Fashion in Old Masters
January 14 2015
Video: Sotheby's
This is a great video from Sotheby's, on fashion in Old Master pictures. The standard of these little films is getting better and better. In the past they've tended to be a bit estate-agenty - and too male - but now they're getting more inventive. And here we have a star in the making with Sotheby's specialist Jonquil O'Reilly, who tells us about fashion and haircuts in renaissance paintings in an informative, even humorous way.
Auction houses and Old Master dealers often wonder how to attract new audiences to look at, let alone buy, Old Master paintings. This video from Sotheby's also asks the same question, but provides less convincing answers. One of the best ways to do it is in the straightforward, engaging manner we see in O'Reilly's film; take a matter people think about in their daily lives - like haircuts and what clothes to wear - and show how the same concerns were addressed in, say, the 16th Century.
The same solution is advocated by the National Gallery's 17th Century curator Betsy Wiesman who says (in this story on the BBC):
"The way you make Old Master paintings relevant is to find a good hook in terms of explaining the social and historical context, which is fascinating when told in the right way."
'Told in the right way' is important, of course, and the main thing to avoid is any suggestion of dumbing down.
