Soho Revue Gallery
Soho Revue Gallery at 14 Greek Street in London occupies one of only four surviving 1680s original buildings on the street, continuing a long local history of creative enterprise. The historic site on Greek Street previously hosted Josiah Wedgwood’s 1774 ceramic show for Empress Catherine of Russia and sat near Teresa Cornelys' famous masquerade venue. Today, Soho Revue Gallery champions emerging female artists and runs an in-house print studio.
London · from the walk “Canvas & Cobblestones” · audio ~4 min · Generated
14 Greek Street, London W1D 4DP
- The building at 14 Greek Street in London is one of four surviving original houses built in the 1680s.
- In May 1774, Josiah Wedgwood displayed a famous dinner service for Empress Catherine of Russia on Greek Street.
- Wedgwood’s Portland Vase exhibition on Greek Street limited ticket sales to 1,900 per day in 1774.
- In February 1770, Parliament adjourned early so members could attend Teresa Cornelys' masquerade ball near Greek Street.
What famous 1774 exhibition was held on Greek Street in London?
Take a look at number fourteen Greek Street. At first glance, it seems like just another Soho shopfront. But this building is one of the Oldest surviving structures on the entire street... one of probably just four original late seventeenth century houses still standing in more or less altered form, including number fourteen on the east side. That means the walls around you have been here since the sixteen eighties... over three hundred years of Soho history, soaked into every brick.......... Now, this stretch of Greek Street has always been tangled up with art and commerce. The street itself takes its name from a Greek church built in sixteen seventy seven on what is now Charing Cross Road. And almost immediately, it became a magnet for creative enterprise. Just two doors down, at numbers twelve and thirteen, in seventeen seventy four, Josiah Wedgwood moved to Soho and opened a new warehouse, enamelling rooms and showroom. And get this... the Greek Street house was fitted for the display of wares by May seventeen seventy four, and in the following two months the famous dinner service made for Empress Catherine of Russia was displayed to the world of high fashion. The exhibition of his Portland Vase copy was so wildly popular that they had to print tickets, limited to nineteen hundred a day. This was Soho's First blockbuster art show.......... But here's a detail most people miss. Before Wedgwood, these very buildings were connected to one of Soho's most extraordinary women... Teresa Cornelys. Born into a Venetian theatrical family, she had been an opera singer, occasional impresario and socialite. Casanova was the father of her children. Turning up in London in seventeen fifty nine as a destitute single mother speaking no English, she questioned why this great city had no settled entertainment for the nobility... so she gave Soho the nightclub. Her masquerade balls at nearby Carlisle House were so irresistible that in February seventeen seventy, Parliament adjourned Early to enable members to attend one of her masquerades. She even invented London's first one way traffic system... stating in her advertising that coachmen must draw up with the heads of the horses towards Greek Street.......... So this ground you're standing on has always been a place where bold women carved out space for themselves in worlds that tried to keep them out. And that spirit lives on inside Soho Revue. The gallery is committed to working with those who have traditionally been denied equity in the arts, prioritising a programme which promotes emerging female artists amongst other historically underrepresented groups. Through its residency scheme and fast growing programme of events, it hopes to help bring emerging talent back into the centre of London. They even run their own in house print studio, making original editions accessible to collectors who might never set foot in a Mayfair auction house.......... From Teresa Cornelys' masked balls to Wedgwood's ceramic showroom to a twenty first century gallery championing women artists... fourteen Greek Street keeps reinventing itself. But the story stays the same. Soho has always belonged to the outsiders who refused to wait for permission.