Staff news

Art duo makes an impression

Husband-and-wife art historians affiliated to the University have each played a role in two of the autumn’s biggest international art exhibitions.

Monet's en norvegienne

Richard Thomson, the University’s Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art, was part of the curating team behind the Claude Monet retrospective at the Grand Palais, Paris.

While his wife Belinda, an Honorary Fellow at the University, curated Tate Modern’s Gauguin show.

With 174 paintings, this may be the largest Monet exhibition ever staged.

Richard ThomsonWatson Gordon Professor of Fine Art

Largest ever

Guy Cogeval, the President-Directeur of the Musee d’Orsay approached Professor Thomson in autumn 2008 to invite him to join his team of curators on the Monet project.

The art historian contributed to developing concepts for the exhibition’s themes, as well as site research and catalogue writing.

The exhibition is the first full retrospective of Monet’s 60-year career to be held in Paris since 1980.

First in 50 years

Honorary Fellow Belinda has been connected to the University’s History of Art department for a decade.

She was approached to curate the Gauguin exhibition following the success of her Gauguin’s Vision show for National Galleries of Scotland.

Her Tate Modern exhibition is the first on the French artist to be held in the UK for 50 years.

It runs until 16 January 2011.

The Monet show is on until 24 January 2011.

Exhibitions are a valuable tool for getting one’s work published and for outreach to a very wide audience.

Richard ThomsonWatson Gordon Professor of Fine Art

Image credit: service presse Rmn / Hervé Lewandowski