The Mona Lisa and Other Housewives - How Portraits Lie about their Sitters

A talk by Lydia Bauman on Saturday 14th November at 2pm

How did Leonardo transform the ordinary housewife and mother of two into the icon of mystery which is the Mona Lisa, when other women, more distinguished and beautiful than her come across as just virtuous, shrewd or marriageable?  How did unpopular or undistinguished men come down in history as figures of valour, status and importance?  What do marriage portraits tell us about the perceived place of men and women in society? We will look at the subtle ways in which artists manipulate likenesses to respond to the ideas and values of their times and the whims and vanity of their patrons.

Lydia Bauman ran Lydia Bauman Studio in Lincoln's Eastgate from 2003 to 2011. She now lives and works in London. She is a Polish born artist and art historian. Educated at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (BA in Fine Art) and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London (MA in Art History, Distinction), she is now a passionate educator herself with very wide experience of teaching at the Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery in London, also as guest speaker in Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Arts Club of Chicago, Noble Caledonia cruises, Martin Randall Tours and NADFAS.

Saturday 14th November 2015 at 2.00pm at The Collection.
Tickets £10 including wine and canapes, available from The Collection, Danes Terrace, Lincoln LN2 1LP or email thecollection@lincolnshire.gov.uk or call 01522 550965 to reserve your place.

This event has been organised by the Usher Gallery Trust, which supports the Usher Gallery with purchases and financial provision for research, exhibitions and educational projects. The proceeds from this event will be used to further the Usher Gallery Trust's support of the Usher Gallery.