Imperialism and Tate Britain

Layla Palmer, DE2020C, Dr Dipti Bhagat, Jane Jacobs based imperialism essay, November 2008

IntroductionLondon's Tate Britain site on the north bank of the Thames river, Millbank, Westminster holds an historically rich record of imperialist ideas from the site's early 19th century use as a national prison, to its' current nationally and internationally projected status as a leading art institution. Tate Britain, housing the paintings and sculptures of Britain's most respected artists and the contemporary British art of the Turner Prize competition, is a record of Britain's imperial past through art, architecture and ideas, with the power to be an influential contributor in the current post-imperial debate around national identity.

Figs. 1 and 2. London County Councils monument to Millbank Penetentiary, photograph by Layla Palmer, November 2008

Millbank Penetentiary and AustraliaStanding on the steps of the Tate Britain today and looking south towards the river, I can see in the distance a solitary monument to Millbank Penitentiary (see Figs. 1 and 2). The monument is not visibly linked with Tate Britain and I found out only through researching the history of Westminster, that the thick concrete block is a silent, yet solid reminder of the once "vast and intimidating"1 prison. The engraved plaque on the monument reads: "London County Council. Near this site stood Millbank Prison, which was opened in 1816 and closed in 1890, this buttress stood at the head of the river steps from which, until 1867, prisoners sentenced to transportation embarked upon their journey to Australia."2 The monument refers to the first white settlement of Australia, which "began officially in 1788, when New South Wales was founded as a penal1

Isobel Watson, Westminster and Pimlico Past (London: Historical Publications Ltd, 2002), p. 67.

1


colony under British rule"3. Through reading the ideas of Jane Jacobs, which lead onto the work of Edward Said, I have been trying to define the terms imperialism and colonialism, in order to understand the meaning of Britains settlement of Australia and the other nations that were once part of the British Empire. Jane Jacobs writes, Edward Said (1993:8) provides a useful distinction between Colonialism and Imperialism. Imperialism he defines as the practice, the theory and attitudes of a dominating metropolitan centre, ruling a distant territory. Colonialism by his definition is a specific articulation of imperialism associated with territorial invasions and settlements."4 The shipping of British criminals to Australia, such as the example at Millbank Penetentiary, shows the brutal irony of imperial ideas which lead to the punishment of stealing in the mother land, while simultaneously justifying and celebrating the forced taking of other distant lands. The act of imperialism in Britains ruling force created hierarchical distinctions between the dominant core and inferior others; the others in this case being British criminals and native Australians.

Fig. 3. Millbank Penetentiary, the hexagonal design, a drawing from ourworld.compuserve.com/.../millbank.gif, November 2008

In London: The Illustrated History, Cathy Ross and John Clark describe 18th century London as having a rapidly growing and anonymous population without a government run police force, which fuelled a climate of fear. Prisons at this time were privately owned and profit lead, making easy the spread of corruption and2

London City Council's monument to Millbank Penetentiary, Millbank, Westminster, as read in 2008. 3 http://encarta.msn.co.uk/encyclopedia_781528466/Australian_Art_and_Architecture.htm l 4 Jane Jacobs, Edge of Empire: Postcolonialism and the City (London Routledge, 1996), p. 16.

2


deprivation.5 Millbank Penitentiary was "the first national rather than county prison,"6 suggesting that the fear of crime had grown to an unusual and nationally challenging level in need of government intervention. The introduction of a centrally governed prison came also through the influence of the prison reformer John Howard. Howard was shocked by the poor conditions he saw in prisons and used his position as a comfortably wealthy man, to spend his time studying and regulating many prisons. He believed that through order and regulation, prisoners could reform.7 Another key influence in prison reform at this time was Jeremy Bentham, a philosopher who designed and promoted the Panopticon prison design, which placed the controlling power at the centre of the building. Although the design was never built, the idea had an important influence upon later generations of thinkers, including the twentieth-century French philosopher Michel Foucault,8 who researched methods of correction and control. Foucault found that the perpetual penality that traverses all points and supervises every instant in the disciplinary institutions compares, differentiates heirarchizes, homogenizes, excludes. In short it normalises.9 Millbank Penetentiary was completed in-keeping with this popular belief that maximum control and reform towards normal behaviour could be achieved through a supervisory, centrally controlled station and described as a, hexagonal court centred on a twelve sided chapel, surrounded by six pentagonal courts within an octagonal wall and moat.10 (See Fig. 3) Although these ideas for reform and order strived to better conditions in prisons, the regime employed was "extreme in its rigour, condemning its thousand inmates to separation, silence and sewing mailbags."11 These harsh attempts to force order on those who broke the law, caused many Millbank Penetentiary prisoners to breakdown and commit suicide. Looking back, from todays post-imperial perspective, the British prisoners at Millbank Penetentiary were degraded to a dangerously low place in a society ordered by a severe and dominating imperial force. In 1890 the prison was closed, and demolished in 1893, to make way for a different idea, the new art5

