It’s time to confess: I know very little about portraits. I don’t have a degree in Art or History. My degree is in English, and my background is conservation, so I will apologise in advance if I appear easily pleased by the things I learnt when I attended my first Understanding British Portraits workshop! My […]
Experiencing an Understanding British Portraits workshop for the first time at the National Portrait Gallery on the 15th January was a very interesting and thought-provoking experience for me, both on a personal and professional front. The half-day Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered workshop I attended was concerned with listening to discussion of, as well […]
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 […]
‘How to succeed in Getting Grant Funding: Opportunities for Researchers’, a seminar organised by the V&A and the Understanding British Portraits network, left me feeling inspired, informed and motivated. The seminar kicked off with a series of talks from various funding bodies such as The British Academy, The Association of Art Historians (AAH), The Paul […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
