Watercolor over graphite on medium, smooth, white wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 7 7/8 × 10 inches (20 × 25.4 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1975.2.368
Gallery Label:
John Nash’s new Argyll Rooms, concert and assembly rooms, opened on Regent and Argyll Streets in 1820 as part of his development of London’s Regent Street. Before the construction of Regent Street, the old Argyll Rooms occupied a site on the corner of Little Argyll and King Streets. This watercolor perspective shows the old building, as confirmed by the sign for “King Street” in the lower right hand corner of the drawing. This plain building was opened in 1807 by Henry Francis Grevill as a theater and music space. The drawing was probably made by John Nash’s office in preparation for the area’s improvements. Nash’s new building contained an eight-hundred-seat concert hall, an assembly room, and a smaller concert room. The design for the principal elevation of the new Argyll Rooms is in the Center’s collection (B1975.2.369). For the duration of its tenure, the building served as the home of the Philharmonic Society, and it was a popular destination for concerts, masquerades, and balls. Major events in its history include the British premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth (Choral) Symphony in 1825, Felix Mendelssohn’s first London concert in 1829, and visits by Ludwig Spohr in 1820. The building was struck by fire in 1830 and was never rebuilt. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2014