Cathy Ross and John Clark, London: The Illustrated History (London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2008), p. 152. 6 Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 6: Westminster (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003), p. 709. 7 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/howard_john.shtml, 11/2008 8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham, 11/2008 9 Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish (Viking, 1777), p. 183. 10 Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Building of England: London 6: Westminster (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003), p. 709. 11 Richard Tames, The Westminster and Pimlico Book (London: Historical Publications, 2005), p. 71.

3


gallery founded by the sugar refiner Henry Tate.

Sugar and slaveryThe sugar refining business is said to have been introduced to London in the middle of the 16th century, and the first sugar house was established in Liverpool. Britains new fashion for drinking sweet tea and chocolate relied on enslaved, native African men and women being shipped from West Africa to the colonised Caribbean islands to work on European run sugar plantations. At first sugar refining in Britain was a modest business, but increased slave trade shipping operations from Liverpool, after 1709,12 saw a growth in business. Imperialism in Britain was so strong at this time that there was little question of the morality of the British colonies. Arthur Young, the English agricultural writer merely observed in 1772 that, the great benefit resulting from colonies is the cultivation of staple commodities different from those of the mother country; that, instead of being obliged to purchase them of foreigners at the expense possibly of treasure, they may be had from settlements in exchange for manufactures.13 Through the act of taking and colonising lands or, at best, exchanging goods, Britain was able to profit greatly from the sale of many tropical productions. The most frequent imports to Britain were tea, coffee, sugar, rice and pepper and, of this group of foods, brown sugar and molasses were the most prominent. They made up, by official value, two-thirds of the group in 1700 and two-fifths in 1800,14 The prosperity and demand for the sugar business was such that mid 18th century, Edward Long, the Jamaica planter historian reported, the inhabitants everywhere (were) becoming richer and more communicative with one another.15 This is off course a Eurocentric account. The increased demand for refined sugar in Britain made ideal business conditions for European sugar refiners but at the expense of the African slaves who lost everything; their culture, land, homes, families, dignity, and freedom to list just a few of their losses. When the British conscience finally stirred, the abolition of the slave trade by British ships in 1807 did not halt the expansion of

12 13

http://home.clara.net/mawer/liverpool.html, 11/2008. Richard B Sheridan, Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the West Indies, 16231775 (Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press, 1994), p. 21. 14 Richard B Sheridan, Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the West Indies, 16231775 (Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press, 1994), p. 20. 15 Richard B Sheridan, Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the West Indies, 16231775 (Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press, 1994), p. 98

4


the business.16 The ferocious business of the sugar industry and the slave trade were important sources of wealth for the mother country.17 This wealth was used at home in London to further the British imperial lifestyle.

Tate Britains founding benefactor Henry TateHenry Tate was a clergy-mans son, who was educated by his father he wanted to give his children a better education than he could afford.18 At age 13 Henry Tate was apprenticed to learn the grocery trade from his brother, by the age of 20 he had his own shop and by 35 he had a chain of 6 shops all in the Liverpool area. He used his good sense in business to move into the, competitive but publicly demanded, sugar refining business and in 1859 became a partner in the John Wright & Co. sugar refinery. By 1869 Henry Tate had gained control of the company and renamed it Henry Tate & Sons, which would later become Tate & Lyle. Leaving Liverpool to start up his sugar refining factory in Londons East End, Tate was now a millionaire with a serious interest in collecting paintings, particularly of the Pre-Raphaelite style. After attempting to donate 60 of his collected paintings to the National Gallery, and having them rejected due a shortage of space, Henry Tate financed a new British gallery to settle the national concern for a lack of space for British artists.19

