Painting Childhood:
From holbein to freud
16 March 2019 – 16 June 2019
Children have always fascinated artists. This is a celebration of some of the most iconic paintings of children produced over the past 500 years.
Through stunning portraits, amusing genre scenes and touching ‘fancy pictures’, this exhibition explored the creative process and the specific challenges posed by painting children: from how to capture the fleeting moments of youth to how to encourage young subjects to sit still.
About the
exhibition
The exhibition addressed themes including royal portraits, play and learning, and the fantasy and reality of children’s lives.
It concludes with a series of paintings, sketches and sculptures by Stanley Spencer, Louise Bourgeois, Jacob Epstein and Lucian Freud. These offer deeply personal insights into the place of family within an artist’s life, and the ongoing dialogue between biography and creativity.
