Exhibition

Portraying Pregnancy: From Holbein to Social Media

24 Jan 2020 – 23 Aug 2020

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

Adult £10.50
Concessions £8.25

FREE for 21 & under, Foundling Friends & National Art Pass holders

Save Event: Portraying Pregnancy: From Holbein to Social Media28

I've seen this

People who have saved this event:

close

Foundling Museum

London, United Kingdom

Address

Travel Information

  • 59, 68, 91, 168, 188
  • Russell Square, King's Cross St Pancras
  • Euston, St Pancras International and King's Cross
Directions via Google Maps Directions via Citymapper
Event map

Portraying Pregnancy is a major exhibition exploring representations of the pregnant female body through portraits, over 500 years.

About

Until the twentieth century, many women spent most of their adult years pregnant. Despite this, pregnancies are seldom apparent in surviving portraits. This exhibition brings together images of women – mainly British – who were depicted at a time when they were pregnant (whether visibly so or not). Through paintings, prints, photographs, objects and clothing from the fifteenth century to the present day, discover the different ways in which pregnancy was, or was not, represented; how shifting social attitudes have impacted on depictions of pregnant women; how the possibility of death in childbirth brought additional tension to such representations; and how more recent images, which often reflect increased female agency and empowerment, still remain highly charged.

Portraying Pregnancy, is curated by Karen Hearn and brings together, for the first time, rare examples of these portraits providing an exceptional opportunity to situate contemporary issues of women’s identity, emotion, empowerment and autonomy in a 500-year context.

What to expect? Toggle

Comments

Have you been to this event? Share your insights and give it a review below.