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G0390
Paintings: G0390
Title
John Philip Kemble, Sarah Siddons
Technique
Oil on canvas
Subject
Character
Macbeth : Macbeth
Lady Macbeth : Macbeth
Lady Macbeth : Macbeth
Artist
Dimensions
Height: 179cm
Width: 152.4cm
height (frame): 211cm
width (frame): 183cm
Width: 152.4cm
height (frame): 211cm
width (frame): 183cm
Provenance
Lord Le Despencer; sale, Mereworth Castle; Christie's, 9 May 1865 (138); [Possibly the picture of Kemble and Mrs Siddons in Macbeth sold for L4 14s. 6d. in the Royal Dramatic College sale at Fairbrother, Lye, and Palmer on 24 February 1881 (lot 68)]; sold Puttick & Simpson, 13 July 1921 (159) bt. Mason 120 gns; F. J. Nettlefold by 1933; presented by Nettlefold to the Garrick Club, 1940
Other number
CKA 637
Gift 589
Gift 589
Exhibition history
1786 London, R. A. (199)
1933 London, Dudley House, "Theatre Exhibition" (195)
1975 London, Hayward Gallery, "The Georgian Playhouse" (99)
Literature
C. Reginald Grundy “A Catalogue of the Pictures and Drawings in the Collection of John Frederick Nettlefold” (1933), I: 8-10
The moment shown is Act II, scene 2. The figures are life-size and shown three-quarter length. Siddons as Lady Macbeth wears the elaborate powdered coiffure of c.1780 with a broad-brimmed circular hat on the back of her head. Her dress, however, is the Van Dyk style, dark green, the bodice trimmed with sequins, and the overskirt hemmed with a zigzag pattern. The sleeves of her white chemise are visible, tied with pale blue ribbons at the elbows, and she has a wide lace collar. Kemble as Macbeth wears a late-18th-century red coat, with green lapels, and a plaid across his chest and over his shoulders. Moonlight streams through a Gothic window behind the pair.
Siddons played Lady Macbeth for the first time in London at Drury Lane on 2 February 1785 for her benefit, with William Smith as Macbeth. Kemble first played Macbeth at Hull on 30 October 1778, and his first performance of the role in London was at Drury Lane on 31 March 1785, for his own benefit, with his sister as Lady Macbeth. That was the only London performance of the role he gave before Beach's picture was exhibited at the R. A., and he did not play the part again at Drury Lane until 16 October 1788, after Smith had retired. See G0253 for comments on Garrick and Pritchard in this scene, painted by Zoffany. Their performance exerted a powerful influence on subsequent productions of the play, and notably that of Siddons and Kemble depicted here. Compare also the imaginative sketch of the scene by Henry Fuseli, Tate Gallery.
Kemble's prompt copy of “Macbeth” in the Garrick Club library gives little direction for this scene, other than the fact that Macbeth enters stage right and crosses over to stage left before he gives the daggers to Lady Macbeth. The markings are on a 1794 edition of the play, published to mark the production at the re-opening of Drury Lane on 21 April 1794.
Siddons played Lady Macbeth for the first time in London at Drury Lane on 2 February 1785 for her benefit, with William Smith as Macbeth. Kemble first played Macbeth at Hull on 30 October 1778, and his first performance of the role in London was at Drury Lane on 31 March 1785, for his own benefit, with his sister as Lady Macbeth. That was the only London performance of the role he gave before Beach's picture was exhibited at the R. A., and he did not play the part again at Drury Lane until 16 October 1788, after Smith had retired. See G0253 for comments on Garrick and Pritchard in this scene, painted by Zoffany. Their performance exerted a powerful influence on subsequent productions of the play, and notably that of Siddons and Kemble depicted here. Compare also the imaginative sketch of the scene by Henry Fuseli, Tate Gallery.
Kemble's prompt copy of “Macbeth” in the Garrick Club library gives little direction for this scene, other than the fact that Macbeth enters stage right and crosses over to stage left before he gives the daggers to Lady Macbeth. The markings are on a 1794 edition of the play, published to mark the production at the re-opening of Drury Lane on 21 April 1794.
