Plymouth art historian curates new exhibition at National Gallery

Some of the greatest portraits of the 20th century are going on show at the National Gallery in London as part of a major new exhibition.

Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900 has been compiled from collections across the globe, and includes works by some of the period’s most influential artists.

It has been curated by Dr Gemma Blackshaw, Associate Professor in History of Art and Visual Culture at Plymouth University, and runs from October 9 until January 12, 2014.

The exhibition explores a period when Vienna was a multi-national, multi-ethnic and multi-faith city, and the imperial capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It also features a number of pieces showing Jewish families, who would later be driven from the city in the 1930s.

Dr Blackshaw said: “These works cover a period which began with liberal and democratic reform, but ended with the rise of the nationalist movements and anti-semitism. This is reflected in the artwork, as pieces which initially reflect status and belonging shift to portraits which express a sense of anxiety and alienation.”

In the exhibition, sponsored by Credit Suisse, iconic portraits by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Richard Gerstl, Oskar Kokoschka and Arnold Schönberg are displayed alongside works by important yet less widely known artists such as Broncia Koller and Isidor Kaufmann.

In contrast to their contemporaries working in Paris, Berlin and Munich, and in response to the demands of their local market, Viennese artists such as Klimt remained focused on the image of the individual. Portraits therefore dominate their production, enabling this exhibition to reconstruct the shifting identities of artists, patrons, families, friends, intellectual allies and society celebrities of this time and place.

Most works are on canvas, though visitors will also see drawings and the haunting death masks of Gustav Klimt (1918); Ludwig van Beethoven (1827), Egon Schiele (1918) and Gustav Mahler (1911), all on loan from the Wien Museum Karlsplatz.

The exhibition is the latest national show coordinated by a Plymouth University academic and Professor Dafydd Moore, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, said: “At Plymouth we pride ourselves on inspiring our staff and students to excel both academically, creatively and in the wider cultural sphere. Gemma’s exhibition serves to further strengthen Plymouth’s national reputation in Art History, and is a great example of the way academic staff at Plymouth are committed to disseminating their internationally significant research to as wide an audience as possible."

Students interested in finding out more about the Arts and Humanities programmes at Plymouth University can visit the Undergraduate Open Day on Saturday 19 October. It will also provide an opportunity for prospective students and their families to tour the campus, and meet current students and academics. For more information, visit www.plymouth.ac.uk.