Birkbeck and the National Portrait Gallery are pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded collaborative doctoral studentship through the REACH Consortium from October 2020 under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme. This project examines the links between the National Portrait Gallery and historical transatlantic slavery. In particular, it seeks to understand the impact […]
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 […]
Jemma Craig, National Gallery Curatorial Trainee supported by Art Fund with the assistance of the Vivmar Foundation, reports back on the Art Fund Curators Programme at Frieze Masters, hosted by the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and Frieze Masters, 3-6 October 2019. In its fourth year, the Art Fund Curators Programme at Frieze Masters […]
I have been following the goings on of the Understanding British Portraits network for some time, and so was delighted to secure a spot at this year’s Annual Seminar at the NPG. It truly lived up to my expectations, with a fantastic range of speakers, a variety of topics covered, and the opportunity to discuss […]
Following a successful fundraising campaign, the Charles Dickens Museum has raised £180,000 to acquire a ‘lost portrait’ of Charles Dickens, painted by Margaret Gillies in 1843 when the author was only 31 years old. We are now preparing to put this small, striking portrait on display in the museum, which is based in 48 Doughty […]
July’s study day was too good an opportunity to miss, with expert-led tours of two contrasting private collections right on Reading Museum’s doorstep. We hoped that the day might reveal new insights and links to our museum’s own collections including portraits, and we were not to be disappointed. The morning started at Douai Abbey in […]
In my job, time to reflect and slow down can be hard to come by, and so the opportunity to spend the day thinking and learning about Catholic portraiture with a coterie of UBP delegates was one not to be missed. I work as the House Steward at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, a National Trust […]
Justin Nolan, Deputy Director at Eton College, extended a warm welcome to UBP group members on the 4 April. Fellow staff and researchers connected to the College joined him in this, initiating an attitude of generosity to share knowledge and experience, which was maintained throughout the study day. Nolan outlined Eton’s recently adopted commitment to […]
As a curator working within a museum with a large collection of nineteenth-century portraits, I was initially drawn to the Eton College study day for the opportunity to view their well-known collection of Leaving Portraits, often completed by leading society painters such as Sir Thomas Lawrence. However, as the day progressed it was the far-reaching […]
1857 was an annus mirabilis for both George Scharf (1820-1895) and the cultural life of the United Kingdom due to his crucial role in two watershed events: the foundation of the National Portrait Gallery and the staging of the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition. A new database devoted to Scharf’s activities during this period has now […]
