New acquisitions and new beginnings at the Courtauld Gallery
We look into the latest acquisitions on show at the London gallery...
By
Rhea Mathur
April 25, 2024
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
Coming to a close on 27th May, From the Baroque to Today: New Acquisitions of Works on Paper at the Courtauld Gallery showcases artwork acquired by the Gallery since 2018, focusing specifically on the large selection of female acquisitions. With the illustrious third floor of the building featuring works by prominent artists such as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, this exhibition refreshingly celebrates what has been previously overlooked in the collection.
The first work visitors see when they enter the exhibition room is Mary Cassatt’s The Parrot (1891); in this work, she uses the printmaking technique known as drypoint, which incorporates a thin and sharp instrument, similar to a needle, to make incisions into a copper plate. Due to her use of this medium, Cassatt could experiment with the state of her drawings, often making small changes to the original and creating different iterations of the same painting. The Parrot, however, is known to be the unapproved first proof of her work before Cassatt was able to play with the positions and shape of her figures. The work, in black and white, is an image of a woman sitting with her eyes closed, holding a yellow-headed parrot close to her face. Unlike the work of most Impressionist artists, Cassatt generally focuses on one or two figures in interior settings, focusing more on the bond and relationships of the figures rather than their environment.
Until 2023, Cassatt was the only Impressionist artist not included in Samuel Courtauld’s collection. The cause for this may also be attributed to a lack of her work being sold and exhibited in the United Kingdom - Cassatt was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania but spent most of her life in France. In 1877, she was introduced by Edgar Degas to a group of independent artists who later became known as the Impressionists, and Cassatt exhibited her work in four of their exhibitions. She was also the only American artist and one of the three women (along with Berthe Morisot and Marie Bracquemond) to be included in the reputed group.
The exhibition also features three out of forty-four of the drawings made by Elizabeth Frances Batty in 1817, namely Aiguebelle, Pass of Bramante and Lans le Bourg, works whichrepresent the tour of Italy and France that she completed with her father at the age of twenty-six. To create her work, Batty used a graphite pen along with black and brown ink, while also using wove paper - which is a paper with a wire mesh that creates a textured surface - as the work’s base. Although the artist did not create any more drawings after her marriage in 1822, her inclusion in the Courtauld collection allows this experimentation of form and play with traditional drawings to be represented.
Along with the works of underrepresented female artists, From the Baroque to Today also includes experimentations with printmaking through works such as Sir Frank Bowling’s Octoberbloom II. Produced in 2022, this colourful work is described as a polymer gravure print that, in texture, resembles a canvas painting. This technique incorporates a photographic image as well as printing on paper using a copper plate and culminates in a distinctive print on paper. Octoberbloom II is based on a painting at the Royal Academy, first exhibited in 2011, and captures Bowling’s signature abstract style,incorporating vibrant colours that seemingly blend into one another. By including Bowling’s work in the Collection, the Gallery carries forward the necessity to look at new ways of creating art and expressing it, encouraging experimentation in form and technique.
Grayson Perry’s Animal Spirit (2016) - an etching made on two pieces of paper glued together, known as chine collé - is another of the more recent works included in this exhibition and the Collection. Both, Perry and Bowling’s works not only use contemporary printmaking techniques but also discuss themes that work in conjunction with the female artists. While Bowling’s abstraction and colours explore the concepts of family and healing, Perry’s refers to the illusion of stability in male-dominated fields. Representing the stock market as a male bear, he etches the words such as ‘reasonable’ and ‘serious’ often associated with the male-dominated financial world. Perry’s bear walks in a black-and-white, almost apocalyptic world with a small child lying near its legs, bringing focus on the reality of these fields. He speaks directly to the financial crash and the shattering of the illusion of stability and rationality with tasks typically associated with men within contemporary culture.
Even after this exhibition closes, the works should make their way into the Courtauld’s large permanent collection, and will often be available to view. These new acquisitions represent women who revolutionised their mediums and have helped bring attention to female innovation and creativity, while the incorporation of both Bowling and Perry’s works also dismantles gender roles, redefining subjects discussed by male artists in their work. The acquisitions represent growth within the Collection and its ability to adapt with time to not only reinvent itself but champion those left behind.
