2 Audley Square
Mayfair, London W1K
UK
Established in 1994, The Course offers innovative and exciting lectures in Art History, Literature, Music and Opera.
This course will explore the rise of celebrity in the art world and how this change in status not only affected the output of artists but also their lives and in some cases the individuals depicted by them. It will show that the impact of these changes is still with us and continues to govern the way we appreciate and value art. We will start by looking at very early un-autographed works before moving on to look at iconic artists such as Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer and others. The themes will be the rise of the signature work, the rise of the individual and thus creation of the idea of the artist, fame, adulation, riches and the celebrity endorsement.
Internationalism and Commercialism, The Pre-Raphaelites & Fame in the Modern World
This final lecture takes us again into the 19th century to explore the rise of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and how they embraced commercialism and advertising to enhance their fame and fortunes. These aspects will be explored through key emblematic works, such as The Death of Ophelia, 1851–2, The Light of the World, 1853–54 and Bubbles, 1886, to demonstrate how the motivation of these artists affected their works.