What’s missing? Art histories beyond the object

This event explores how novel approaches to research can reveal histories and narratives not otherwise explicitly portrayed in historic paintings and collections. Building on recent research into the use of indigo pigment in our collection by Conservation Fellow Kendall Francis, in this discussion we hear from speakers about the ways we might begin to explore and understand art beyond our traditional interpretations.  
Alexandra Loske, an art historian and curator with a particular interest in the history of colour, reveals the lives and work of women in the field from the eighteenth century onward, one largely dominated by men. Situating artists and writers such as Mary Gartside within the scholarly canon of colour literature, Loske’s research reveals a wider engagement with the subject. We also hear from Zandra Yeaman, Curator of Discomfort at the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, who works with people and objects to adopt a more critical approach to issues of race, identity, gender and colonial histories.
Kendall, Alexandra and Zandra are joined in discussion by Susanna Avery-Quash, our Research Curator (History of Collecting).
Organised as part of our Subject Specialist Network programme, which provides the opportunity to exchange knowledge, experiences, and new ideas about paintings.
Image: Detail from Still from National Gallery film ‘Indigo: What can one colour tell us about a painting?’