there are lots of amazing outfits if you look in the background. At times the fashions tended to be a bit earlier than the time depicted, at least for a fashionable person like Georgiana, but that’s nitpicking. One thing that bothered me though was the scene where Georgiana’s hair caught on fire, and it’s revealed that it’s just a wig. I’m pretty sure Georgiana didn’t wear wigs, probably plenty of hairpieces, but actual wigs were not common for late 18th century girls.

More publicity stills and 164 high resolution screencaps after the cut!

Read more »

Comments

The Duchess website

Posted Aug 14, 2008 at 21:40 CEST in Fashion, Georgiana, Links, Movies and television, People, and Photos.

[Image]
The website of the upcoming movie The Duchess is up with lots of photos and information. My favourite thing about it is that many of the costumes are presented with detailed photos and information, I also liked the “discover” section. I have mixed feelings about this movie but mostly I can’t wait to see it! Click the picture to go to the website.

Comments

Gossip Guide

Posted Jun 18, 2008 at 21:10 CEST in Blogs, Fashion, Georgiana, Links, Marie Antoinette, and People.

[Image] [Image]

I just found these two “sister blogs”, Georgiana’s gossip guide to the 18th century, and Marie Antoinette’s gossip guide to the 18th century. Both very entertaining blogs with bits of 18th century information and lots of pictures, even some I hadn’t seen before. Check them out!

Comments

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Posted Jun 24, 2007 at 16:49 CEST in Artists, Fashion, Georgiana, Paintings, and People.

[Image]

British portrait painter Joshua Reynolds on Wikipedia.

More of his paintings after the cut.

Edit: Updated this post with new paintings and better quality pictures.

Read more »

Comments

Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire

Posted Jun 24, 2007 at 15:32 CEST in Drawings and prints, Events, Fashion, Georgiana, Movies and television, Paintings, and People.

[Image]

Georgiana on Wikipedia.

More portraits of Georgiana after the cut.

Read more »

Comments

Thomas Gainsborough

Posted Jun 24, 2007 at 15:13 CEST in Artists, Fashion, Georgiana, Paintings, and People.

[Image]

British portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough on Wikipedia.

See more Gainsborough paintings after the cut.

Edit: Updated this post with new and better quality pictures.

Read more »

Comments