The Enchanted Interior
Exploring the sinister implications of the interior as a ‘gilded cage’ in which women are pictured as ornamental objects
Dates
Until 22 February 2020 (historic exhibition)
About
As featured in:
The Enchanted Interior explores the sinister implications of a popular theme in nineteenth-century painting: the depiction of the interior as a ‘gilded cage’ in which women are pictured as ornamental objects. Iconic Pre-Raphaelite paintings by artists such as Edward Burne-Jones and William Holman Hunt will be shown alongside works by their female peers such as Emma Sandys and Evelyn De Morgan, who challenge and subvert the idealisation of women as captive damsels or passive beauties. Meanwhile, installation and moving image work by contemporary artists such as Mona Hatoum and Fiona Tan highlight the duality inherent in the interior, as a site that can be a sanctuary or a threat.
This exhibition has been developed by the Laing Art Gallery and will tour nationally.
Admission charges apply
Image credit: Evelyn de Morgan, The Love Potion (1903) © De Morgan Collection, courtesy of the De Morgan Foundation
This exhibition was made possible by grants from the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund, the John Ellerman Foundation, The Henry Moore Foundation, and a Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Research Grant from Art Fund. It will be accompanied by an illustrated publication made possible by a grant from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. In kind support by Bon Bloemen.