The Fallen Woman

Fascinating exhibition at the Foundling Museum about how the Victorian concept of the Fallen Woman was depicted in the art and literature of the time and contrasting that with reality as seen through the museum’s archives.

The first section concentrated on images in art while telling the history of the idea. It pointed out that the 1836 Marriage Act had made marriage in registry offices easier so that it was easier to be respectable! It talked about how the growth in urban life made many women more vulnerable. I loved a picture called “Breakfasting Out” by Robert Dowling which showed a shop girl buying a coffee from a stall on her way to work and a gentleman eying her up, as my grandmother would have said! Beware Starbucks girls!

In an extra room upstairs they had, of course, borrowed “Found Drowned” by Watts which has to appear in any show on this topic or Victorian morality generally. It was shown by a petition to the hospital from a mother who said that the father of her child had told her to drown herself!

Most moving were the petitions from the women telling the real stories. The hospital had changed its admittance policy in the 19th century to focus on restoring respectability to unmarried mothers. Many of these were shown in a small section of the gallery playing a sound installation by Steven Lewins using the names and word of the women against a new arrangement of the Foundling Hospital Anthem by Handel. It gave a real sense of the ghosts of the past talking to you.

Closes on 3 January 2016.

Review
Telegraph

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Image
Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket. I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped. The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site. It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread. I think my
Read more

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B was
Read more

The Renaissance Nude

Image
Beautiful exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the nude in Renaissance art. The show was gently themed but mainly let the pictures speak for themselves. It began by looking at the subjects, both religious and secular, which include nude figures then examined techniques and models used in these works, finishing by looking at more personal pictures. This is a period I’ve studied a lot so there were a lot of old friends and it was quite fun predicting what might appear. There were a few surprises too such as the rather surprising drawing of the Ecstatic Christ. I liked the fact the show included lots of different art forms not just paintings including sculpture, etchings, drawings and illuminated manuscripts. There were some fascinating hangs to draw comparisons particularly two sets of pictures by Giovanni Bellini and Hand Memling from almost exactly the same date. These were shown back to back in a display cabinet down the middle of one room. My favourite work was
Read more