Fruits of Friendship: Portraits by Mary Beale

Interesting online discussion as part of London Art Week focusing on the 17th century portrait artists Mary Beale.

Christopher Baker of the Burlington magazine chaired a discussion between two curators who had produced shows on Beale, Lucy West of Dulwich Picture Gallery and Ellie Smith of Philip Mould & Co.

Smith focused on the life of Beale and took us through themes in her show which was on at the time at Philip Mould & Co and I have since been to see it.  She talked about how Beale made her money from commissioned work but also painted her family and friends often using them to experiment with new material and ideas.

West looked back to show on Beale’s studio from a couple of years ago which focused on her technique and the experiments of her husband, Charles, who was a pigment expert and salesman. She talked about his notebooks which documented the work of the studio.

It was fun to hear the speakers discussing Beale’s work which they had obviously grown to love and admire.

 

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