Platform Panel: Reframing the Muse Today

Thursday 19 January 2023
1:00 - 2:00 pm

Chair:

Ruth Millington, art historian and author of ‘Muse’ (Vintage)

Panel:

Dr David Bellingham, Programme Director, Sotheby’s Institute of Art

Jon Sleigh, freelance Learning Curator and art history writer

Roxana Halls, contemporary artist 

Listen to the recording

Ruth Millington, art historian and author of ‘Muse’ (Vintage), will chair a panel discussion asking Does the Artist’s Muse Have a Place in the Modern World? Joined by leading art historians and lecturers from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, including Programme Director Dr David Bellingham, Jon Sleigh, freelance Learning Curator and art history writer, and contemporary artist Roxana Halls, the panel will discuss the role, representation and history of the muse, across time and cultures, from the Bloomsbury Group to today.  

This event is in partnership with Sotheby’s Institute of Art. 

All Talks are free to attend with a valid ticket to London Art Fair.

Ruth Millington is an art historian, writer and critic. After studying art history during an MA at the University of Oxford, Ruth Millington spent five years working for museums and galleries across the UK, including the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art and renowned modern art dealership Connaught Brown. Ruth lectures on art history, and has spoken at Women’s Aid, the University of Oxford, Dulwich Picture Gallery and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, where she is Head of the Careers Service. She has been featured as an art expert on radio and TV, including BBC Breakfast, Woman’s Hour, ITV News, BBC WM Radio, Radio 4’s Today programme and Sky Arts. Ruth has written for national newspapers, including the Telegraph, the i, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail and Express. Her first book Muse uncovers the hidden figures behind art history’s masterpieces. Ruth also manages an award-winning art blog at www.ruthmillington.co.uk 

 

Panel: 

 

Dr David Bellingham is an art historian, author and Programme Director for the Master’s Degree in Art Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London where he leads a core unit on Art Business, Finance & Management, as well the elective The Market for Antiquities & Old Masters. He holds a special honours degree in Latin and Classical Archaeology (University of Birmingham), and a doctorate from the University of Manchester for his thesis on the cultural and socio-economic aspects of sympotic scenes in ancient Roman and Pompeian wall-painting. David has published numerous books and articles on a variety of subjects, including; art fairs, art business ethics, Greek & Celtic mythology, the art market for classical sculpture and frescoes, the paintings of Sandro Botticelli, and authenticity issues in the paintings of Frans Hals. David is currently Editor of the Antiquities volume A Cultural History of Collecting (Bloomsbury) and runs his own art business podcast https://theartbusiness.podbean.com/ 

 

 

Roxana Halls is a British figurative painter who is best known for her images of women laughing while escaping from catastrophic situations, is widely celebrated for her images of wayward women who refuse to conform to society’s expectations and for her wry humour & unsettling narratives. 

 

Halls has had numerous successful exhibitions including solo shows in London – National Theatre, South Bank; Hayhill Gallery, Cork St; Gallery 46 – and at Beaux Arts, Bath. Group shows include Bodies in Trouble (Haus Kunst Mitte Berlin) Kapow! (Stoke Potteries Museum); Dear Christine (toured UK in 2019 and 2020); and Surreal So Good (TW FINE ART, Palm Beach, Florida & Brooklyn NY). She was commissioned to make portraits for BBC Arts’ production of Katherine Parkinson’s ‘Sitting’ (aired 2021, BBC Four); featured in BBC1’s Extraordinary Portraits (episode 1, aired 2022); and was interviewed on BBC Woman’s Hour and Radio 4’s Only Artists. Halls has written articles for and been featured in leading art magazines has also curated exhibitions including Funny Ha Ha with Maddox Gallery in 2022. 

A multiple award-winner, her work is held in myriad collections internationally: The Discerning Eye, St. Catherine’s College Oxford, Luke Jennings author of Killing Eve novels and Alan Grieve CBE, Chairman 
of the Jerwood Foundation. Works acquired for major UK permanent collections include: her portrait of musician Horse McDonald for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 2020; and Katie Tomkins – Mortuary & Post-mortem Services Manager, for London’s Science Museum, 2022.  

 

 

Jon Sleigh (he/him) is a freelance Learning Curator and art history writer. He works nationally as a specialist in fine art and collections engagement with a diverse portfolio of arts institutions, museum, and heritage sites across the UK. Clients include the National Gallery, The Courtauld, Tate, The National Archives, Historic Royal Palaces, Art Fund, The V and A, The Government Art Collection DCMS and the Arts Council Collection. Prior to this Jon worked for Birmingham Museums Trust / The Arts Collection in round one of the acclaimed ACE National Partners Program. He produces, delivers, and consults on art engagement. Jon has built a national reputation for innovation, applied ethics and delivery of projects reflecting inclusive futures. He has a passion for challenging and underrepresented narratives in art – co-producing with communities to bringing their lived experience to artworks for advocacy.