Abstract
This chapter examines the ways in which Shakespeare’s authority is constructed and represented in contemporary visual culture, and places a diverse selection of contemporary artworks in the longer history of the interpretation of Shakespeare in painting, sculpture, and printed media.The first section considers the presentation of Shakespeare himself, examining modern portraits and memorabilia in the context of earlier visual constructions of Shakespeare’s ‘genius’. The second section considers contemporary paintings and video art that take on Shakespearean subjects, interpreting them as responses to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century usages of these same subjects in the genre of ‘history’ painting. The final section examines artists who use Shakespeare’s text itself as their material, either in graphic projects or in the form of digital sculpture.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Works Cited
Anon [‘An Actor’] (1824). Shakespeare and honest King George versus Parson Irving and the Puritans: or, taste and common sense, refuting cant and hypocrisy. London: C. Harris.
Cruikshank, R. (1825). The hostile press; and the consequences of crim. con. or Shakespeare in danger. Etched and Hand Coloured Satirical Print [Published February 1825]. London: J. Fairburn.
Cunningham, V. (2011). Shakespeare and Garrick. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
De Freston, T. (2016). Artist Statement. http://www.tomdefreston.co.uk/artist/cv.
Dias, R. (2013). Exhibiting Englishness: John Boydell’s Shakespeare gallery and the formation of a national aesthetic. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Ilic, M., & Heller, S. (Eds.). (2015). Presenting Shakespeare: 1100 posters from around the world. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Kott, J. (1964). Shakespeare our contemporary. London: Doubleday.
Orgel, S. (2003). Imagining Shakespeare: A history of texts and visions. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Pape, W., & Burwick, F. (Eds.). (1996). The Boydell Shakespeare gallery. Bottrop: Peter Pomp.
Shakespeare, W. (1623). Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies. Published according to the true originall copies (J. Heminges & H. Condell, Eds.). London: I. Jaggard and E. Blount.
Shakespeare, W. (2008). Twelfth night (K. Elam, Ed.). London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare.
Sillars, S. (2006). Painting Shakespeare: The artist as critic, 1720–1820. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sillars, S. (2008). The illustrated Shakespeare, 1709–1875. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thiel, S. (2010). Understanding Shakespeare. BA thesis, University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam.
Walpole, H. (1903–1925). Letters (Mrs. P. Toynbee, Ed., 16 Vols.). Oxford: Clarendon.
Wells, S. (2003). Shakespeare: For all time. London: Macmillan.
Young, A. R. (2007). Punch and Shakespeare in the Victorian era. Bern: Peter Lang.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Partner, J. (2018). Will Power: Visualising Shakespeare’s Authority in Contemporary Culture. In: Halsey, K., Vine, A. (eds) Shakespeare and Authority. Palgrave Shakespeare Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57853-2_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57853-2_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57852-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57853-2
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)