Figure 3.5 Pietro Antonio Martini (1738–1797): The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1787, engraving
on paper, 36.1 × 49.9 cm, 1787. Guildhall Library and Art Gallery.
Source: Guildhall Library and Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images.Watercolors were often relegated to subsidiary display spots for much of the eighteenth century, as
watercolor painting wasn’t really recognized as art in its own right until the early nineteenth century (see
Chapter 2). It was treated, rather, as a form of colored draftsmanship. Many watercolor artists were able
to take full advantage of the Academy’s facilities, however, as they also painted in oils. From 1795 some
watercolor paintings were offered better (“upstairs”) display spots. By the early nineteenth century, when
societies specifically dedicated to watercolor artists had sprung up; for example, the Society for Painters
in Watercolour (1804), a more competitive display culture meant that the Academy offered better display
facilities on an ongoing basis to watercolor artists (Smith, 2001, 189–197). The medium of watercolor
required less spectacular display than oils, since it was largely regarded still as a private medium for
close up viewing, many works often destined for display in portfolios and albums. This situation was
later modified by Turner’s early nineteenthcentury largescale watercolors, which vied with oils in
their intended impact.
At the Salons in Paris, paintings were hung from 1746 onwards against a green cloth, with larger ones
hung at some height. Sometimes history paintings were lowered, however, in order to make it easier to
view their narrative details. Excess works in the lower genres (e.g. portraits and genre paintings) were
sometimes banished to stairwells. Drawings and engravings were often grouped together and hung to the