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Joseph Highmore, The Angel of Mercy, c1746. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Exhibition
Basic Instincts
29 Sep 2017 – 7 Jan 2018
Regular hours
- Friday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Saturday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Sunday
- 11:00 – 17:00
- Tuesday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Wednesday
- 10:00 – 17:00
- Thursday
- 10:00 – 17:00
Cost of entry
£11.00* Adults
£8.25* Concessions
FREE for children, Foundling Friends & National Art Pass holders
*Ticket prices include a voluntary Gift Aid donation
Address
- 40 Brunswick Square
- London
- WC1N 1AZ
- United Kingdom
Travel Information
- 59, 68, 91, 168, 188
- Russell Square, King's Cross St Pancras
- Euston, St Pancras International and King's Cross
Curated by Dr Jacqueline Riding, Basic Instincts explores Georgian attitudes to love, desire and female respectability through the radical paintings of Joseph Highmore.
About
A highly successful artist and Governor of London’s Foundling Hospital, Joseph Highmore (1692-1780) is best known as a portrait painter of the Georgian middle class. However, during the 1740s his art dramatically shifted as he turned his focus to societal attitudes towards women and sexuality. This first major Highmore exhibition for 50 years explores a ten-year period of disruptive commentary in his art, reflecting his engagement with the work of the new Foundling Hospital and its mission to support desperate and abused women.
