Mary Beale: Experimental Secrets

Fascinating small exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery looking at the life and work of Mary Beale and her husband Charles.

The show highlighted how Charles, who was Mary’s studio manager, also experimented with colours and paints to help her career as a portrait painter.

I loved the labels printed on mock paint palettes with a small blob of colour where the narrative was describing an experiment.

At first I was disappointed that there were a number of pictures by other artists, but in each case there was a good link to Mary and they added to the story eg a portrait of her son Bartholomew by Sir Peter Lely who was a neighbour.

Closed 3 September 2023


 

 

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