New Perspectives on Art, Life and Literature in the Eighteenth Century
Programmed to coincide with the exhibition Reframing Reynolds: A Celebration, currently on display at The Box, Plymouth (24 June–29 October 2023), this one-day event brings together a panel of experts to deliver engaging talks on a variety of topics about the eighteenth century. 2023 marks 300 years since the birth of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) outside the city of Plymouth in nearby Plympton. Reynolds was the foremost portrait painter of his era and became the first President of the Royal Academy in 1768. The age he lived through saw large social changes at home and abroad – global expansion, wars, the rise of empire and trade – but also fostered new ideas concerning gender, race and class, and abolitionism.
“A one-day event featuring expert talks on this vibrant period of the eighteenth century.” Dr Jenny Graham
Join speakers including Professor Dafydd Moore and Dr Jenny Graham (University of Plymouth), Professor Robert W. Jones (University of Leeds) and Montaz Marché (University of Birmingham) for a fresh look at the eighteenth century in response to Reynolds’ anniversary. Some talks will discuss portraits loaned to The Box – Reynolds’ Portrait of the Artist as a Deaf Man or Mr Huddesford and Mr Bampfylde, depicting the Devon poet John Codrington Bampfylde, writer of the Sixteen Sonnets. Others will take a broader view, and consider such subjects as the experience of Black women in eighteenth-century Britain; Enlightenment women and global travel; or re-examine the art of Reynolds through a decolonial lens.
Time: 10:00 – 17:00 (7 hours)
Ticket information: £10, £8 Concessions, free to all students
