ART HISTORY RESIDENCY TALK – 2024
- Tuesday 10 December, 6:30 – 7:30pm GMT
- Online and free to attend
- Booking is essential: Eventbrite
Susannah Thompson is Professor of Fine Art at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University. She recently completed our Art History Residency provided in partnership with The Ampersand Foundation.
Launched in 2020, the Residency offers researchers the opportunity for concentrated time to develop their work at Wigwell Lodge in Derbyshire. During her residency, Susannah’s research has focussed on the relationship between neo-classical sculptor Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) and her patron, John Crichton-Stuart, Third Marquess of Bute (1847-1900).
Join Susannah to hear her talk on her Art History Residency research.
Jesus in the Lumber Room: Edmonia Lewis’s ‘Bust of Christ’
In 2015, a marble sculpture by the artist Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) was (re)discovered at Mount Stuart, a Gothic Revival mansion on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. A woman of African-American and First Nation (Chippewa) heritage, Lewis’s work frequently represented abolitionist themes, depicting Black and indigenous figures alongside religious, literary and historical subjects. In spite of international acclaim in her lifetime, for most of the twentieth century Lewis’s works (and the whereabouts of the artist herself) were largely unknown. In the last few decades, often due to the work of contemporary artists, her work has enjoyed a revival of interest and has been acquired by major museum collections in the USA.
A minor work in the artist’s oeuvre, Bust of Christ was one of two religious sculptures purchased by John Crichton-Stuart, the third Marquess of Bute. An extensive patron of the arts, Crichton-Stuart was a Catholic convert, an aspect of his identity shared by Lewis. After being held in storage for over 100 years, Bust of Christ was redisplayed at Mount Stuart in 2021 and is one of only two works by Lewis held in a UK public collection. This talk seeks to trace the story of the work’s acquisition, ask why it remained unknown for so long, and propose ways in which its display might raise broader questions around histories of sculpture.
Biography
Susannah Thompson is a writer, critic and art historian from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Her research interests focus on interdisciplinary and feminist approaches to art criticism and broader forms of art writing, and contemporary art in the UK. Susannah’s recent projects have included work on the Scots-Ghanaian artist and writer Maud Sulter, women’s painting practices in post-war Scotland, and the development of creative and expanded forms of art criticism since the 1960s. She is Professor of Fine Art at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Image credits:
Albumen silver print of Edmonia Lewis, Henry Rocher, National Portrait Gallery (United States).
Edmonia Lewis, Bust of Christ, 1870 (The Bute Collection at Mount Stuart: Photo by Keith Hunter Photography).