The Ballroom at Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent. © National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

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Depicting Dress. A professional workshop on male and female dress in eighteenth-century portraits by Veronica Isaac

This collaborative workshop between the Understanding British Portraits professional network and the School of Historical Dress was led by two of the School’s teachers, Professor Jenny Tiramani and Vanessa Hopkins and took place their newly opened headquarters in Lambeth. The day commenced in the extremely well-stocked library, where Jenny and Vanessa provided a brief introduction […]

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Dempsey’s People. A Folio of British Street Portraits 1824-1844, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

Venue: National Portrait Gallery, King Edward Terrace, Parkes, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia Until Sunday 22 October 2017 This is the first exhibition to showcase the compelling watercolour images of English street people made by the itinerant English painter John Dempsey throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. Featuring 52 rarely-seen portraits, the exhibition profiles […]

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Weston Park & Woburn Abbey : A Family Connection, by Victoria Poulton

During the recent Understanding British Portraits Study Day at Weston Park, we were expertly guided through the collection by Gareth Williams, Curator & Head of Learning, and Sally Goodsir, who has undertaken a thorough analysis of the provenance and hang of the pictures. Working on a similar project at Woburn Abbey, it was exciting to […]

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Glamorous portrait of Lady Rocksavage purchased by Grosvenor Museum, Chester

Press release announcement from The Grosvenor Museum, Chester, 21 April 2017: A glamorous portrait of one of Cheshire’s most interesting 20th-century aristocrats has gone on display at Chester’s Grosvenor Museum. The portrait of Sybil, Countess of Rocksavage, later Marchioness of Cholmondeley, was painted by Charles Sims in 1922. The painting was purchased with support from […]

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