- Understanding British Portraits

The Hon. Elizabeth Evelyn Harbord, Lady Hastings (1860 - 1956) by Archibald James Stuart-Wortley (1849-1905). National Trust, Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland © National Trust Images/John Hammond

This year’s Annual Seminar will be held at the National Portrait Gallery, London, on Wednesday 27 November. We’re delighted to confirm that the chairpersons will be Professor Shearer West, Head of Humanities Division at the University of Oxford, and Professor Jos Hackforth-Jones, Director of Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London. The full programme and booking details will be announced here[...]

Blog

Isabella and the Pot of Basil by William Holman Hunt (1827-1910), 1867. © Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

We have been extremely fortunate this year to be awarded a bursary from the Understanding British Portraits Network. I work as part of the Learning Team at the Laing Art Gallery, where we currently run a successful schools workshop interpreting one of our most famous[...]

Queries & Reviews

18thC/19thC lady

Posted: 10 January 2013

Unknown young woman, 18th century, oil on linen 28 x 22.7cm. Purchased from Sir Bruce Ingram, 1963. © Government Art Collection (1443)

This portrait, formerly thought to depict Lady Emma Hamilton, is in the UK Government Art Collection. Any thoughts regarding the sitter’s identity and artist attribution is appreciated – please use the ‘add a comment’ facility below. Zoom in on this picture on the GAC website.

David Bailey's East End Faces, William Morris Gallery until 26 May 2013

Posted: 18 March 2013

David Bailey’s iconic photographs immortalised 1960s London. When he turned his camera east, he photographed the part of London he grew up in. As he expressed it recently, ‘London’s East End is in my DNA’. This exhibition brings together intimate portraits of the characters, faces and streetscapes he encountered in the East End during the 1960s. More.

Collections

Portrait paintings on the Staircase at Antony, Cornwall © National Trust Images/Cristian Barnett

We’re collaborating with the Culture Grid website in mapping portrait collections throughout Britain. We’re actively gathering collection-level descriptions and invite all public and private collections to take part. Contact us for more details about participating. You can use the box below to search the portrait collections already mapped. Using[...]

Bursaries 2013/14

Posted: 21 May 2013

Edward Astley, later Sir Edward Astley, 4th Bt Astley of Hill Morton (1729-1802) and his sister Blanche, later Mrs Edward Pratt as children, with a parrot and a bunch of grapes, by John Theodore Heins, the elder (c.1697 -1756). Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland. © National Trust Images/John Hammond

We’ll be announcing Bursary opportunities in June 2013, to be completed between October 2013 and March 2014 inclusive. Sign up to our monthly newsletter for the announcement. Read brief reports by Bursary candidates since 2008 by following this link.

UnderstandingBritish Portraits

Promoting the knowledge and interpretation of portraits

Contemporary responses to portraiture, Birmingham,

This seminar will draw together many of the innovative portrait-focused projects taking place at the moment, and particularly throughout collections[...]

Ruby’s Room. Photographic Miniatures by

The Holburne Museum has commissioned renowned German photographer Bettina von Zwehl to make new work responding to its collection of[...]

Insanity in the Frame by

Harriet Jordan (left) might well be seated in her sitting room interrupting her sewing to look up at the[...]

London and the Emergence of

The French Revolution and the ensuing Napoleonic Wars instigated a sweeping redistribution of art throughout Europe. Large volumes of valuable[...]

'People and Portraits', Towner, until

Every portrait painting tells a story, connecting us to people across time and place. We see our own lives reflected[...]

Home

Annual Seminar 2013

Posted: 2013

Blog

Face to Face: exploring how galleries interpret collections for visitors by Anne Fountain

Posted: 21 May 2013

Queries & Reviews

18thC/19thC lady

Posted: 10 January 2013

Portrait news

David Bailey's East End Faces, William Morris Gallery until 26 May 2013

Posted: 18 March 2013

Expertise & Collections

Collections

Resources

Bursaries 2013/14

Posted: 21 May 2013