Strang Print Room and Sir John Soane's Museum create new Flaxman exhibition

'John Flaxman: Master of the Purest Line' will run from 23 April-14 June 2003. Displays will be exhibited at both venues, together with a 'Flaxman Trail' of sculptures on public display in churches and museums around London mapped out in a leaflet.

UCL's College Art Collections holds an unrivalled collection of works by Flaxman including over 120 sculpture models, mostly designs for funerary monuments. The collections were founded in 1847 with a gift of his models by his sister-in-law, Maria Denman and a collection of his drawings followed in 1862. UCL's installation for the exhibition will focus on Flaxman's monument designs, featuring the newly restored Flaxman Gallery and a display of his drawings and plaster models in the Strang Print Room.

The architect Sir John Soane had the pick of Flaxman's studio following the sculptor's death, forming the finest collection of his work after UCL. The exhibition at the museum will focus on the artist's figure drawings, climaxing with a selection of original designs for the illustrations to works by Homer and Aeschylus that made Flaxman a household name.

Two lunchtime gallery talks are also being held in conjunction with the exhibition, on 7 and 21 May 2003. Experts Dr Eckart Marchant and Professor David Bindman (History of Art), will provide insights into Flaxman's drawings and plaster casts, with reference to recent conservation work conducted at UCL.

Image: Monument to John and Susannah Phillimore.

To find out more about the exhibition and the talks use the links below.

Links:
College Art Collections
Sir John Soane's Museum