The nineteenth century was a period of great opportunity for men of energy and aspiration, the middling classes in the North of England grew in power thanks to the Industrial Revolution and the Reform Act of 1832. The middle classes saw the need for self improvement and culture, becoming important patrons for artists. There is […]
This year I have been a fortunate recipient of the UBP bursary, an opportunity that has allowed me to learn more about specific artworks in Pallant House Gallery’s collection of British Pop Art. The benefits of my research have had huge impact, none more so than in my ability to curate informed exhibitions and displays […]
The Profiles of the Past initiative is focused on British portrait silhouette history, a story that developed over the last 250 years and which is still an intriguing part of life today. The project is being developed by The Brunswick Town Charitable Trust and The Regency Town House Heritage Centre, in co-operation with members of […]
Idealistic, spiritual and known as the ‘Signor’ to his intimate friends, George Frederic Watts was one of the most sought after portrait painters of the Victorian age. Soon Watts’ correspondence will be fully searchable online, opening a resource to discover this significant artist as well as the culture of Victorian celebrity. After Watts’ death in […]
Queen Caroline has proudly surveyed the Octagon Room at Orleans House Gallery since we opened 40 years ago. Given our dynamic exhibition programme, she’s the only part of the Richmond Borough Art Collection that you are guaranteed to see every time you visit. We love to share stories about the occasion in 1729 when she […]
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 paintings, Isabella and the Pot of Basil by William Holman […]
Regular high quality blog posts by Lynn Roberts on the history of picture frames and their iconography – also active on Twitter @TheFrameBlog. Link to The Frame Blog.
The Bowes Museum and historical costume specialist Luca Costigliolo dress a female model in an exact replica 1870s dress, made by his students at the National School of Cinema in Rome. Link to video.
Harriet Jordan (left) might well be seated in her sitting room interrupting her sewing to look up at the camera. In reality, she was photographed when a patient at Bethlem Royal Hospital. This photograph and others like it could, at least on first viewing, have been plucked from a family album, so far removed […]
Last month I attended the excellent Portrait Network seminar Copy, Version and Multiple: the replication and distribution of portrait imagery. I was particularly interested in the papers on Lely’s studio practice and Victorian carte-de-visite portrait photographs but the last talk of the day by video artist Marty St James resonated unexpectedly with another area […]
