Art History Course | Face to Face: Collaboration in Portraiture

In this session, Face to Face: Collaboration in Portraiture, Melanie Vandenbrouck, Chief Curator at Pallant House Gallery, will explore the role of modelling and co-production in artistic practice—looking at how collaboration and close creative partnerships shape the making of an artwork.

Colin Wiggins, artist and former Special Projects Curator at the National Gallery, will share insights into the creation of his Mutual Portraits series, co-produced with renowned artists and offering a unique glimpse into the dynamics of portraiture as a shared experience.

When he worked at the National Gallery, Colin formed lasting friendships with several of the artists whose exhibitions he curated there. As a printmaker, he made portraits of each of these artists but left part of the plate blank. He then passed the plate over to their subjects, who responded by making a portrait of Colin in the empty space. The result is the remarkable series of prints shown in Seeing Each Other, artistic collaborations between Colin and Frank Auerbach, Paula Rego, Peter Blake, R.B. Kitaj and Maggi Hambling.