18th-Century British Painting: Portraits

Join us at the Foundling Museum for the second in a series of afternoon art history lectures by Dr Matthew Morgan, Museum Director of Turner's House and Associate Lecturer at Birkbeck.

As British wealth grew rapidly during the 18th century, there was a resurgence in the demand for painted portraits. A new class of rich merchants emerged alongside a new generation of British-trained artists.

Thanks to an art academy run by William Hogarth at the beginning of the 18th century and the later establishment of Royal Academy of Arts (headed by Sir Joshua Reynolds), a new distinctively British genre unfolded.

This talk does not require any previous knowledge and serves as an introduction to 18th-century British portrait painting. This lecture will last an hour.

Tickets are available to watch the lecture either ONLINE or IN-PERSON at the Foundling Museum; in-person tickets include Museum entry.

The online recording will be available to watch for 1 month.