The upper and lower sixth Art/Art History students were fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the BP Portrait Awards at the RAAM in Exeter at the end of November. Usually one would have to travel to London’s National Portrait Gallery in order to view this major exhibition. It is currently on tour across the country, so we thought it would be great to take advantage of its local accessibility.
The students were greeted with a visual feast of eclectic representations of the human form. A diversity of scale, context, media and composition, from hyperrealism, Florentine chiaroscuro to loose, and lyrical gestural marks were on display.
The students were able to view, photograph and sketch the works to their hearts content. They were then able to peruse the rest of the venue which offers a vast wealth of artefacts and curiosities. We hope to provide the students with visual stimulation and inspiration to feed back into their own work. Encouraging them to view artworks in person whenever possible is key to their appreciation of it and an invaluable experience in nurturing their own artistic development. As ever the students represented themselves and the school impeccably and were excellent company.
