In my job, time to reflect and slow down can be hard to come by, and so the opportunity to spend the day thinking and learning about Catholic portraiture with a coterie of UBP delegates was one not to be missed. I work as the House Steward at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, a National Trust […]
Justin Nolan, Deputy Director at Eton College, extended a warm welcome to UBP group members on the 4 April. Fellow staff and researchers connected to the College joined him in this, initiating an attitude of generosity to share knowledge and experience, which was maintained throughout the study day. Nolan outlined Eton’s recently adopted commitment to […]
Venue: Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah Exhibition: 11 July to 8 December 2019 Symposium 8 October 2019 Power Couples: The Pendant Format in Art considers how two interdependent works, called pendants, convey meaning. The study of this popular portrait format reveals a variety of artistic strategies at play – desires to communicate social […]
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 […]
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 […]
