The Royal Gallery of Illustration was a 19th-century performance venue located at 14 Regent Street in London. It was in use between 1850 and 1873.
The gallery was built in the 1820s by the architect John Nash as part of his own house, to display his considerable collection of paintings. In 1850 the building was named the Gallery of Illustration, and between then and 1855 it housed a diorama created and run by the theatrical scene-painters Thomas Grieve and William Telbin.
From 1856 to 1873 the gallery was in the hands of the singer and actress Priscilla Horton and her husband German Reed. Their entertainments developed from songs and comedy with piano accompaniment to programmes of short plays and operettas. In deference to respectable mid-Victorian doubts about the propriety of theatres, the Reeds called their productions "entertainments", and avoided the use of the words "theatre", "play" and other theatrical terms. Under the Reeds the gallery played an important part in the development of a new generation of authors, composers and performers. Among the writers whose works the Reeds staged were W. S. Gilbert and F. C. Burnand, and their composers included Arthur Sullivan, Frederic Clay and Alfred Cellier. The performers Arthur Cecil, Corney Grain and Fanny Holland made their names at the gallery early in their careers.
The lease of the building expired in 1873, and it ceased to be used as a performance venue. The Reeds moved to another theatre, and the gallery became a banqueting hall.
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by Thomas German Reed that premiered on 20 June 1870 at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration. The piece has five characters and is "biographical", in that...
influence through a series of outside performances, including one before Queen Victoria at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration, and a three-performance run...
Clay that premiered on 22 November 1869 at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration. It marked the beginning of a seven-year collaboration between Gilbert and...
could be popular. The entertainments were held at the intimate RoyalGalleryofIllustration, Lower Regent Street, and later at St. George's Hall, Langham...
Reed. It was first produced at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration, Lower Regent Street, London, under the management of German Reed, opening on 29 March...
playing the role of Box in the long-running production of Cox and Box, by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand, at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration. Born in London...
Reed. It was first performed on 31 January 1871 at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration. Only four of German Reed's songs survive. Nearly 25 years later, the...
Librorum Tacendorum (1885). Many of the works cited by Ashbee have been reprinted in Gert Schiff's The Amorous Illustrationsof Thomas Rowlandson (1969) and...
entertainment" Ages Ago, written for the German Reeds at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The piece, described by the...
Frederic Clay that premiered on 28 October 1872 at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration. It was one of four collaborations between Gilbert and Clay between...
his wife at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration, Regent Street, London. Here he performed for nearly nine years, presenting a series of droll impersonations...
Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive...
"Mr. and Mrs. German Reed's Entertainments", presented at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration in Regent Street, beginning in 1856, and later at St. George's...
of musical compositions, e.g., by Georg Muffat The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew opened a new gallery in 2008 to display works of botanical illustration...
Portrait of Effie Millais (1873), Perth Museum and Art Gallery The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower (1878) Picture GalleryofRoyal Holloway...
woman Associate of the Royal Academy. 6 Burlington Gardens Cork Street, behind the Royal Academy, with many art galleriesRoyal West of England Academy...
of a prosperous malt-maker. His elder brother Thomas would also go into illustration, and sister Lucy was a noted writer. He was a fluent follower of...
The illustrationof manuscript books was well established in ancient times, and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript thrived in the West until the...
he entered the Royal Academy Schools. Among his first commissions were monochrome illustrations for Cassell's Magazine and its Book of British Ballads...
the collection of the Walker Art Gallery (illustration), which may have been commissioned by Edward Seymour, Jane's brother. List of paintings by Hans...
"Mr. And Mrs. German Reed's Entertainments", presented at the RoyalGalleryofIllustration in Regent Street (and later at St. George's Hall). To help lend...
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