Tate Britain and slavery?On Tate Britains history section of the website, there is a statement to relinquish Henry Tate from any involvement in the slave trade: Sir Henry Tate wasn't born until 1819 and he did not start his sugar refining business until 1859, many years after the abolition of slavery and his fortune did not come from sugar production it came instead from his embrace, as a refiner, of new technology which allowed him to modernise the distribution and commercial marketing of cane sugar in competition with sugar beet refiners in Europe. Sir Henry was merely a bulk purchaser of cane sugar and there is no evidence that his business came any closer than that to the post slavery Caribbean plantations. This strikes me16 17

http://home.clara.net/mawer/liverpool.html, 11/2008. Richard B Sheridan, Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the West Indies, 16231775 (Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press, 1994), p. 7. 18 Tom Jones, Henry Tate, 1819-1899: A Biographical Sketch (London: Tate and Lyle, 1960), p. 5. 19 http://www.tate.org.uk/about/theorganisation/history/henry-tate.shtm, 10/2008

5


as being a very defensive quote which is in need of further investigation. Even if Henry Tates business had no direct connection with the slave trade, the sugar market in general was expanded as a result of the slave trade. It was the slave trade that sweetened the nations tooth by the availability of affordable imported sugar. There is a strong argument that without the slave trade, Henry Tate would not have had the opportunity to make his business around sugar, and he consequently may never have made such a fortune, with part of which he was able to fund the Tate Gallery. This ugly interpretation of a Tate Britain, as an institution funded from the exploitation of colonised and enslaved, foreign workers during Britains imperial rule would damage the Tate Britains current post imperial position. The connections between Henry Tate, sugar plantations and the slave trade are easy to make, and this is why the above statement by Tate Britain is so quick to dismiss the idea.

A National Gallery for British ArtThe new gallery opened in 1897 and was called The National Gallery of British Art. It aimed to preserve and further the future of British art and provide an educational resource for the general public, who could visit free on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays throughout the year,20 with additional arrangements especially for the working classes, (who) shall have the advantage of seeing the collection on Sunday afternoons21 The Tate Britains founding ideas recognised a class difference in Victorian British society and marked an imperialist trait that assigned the art institution responsibility over the civilising of others. When Jane Jacobs writes that, humanism was part of the legitimating drive of imperialism,22 she is referring to British imperialism through colonialism, but the need to humanise others was also present in Victorian London class divides and the desire by leading institutions to educate the poorer classes. Additional concessions were also made for students who were given extended visiting times outside of public hours, so that pictures and drawings shall be used for reference and instruction in the Schools of Art.23 By educating20

Tate Gallery, National Gallery of British Art: Illustrated Catalogue (London: Art Gallery, 1897), p. 1. 21 Tate Gallery, National Gallery of British Art: Foundation of the Collection (London: Art Gallery, 1897), p. 8. 22 Jane Jacobs, Edge of Empire: Postcolonialism and the City (London Routledge, 1996), p. 17. 23 Tate Gallery, National Gallery of British Art: Foundation of the Collection (London: Art Gallery, 1897), p. 8.

6


the emerging young British artists, the Tate Britain could attempt to guide and prolong a British identity in the field of art.

Fig. 4. Neo-classical design of Tate Britain, photograph by Layla Palmer, November 2008

Imperial architectureThe architectural style of the Tate Britain was built to the neo-classical designs of architect Thomas Hardwick. Neo-classicism was an architectural style which was derived from the much earlier classical ancient Greek model, and is identified by its mock classical features (see Fig. 4); rectangular base, use of columns, off white sandstone colouring, triangular shaped fronting to the roof and decorative details. By the time the Romans conquered mainland Greece in the 2nd century

7


BC they were importing Greek craftsmen to build major public buildings.24 As the Romans expanded the Empire they marked their colonies with classical buildings, and so associated classical architecture with imerialism and Empire. When the architects, such as Thomas Hardwick, of the 18th and 19th century adopted this style of neo-classical architecture in buildings of British importance, they were evoking a sense of power and Empire which had been long established by the Romans.

