British royal collections: Charles I to Charles III
Weekend art history course
13 May 2023 10am - 5pm14 May 2023 10am - 5pm
Wolfson British Academy Room | Burlington Gardens
£420. Includes light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of day one.
Friends of the RA book first
As a new King takes the throne, join us for a weekend exploring art and royalty through the histories of some of Britain’s most magnificent royal collections.
Please note: this is an in-person event only
The Royal Academy’s blockbuster 2018 exhibition Charles I: King and Collector reunited many of the masterpieces King Charles I had collected for the very first time. From Titian to Dürer, Mantegna to Holbein, the RA’s galleries paid homage to a collection that changed the cultural tastes of Britain.
As a new Charles ascends, and we enter a new era for the Royal Family and for Britain, join us as we consider the compelling and longstanding relationship between art and royalty. From the powerful self-fashioning of the preceding Tudor period to Victoria and Albert’s impact on the emergence of the modern museum, we study the acquisitions, collecting tastes, commissions, portraits, relationships and display methods that link art so indelibly with power.
We hear from the curators, academics and historians who are experts in these collections, and consider their future in a rapidly-changing world. Learn from a series of lectures, seminars and discussions, based at the Royal Academy in London.
Minimum age 18. If you have any accessibility needs, please contact public.programmes@royalacademy.org.uk.
£420. Includes light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of day one.
Friends of the RA book first
About the speakers
Dr Charlotte Bolland is Senior Curator for Research and 16th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery, London. She has co-curated a number of exhibitions at the Gallery, including The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered (2014) and The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt (2017). She studied for her PhD at Queen Mary, University of London, in collaboration with The Royal Collection, examining Italian Material Culture at the Tudor Court.
Julius Bryant is Keeper Emeritus of the Victoria and Albert Museum, where in 2019 to mark the bicentenary of the births of Victoria and Albert he produced displays and a book: Creating the V&A. Victoria and Albert’s Museum. Formerly Chief Curator at English Heritage, Dr Bryant contributed to the restoration of Osborne (Isle of Wight), the family home of Victoria and Albert.
Dr Misha Ewen is a Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Bristol and the author of The Virginia Venture: American Colonization and English Society, 1580-1660 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022). She researches the early modern British Atlantic world including slavery and colonisation and has published widely in academic journals as well as making several appearances on TV, radio, and podcasts.
Rebecca Lyons is the Director of Collections & Learning at the Royal Academy. For the last three years Rebecca has been Director of the Attingham Trust’s prestigious Royal Collection Studies based at Windsor Castle. She was Curator for the National Trust at Knole and Ightham Mote, and prior to this was Director of the Fine & Decorative Art MLitt and MA programmes at Christie’s Education, London/University of Glasgow where she taught for fifteen years. She contributed a chapter to the Royal Collection exhibition book for George IV: Art and Spectacle (2019).
Dr Joanna Marschner is a Senior Curator at Historic Royal Palaces. Based at Kensington Palace, she has created research and exhibition projects on monarchical history, the history of royal buildings in Great Britain, the history of royal patronage and collecting, the history of royal ceremonial, and royal dress. Collaborative projects include Enlightened Princesses: Caroline, Augusta, Charlotte and the Shaping of the Modern World (exhibition and book with the Yale Center for British Art, 2017) and Queen Victoria’s Self-fashioning: Curating the Royal Image for Dynasty, Nation and Empire (research project with the University of Warwick).
Kajal Meghani is an AHRC-funded doctoral candidate at the University of Brighton and the British Museum. Her research examines South Asian collectors and their contributions to the British Museum. From 2016 to 2018, Kajal was the curator for the Royal Collection Trust exhibition Splendours of the Subcontinent: A Prince's Tour of India 1875-6, which focused on the collection of gifts presented by South Asian royalty to Edward VII.
Anna Reynolds is Deputy Surveyor of The King’s Pictures at Royal Collection Trust, where she has responsibility for the curatorial and conservation departments for oil paintings, watercolours, prints, drawings and photographs. She researches the link between western portraiture and fashion history in the 17th - 19th centuries. Her exhibitions include Charles II: Art and Power (2017) and Portrait of the Artist (2016). Her exhibition Style and Society: Dressing the Georgians opens at The Queen’s Gallery in April 2023.
Dr Per Rumberg is curator at the Royal Academy of Arts, where he curated numerous exhibitions, including Charles I: King and Collector (2018), Late Constable (2021) and Spain and the Hispanic World (2023). He studied in London, Florence and Berlin and received his PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art.
Our courses and classes programme
Our varied programme of short courses and classes provides an opportunity to explore subjects ranging from life drawing to the history of exhibitions and arts management, led by expert tutors and practising artists. These courses introduce traditional art-making processes, as well as perspectives on art history, theory and business.
Give this course as a gift
All of our courses can be purchased as a gift for a friend or family member – giving the gift of education and a remarkable experience. To arrange a personalised Gift Voucher, please contact the Academic Programmes Team, by calling 020 7300 5641 or email public.programmes@royalacademy.org.uk
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