Lakeland Arts currently has pieces from our fine art collection on loan to major art institutions in Germany as part of two brilliant exhibitions, a Paula Rego retrospective and a look at the history of Opera.
We have loaned The Abortion Triptych by Paula Rego to the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hannover, as part of their exhibition Paula Rego. There and Back Again, which runs until 29 January 2023.
Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego (1935-2022) is one of the most distinguished and acknowledged artists of our time. Triptych is one of the most ambitious and challenging pictures of Paula Rego’s career. The three paintings from the Lakeland Arts collection join over 60 works from European museums and galleries, including the Tate Modern, the National Gallery and the Victoria Miro Gallery in London, as well as the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. Sadly Rego passed away in June this year aged 87. She was fascinated by the darker side of human behaviour, and her pictures often reveal disturbing narratives of love and cruelty, focusing on victims of circumstances beyond their control.
Our other international loan is James Sant’s At the Opera It is currently at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Germany as part of an exhibition titled Opera is dead, long live opera! which runs until 5 February. It features alongside a selection of paintings and costumes, posters and stage design models, caricatures and programmes – complemented by recordings of numerous operas – telling known and unknown stories of a genre and an institution that is constantly reinventing itself.
James Sant CVO RA (1820 – 1916) was a British painter specialising in portraits and known particularly for images of women and children and artistic exploration of the symbolism of childhood. He was a member of the Royal Academy.
The painting At the Opera has rarely been shown at Abbot Hall since it joined the collection in 1963, and the Bundeskunsthalle generously funded essential conservation work to its frame to enable the work to travel to Germany safely.
Loaning artworks to other organisations is an essential part of ensuring that as many people as possible can experience and be inspired by these outstanding works. Lakeland Arts continues to build international partnerships with museums, higher education institutes and cultural organisations locally, nationally and internationally through exhibitions, loans professional development and teaching.
Did you know that Lakeland Arts is a charity? If you’d like to help support us to look after these amazing artworks for the nation you can become a Friend, find out more here.
