Recognise the Artist?

This lecture takes examples of a wide range of artists from the 15th, 16th 17th and 18th centuries, and will put into words what it is that tells us a picture is by Rubens rather than Rembrandt, or even, by Rubens rather than by, say, Van Dyck, who was taught by him and painted so very much like him. The lecture uses photos of small details of paintings greatly enlarged, to demonstrate some of the distinctive quirks and give-away characteristics of artists from Mantegna and Bellini to Canaletto and Gainsborough. There will be tips and tricks of art-gazing to illustrate the enormous satisfaction of looking at an unfamiliar painting and realising that you can instantly recognise the artist.

Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe has an MA in History of Art from Edinburgh, PhD from the Warburg Institute, London University and 40 years’ experience as a lecturer. She has taught at Sotheby’s Institute of Art on the MA in Fine and Decorative Arts since 1989, and as a freelance lecturer for a number of societies and institutions in London, including the National Gallery and the Wallace Collection. Having also trained as a paintings conservator, she brings an understanding of the making and the physical painting to her lectures and study sessions.