'Women in Art' exhibition given revamp

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery’s popular ‘Women in Art’ exhibition has been given a revamp and now features a new selection of works from its permanent collections.

The exhibition covers Renaissance times to the present day and features paintings, prints, ceramics and other works of art that either portray or were created by women.

Some of the more fragile works that were displayed in the original version of the show have now gone back into store and have been replaced with a new series of works selected by the Museum’s art curators.

Highlights include a mysterious portrait of Queen Elizabeth I by an unknown South West artist. The oil painting dates from the late 1700s or early 1800s and underwent important conservation work in 2012 thanks to a £2,750 funding award from the Woodmansterne Art Conservation Awards.

Also included is ‘Age of Innocence’ – a well-known oil painting that dates from around 1788 and which is believed to feature the Theophilia ‘Offy’ Gwatkin (1782-1844), the great niece of famous Plympton-born 18th century portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Other key works in the re-display are ‘Imogen’ (1898), an oil painting by Canadian artist Elizabeth Forbes (1859-1912), the wife of famous Newlyn School painter Stanhope Forbes; ‘Place a candle on the glass’ (1996) by British artist, Anya Gallacio (b.1963), a limited edition screenprint made with metallic ink and ‘Fern Colour’ (1958), an oil painting by British painter Kate Nicholson (b.1929), the daughter of famous St Ives School artist Ben Nicholson.

Women in Art is open from 10am to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays. Admission is free and there is no need to book. More information about all Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery exhibitions is available from the What’s On pages at www.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk.