A Level Art and History of Art trip

On the first weekend of the summer term, the A Level Art and History of Art pupils went on a three-day residential trip to London. We visited numerous exhibitions including the ‘Post-war Modern: New Art in Britain 1945-65’ exhibition at the Barbican and the Surrealist collection at the Tate Modern, where we saw Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ and the ‘3 Standard Stoppages’. On Saturday, we even had the opportunity to watch ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at the Duchess Theatre, which was the perfect way to end the day.

On the Sunday morning, we visited the National Gallery, where many of us were thrilled at the opportunity to see Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun’s ‘Self-portrait with a straw hat’ (1782). This intimate self-portrait looks like a typical 18th century Rococo painting; often overlooked in a gallery filled with masterpieces by artists such as Caravaggio and Van Gogh. However, after learning in class about how the artist’s identity is portrayed in Vigée Le Brun’s self-portrait, we could not contain our excitement when we saw the painting in person. She painted it after seeing Peter Paul Ruben’s ‘Portrait of Susanna Lunden’, also known as ‘Le Chapeau de Paille’ (The Straw Hat), which was also on display at the National Gallery. Despite the name, Ruben’s portrait did not depict a straw hat and Vigée Le Brun playfully corrects this mistitling by depicting herself in one.

It was an eye-opening experience to see Ruben’s portrait followed by Vigée Le Brun’s self-portrait in such proximity, enabling us to compare the two works. We would like to thank Dr Beard, Ms Whitehead and Ms Coulson for organising the trip and looking out for us – the weekend was an unforgettable one filled with art, architecture and plenty of selfies (with the self-portraits)!

Ashley, SFC2 (Year 13)

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