New Series of Online Talks

Hosted on the first Thursday of the month, we have been delighted to see everyone’s reaction to the first two talks in our brand new series ‘Closer Look: Conversations with a Curator’. In these free online talks, we take a closer look at a specific work of art from the University Art Collection and hear exciting insights and untold stories from specialist speakers. In our increasingly busy and hectic lives, we want to provide an opportunity to slow down and take some time to enjoy and contemplate beautiful objects. You also don’t need to worry if this is your first time hearing about this series! All our talks are being uploaded onto our YouTube channel, for everyone to enjoy at their own leisure.

Minnie Jane Hardman’s The Wrestlers

Our very first talk was by our own Curator of Art Collections, Dr Hannah Lyons. Hannah focused on the highly detailed charcoal and graphite drawing of The Wrestlers, by artist Minnie Jane Hardman. We recently loaned three of Hardman’s drawings to Tate Britain’s five-star Now You See Us exhibition, and it became clear that visitors were keen to know more about Hardman’s little known but fascinating life and oeuvre. Hannah led us through Hardman’s time as a student at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Arts, where she [Hardman] was one of the first generation of female students.

Gwen John’s Nudes

Our second talk was beautifully delivered by Dr Rebecca Birrell. Rebecca is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at St Andrews University, former Curator of Paintings at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, and author of This Dark Country: Women Artists, Still Life and Intimacy in the Early 20^th Century. A specialist in feminist and queer art history and archival practices, Rebecca shared her recent research on Gwen John’s nudes, which she [Rebecca] had prepared for National Museum Wales’ forthcoming retrospective on the artist. We discussed John’s radical subversion of the female nude through our intimate drawing of a Standing Female Nude.

Conversations with a Conservator

Excitingly, we still have one more online talk taking place before Christmas. On Thursday 5 December, we will be joined by Victoria Stevens, formerly our Paper Conservator and now Subject Lead for Books and Library Materials at West Dean College of Arts, Design, Crafts and Conservation. In this special Conversation with a Conservator, Victoria will be talking about the physical qualities of blue paper. She will be using our drawing by Jacopo Bertoia, Sheet of Studies with Seated Male Nude and Two Arms, as a jumping off point. Do join us – it’s going to be an appropriately festive and jolly affair!

We will return in the spring of 2025 with a new series of ‘Closer Look: Conversations with a Curator’!