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 […]
Brill’s Studies in the History of Collecting & Art Markets is a peer-reviewed book series dedicated to original scholarship on the social, cultural, and economic mechanisms underlying the circulation of art. Over the last two decades interest in the formation, display, and dissolution of art collections has increased tremendously; art markets, trade routes, and dealer […]
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 […]
Conference: Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, 28 October, 2019 Deadline for submissions: Friday 10 May, 2019 2019 will see the return to Osterley Park of one of the many remarkable Old Master paintings acquired by the Child family in the throes of Britain’s late 17th century financial revolution. The Childs are part of a long line of […]
The November visit to Ham House more than lived up to the very high standard of study days arranged by Understanding British Portraits. Once more the combination of excellent expert speakers covering a wide range of relevant topics, a superb venue and seamless organisation, made for a thoroughly fascinating and enjoyable day. I am very […]
‘The National Portrait Exhibition having led to the exposure of so many errors with regard to the portraits of British worthies and the artists who painted them – it turning out in many cases that the names given were in both respects altogether wrong – it has been suggested that county magnates and others interested […]
As custodian of British portraits that form part an NHS arts collection, I have been a member of Understanding British Portraits for some time. This year’s Annual Seminar was the second I have attended and I was interested to follow new research findings from the network and hear the speakers’ curatorial case studies. As a […]
Brighton Museum is part of The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2018 and currently has on display A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling by Hans Holbein the Younger. To accompany this is the See Portraits, Be Portraits exhibition showcasing portraits from our own fine art collection. The exhibition has been curated with local school […]
In 2016 we were very fortunate to be awarded funding from the Understanding British Portraits Professional Partnership Fellowship to research The Twins by John Everett Millais and create a learning resource for young people. We hoped that our project would help to reveal more about the role of women in the Victorian age, whose stories have for many years only been told […]