Tate Britain todayNot unlike Tate Britains founding vision for public education and nationalism, Tate Britains 2008 mission statement is, to increase public knowledge, understanding and appreciation of British art from the sixteenth century to the present day and of international modern and contemporary art.25 The first part of this statement implies that there is still a need, from an imperial power within Britain, to mark itself as different from other nations, even if in an historical context. The desire to increase the knowledge of the local and global public in British art and history, is a less intrusive, but none the less, imperialist way of keeping alive the spirit of British nationalism. However, as a museum as well as a gallery, Tate Britain should be required to recognise and preserve the past. In the closing of the mission statement, Tate Britain shows evidence of post imperial thinking through the need for development and change. By collecting and showing international modern and contemporary art, Tate Britain is responding to todays multicultural Britain. However, its audiences are not yet reflecting Britains diversity, as another of Tate Britains aims is to understand our audiences better, to broaden their socio-economic and ethnic mix.26 This suggests that a significant amount of change is still required for Tate Britain to succeed in including members from traditionally excluded groups. In his foreword for Tate Britains The History of British Art series of books, Professor David Bindman recognises Britains inherent instabilities of identity, which still define it in a global world. British art is not, (therefore), limited to artists born in Britain, but encompasses art made in Britain or made abroad by artists resident in Britain or its colonies.27 David Bindman is referring to the expansion of Tate24 25

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_Classicism, 11/2008 http://www.tate.org.uk/about/theorganisation, 11/2008 26 http://www.tate.org.uk/about/theorganisation, 10/2008 27 Tate Britain and Yale Centre for British Art, The history of British Art: 1600-1870 (London: Tate Publishing, 2008), p. 13.

8


Britains art collection and to the unanswered questions surrounding national identity faced by people all over the post imperial world, with many people, especially those living in metropolitan centres like London, representing multiple nationalities. Similarly, as nations are traditionally made up of the groups of people who inhabit a particular land and not just the land itself, whole nations in the post imperial era are in constant identity flux, being responsible through the process of globalisation for representing many individual identities. This type of change is noted by the sociologist Kath Woodward, The growth of more multicultural societies raises issues about national identities and demands a rethinking of some traditional ideas about who we are and about social and political policies.28 The multiculturalism of London is not a new or post imperial process, London has been an ethnically heterogeneous city for centuries,29 but during the last twenty years of the 20th century, the city has attracted refugees, asylum seekers and European professionals to London and expanded the multicultural mix.30

The Turner PrizeAfter the election of the new Thatcher government in 1979, cuts in the public funding of museums required Tate Britain to become a financially independent private institution. The Turner Prize was founded in 1984 by the Patrons of New Art, a group within Tate Britains staff, to fulfil the gallerys remit to acquire contemporary British art.31 The Turner Prize must also have been aimed at creating new public interest in Tate Britain, at a crucial time of self funding. Corresponding with an increasingly multicultural London, the Turner Prize contributes to a changing British identity by including, in the competition, nonBritish born artists who have later come to live in Britain. The first non-British born artist to win the Turner Prize was George, of Gilbert and George, in 1986, just 2 years after the competition started. Gilbert was born in Dolomites, Italy and also represented an interesting artistic identity; comprising of half of an art duo - while fine artists traditionally work alone. Anish Kapoor was the next nonBritish born artist to win the competition. He was born in Bombay, India and was28 29

Kath Woodward, Social Sciences: The Big Issues (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 2. Peter Brooker, Modernity and Metropolis: Writings, Film and Urban Formations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001), p. 164. 30 Cathy Ross and John Clark, London: The Illustrated History (London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2008), p. 320. 31 Virginia Button, The Turner Prize: Revised Edition (London: Tate Publishing, 2007), p. 16.

