Art History Course | The Genres of Art – Still Life
10.30am–1pm
£45 each or book all three for £125
[ Talk )
Buy Tickets >Join us for the final session in our art history course, Art and its Genres, with Colin Wiggins, artist, writer, and former Special Projects Curator at the National Gallery, and Dr Melanie Vandenbrouck, Chief Curator at Pallant House Gallery.
The session will feature two engaging lectures with opportunities for questions and stimulating discussion, plus a coffee break (refreshments provided) in between.
Today, still life is widely accepted as a rich and compelling subject for artists, but it was once regarded as the lowest form of painting. Colin Wiggins will trace the genre’s changing status, from its marginal position within the academic hierarchy, dismissed by figures such as Sir Joshua Reynolds as appealing only to “the eye”, to its radical reinvention in the early twentieth century. Focusing on artists such as Picasso and Braque, he will show how still life became a site of profound artistic experimentation and innovation.
In the second lecture, Dr Melanie Vandenbrouck will explore how, from William Nicholson to Caroline Walker, British artists have continued to find inspiration in inanimate objects. From subtle observation or formal investigation to playful satire and political statement, Melanie will consider how still life has remained relevant, as a genre that speaks powerfully to modern and contemporary experience.
Please bring anything you would like to make notes with and let us know when booking of any special dietary or access requirements.
£45 per session or book all three for the discounted price of £125. Add all three sessions to your basket to receive the discounted price when you check out.
Other sessions in this course are:
Wednesday 25 February, 10.30am – 1pm – The Hierarchy of Painting (History, Portrait, Genre)
Dr Melanie Vandenbrouck
Dr Melanie Vandenbrouck is Chief Curator at Pallant House Gallery. Formerly Curator of Sculpture 1900–Now at the V&A and Curator of Art Post-1800 at Royal Museums Greenwich in London, she has led major contemporary art initiatives. Her wide interests include the porosity between artforms and the ways in which art and identity intersect. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she holds a PhD from the Courtauld Institute and trained at the École du Louvre and Sorbonne University in Paris as well as Sussex University.
Colin Wiggins
Colin Wiggins worked for over 30 years at the National Gallery. He was responsible for the Associate Artist scheme, inviting contemporary artists such as Paula Rego, Peter Blake and Ana Maria Pacheco to become involved in the life of the Gallery and to hold exhibitions of their work there. During his time at the Gallery he also curated exhibitions of work by artists such as Frank Auerbach, Bridget Riley, Lucian Freud.
