Thanks to a travel grant from the Understanding British Portraits network, I was able to attend the Engaging Young People aged 14-21 with Portraits conference at Leeds Art Gallery. The conference, programmed by Sarah Shaw, Museum Tales Ltd, in collaboration with Engage and the Understanding British Portraits network, featured a diverse group of speakers who […]
I attended the Decoding the domestic interior in British portraits seminar at the Geffrye Museum, ostensibly in my current role as Assistant Curator of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum – these of course all being types of objects commonly found within portraits. Not being a portrait specialist nor someone focused solely […]
Since receiving an Understanding British Portraits bursary, I have been undertaking research trips relating to my work on the eighteenth-century wax modeller, Samuel Percy. Born in Ireland in c.1750, Percy received his early artistic training at the Dublin Society school of art. As with many artists seeking a profitable career, he moved to London in […]
This year we remember the Welsh artist Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782), who brought a good deal of the Italianate light a flavour to British art of a former age. He was not the only Welshman who found the Italian experience of great importance to his thinking and feeling for art. Quite recently we were offered this […]
As a local history museum we were quite excited when the portrait of John Fenton first arrived at our venue in 2012. The owner was exceptionally keen that we should acquire him for our collection and kindly left the portrait in our care for consideration. On first glance it was a pretty average 18th century […]
Amy Marquis, Study Room Supervisor (Paintings, Drawings and Prints), The Fitzwilliam Museum, received a Bursary from Understanding British Portraits in October 2012. Here she reflects on the aims of her chosen project. The Fitzwilliam Museum‘s collection, like all collections, is constantly changing, whether this be through high profile acquisitions like our recent successful appeal to save […]