9


the first non-white winner. Wolfgang Tillmans won in 2000, born in Remscheid, Germany and finally the last non-British born winner to date, Tomma Abts in 2006, born in Kiel, Germany.32 The Turner Prize therefore represents a contemporary definition of British identity, or as curator to the Turner prize, Virginia Button states; Uniquely, the Turner (Prize) assaults tradition.

Conclusion2008s Tate Britain is confusingly somewhere in between preserving a traditional, imperialist past and moving towards a progressive, post-imperial future, but it isnt yet clear to me which way it wants to go. Perhaps this is an acceptable position to hold at a time when new, post-imperial identities are being debated and defined and there is a general confusion over national identity? It is a difficult time for the traditional personality of Tate Britain, as one of a total of only two major public institutions in the world devoted to the collection of British art, the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven being the other,33 and with an audience which doesnt reflect todays multi-cultural Britain. Nationalistic definitions of identity are being challenged and outdated by a post-imperial era of thinkers moving quickly towards a global society. It will be interesting to continue to watch Tate Britain to see how it adapts to the changes ahead.

Word count2,931

BibliographyWoodward, Kath, Social Sciences: The Big Issues (London: Routledge, 2003). Schneer, Jonathan, London 1900: The Imperial Metropolis (Newhaven and London: Yale University Press). Said, Edward W, Culture and Imperialism (London: Vintage, 1993). Ahmed, Iqbal, Empire of the Mind: A Journey Through Great Britain (London: Constable, 2007).32

Virginia Button, The Turner Prize: Revised Edition (London: Tate Publishing, 2007), p. various. 33 Tate Britain and Yale Centre for British Art, The history of British Art: 1600-1870 (London: Tate Publishing, 2008), p. 11.

10


Massey, Doreen, World City (Cambridge: Polity, 2007). Ali, Tariq, Conversations With Edward Said (Oxford, New York, Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2006). King, Anthony D, Global Cities: Post-Imperialism and the Internationalisation of London (London: Routledge, 1990). Ackroyd, Peter, London: The Biography (London: Vintage, 2000). Pacione, Michael, Urban Geography: A Global Perspective, Second Edition (Oxon: Routledge, 2005). Kerr, Joe and Andrew Gibson, London: From Punk To Blair (London: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2003). Phillips, Mike and Trevor, Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain (London: Harper Collins Publishers, 1998). Jacobs, Jane M, Edge of Empire: Postcolonialism and the City (London: Routledge, 1996). Bradley, Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 6, Westminster (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2003). Tames, Richard, The Westminster and Pimlico Book (London: Historical Publications, 2005). Watson, Isobel, Westminster and Pimlico Past (London: Historical Publications, 1993 and 2002). Sheridan, Richard B, Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the British West Indies, 1623-1775 (Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press, 1994). Dubois, Laurent, A Colony of Citizens: Revolution and Slave Emancipation in the French Caribbean, 1787-1804 (Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, 2004). Ross, Cathy and John Clarke, London: The Illustrated History (London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2008). Foucault, Michel, Discipline and Punish (Viking, 1977). Klein, Naomi, No Logo (Flamingo, 2000).Rothenstein, John Knewstub Maurice, Sir, The Tate Gallery : the national collection of

British painting and of modern foreign art (London: Tate Gallery, 1947). Tate Gallery, The National Gallery of British art : illustrated catalogue (London: Art Gallery, 1897). Victoria and Albert Museum, A catalogue of the National Gallery of British Art at South Kensington: with a supplement containing works by...foreign artists. Pt1, Oil paintings, Pt 2, Water colour paintings; etc (London: V & A, 1893).

11


Jones, Tom, Henry Tate, 1819-1899: A biographical sketch (London: Tate and Lyle, 1960).Mackenzie, John M, The Victorian Vision: inventing new Britain (London: V & A Museum, 2001). Brooker, Peter, Modernity and Metropolis: Writings, film and Urban Formations (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001).

Websiteshttp://www.tate.org.uk http://home.clara.net/mawer/liverpool.html http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.bbc.co.uk/history http://encarta.msn.co.uk http://google.co.uk

VideosVideocassette, Locations of Culture: Discussing Post-Colonial Culture (London: ICA Video, 1994).

12


13

Imperialism and Tate Britain

Documents

Transcript of Imperialism and Tate Britain