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Possibly the most cultured woman in Europe
Trail blazers do not always come from the most likely beginnings. The daughter of middle-class, Swiss parents, Angelica Kauffman came from an unremarkable background but she was a child prodigy. In her early years, her talent for painting was matched by her singing voice and she had to make a choice between the two careers. She chose art and by the time she was nine was supporting her parents. They travelled widely, spending time in Italy and 15…
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John Singer Sargent at the Tate
At the turn of the last century, to have one’s portrait painted by John Singer Sargent was to say that you had arrived. And now a new exhibition at the Tate has arrived, from Boston, celebrating his work alongside fabulous costumes contemporary to this era. Wealthy and successful individuals chose Singer-Sargent to portray them as they wished to be seen; self assured, attractive, and elegant . They often came from ‘new’ money, the wives and children of businessmen…
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Entangled Pasts at the Royal Academy
They say every picture tells a story so perhaps an art exhibition is an anthology of works with the objective of looking at a subject from many and varied perspectives. This is certainly true of the new ‘Entangled Pasts’ which opened last week at the RA. It tackles the difficult and complex subject of Britain’s colonial history through art. I made the most of my lunch break yesterday, and popped in with the aim of finally seeing Dido…
