In February 2014, Sir Thomas Lawrence’s double portrait of Frances Anne, Marchioness of Londonderry and her son, Lord Seaham, was temporarily allocated through Acceptance In Lieu to Mount Stewart in Northern Ireland, by Arts Council England (left). It arrived along with a significant loan of other items from the Estate of the Marquess of Londonderry […]
Since starting my position at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds in 2008, we have received many enquiries relating to the University’s collection of portraits. Our enquiries come from researchers, students and the general public but also staff within other departments wanting to know more about the sitters in the portraits, including […]
For three consecutive years I have attended the Annual Seminar to expose myself to research, ideas, movement and collections that I might otherwise not interact with. In a sense the UBP annual gathering reassures me that I am not being naive or narrow minded about what I research or curate. I always walk away with […]
The Understanding British Portraits study day in Bath offered the chance to visit four fascinating collections across the city. With 18th century portraiture being particularly represented in Plymouth’s collections by artists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, James Northcote and John Opie, Bath seemed like it could be the perfect Georgian inspiration to start thinking more deeply […]
The Charles Dickens Museum tells the story of literary giant Charles Dickens and of 48 Doughty Street – the family home of Charles, his wife Catherine and their children in the 1830s. The story of the home and family can sometimes get lost behind the larger than life public figure of Dickens. As curator of […]
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 […]
When I joined the Garden Museum in April last year, one of our most recent acquisitions was still in store, purchased just several months earlier. It is a remarkable object for the Museum to have in its collection, as well as one of my own personal favourites. It is a small portrait oil on silver […]
Mexborough, a small mining village to the western edge of the Doncaster Metropolitan Borough area, is a one time mining community which has been home to a surprising number of well-known individuals. Perhaps the most famous of those was the Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, who lived there between 1937 and 1948, when his father ran […]
In 1856 the German art historian and Director of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie, Gustav Friedrich Waagen, arrived at Osterley Park House bearing a letter of introduction to the housekeeper. Waagen was granted access and inspected Osterley’s collection of art with the ‘utmost ease and liberty’, commenting upon works by Van Dyck, Rubens and Reynolds, and noting […]
The Understanding British Portraits study day at Knole offered an enriching variety of informed presentations by scholars engaged in the study and preservation of the house and its collection. The day’s talks were divided into two sections, each concluding with a tour and time for discussion. As a first-time visitor, I felt privileged to absorb […]
