The Secret of a Good Life


Touching exhibition at the Royal Academy by Bob and Roberta Smith looking at the relationship his mother Deirdre Borlase had with the Academy and how that reflected the experiences of other women.

Bob and Roberta Smith is the pseudonym of the artist Patrick Brill RA and his mother, Deirdre Borlase, who had found that if she submitted work under an initial rather than her first name it was more likely to be accepted to the Summer Exhibition as it was assumed the work was by a man. There were some lovely works by her in this show such as a still life of a kitchen cabinet and gasometers in Battersea. I loved Smith’s funky labels for the work.

As well as showing his mother’s work there were new works based on things Smith has learnt from her and on her life mainly paintings of words. He also looked at the two female founders of the Academy, Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser, in two sculptures. Jessica Voorsanger, Smith’s wife and Etta Voorsanger-Brill, his daughter also contributed to the works.

Closes on 3 February 2019


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