Great Tarts in Art: High Culture and the Oldest Profession
by Linda Smith
11 October 2012
left:Portrait of Kitty Fisher Nathaniel Hone,1765 (National Portrait
Gallery;
right:- Portrait of Giovanna Bacelli,Thomas Gainsborough, 1782 (Tate Gallery)
A mixture of art-historical analysis and scandalous anecdote, this lecture takes a generally light-hearted look at changing attitudes to sexual morality down the ages, by examining the portraits and careers of some of history’s most notorious mistresses and courtesans. It also charts the rather complex and ambiguous attitudes of art and society towards the numerous anonymous working girls at the lower end of the scale, by investigating how they have been represented in different times and places from the 17th to the 20th century.
Linda Smith
Linda Smith is a well-qualified art historian with a broad range of knowledge, and a special interest in British art, and the art of the twentieth century. She offers illustrated talks, presentations and study days on a variety of art-historical topics, and has taken on various types of assignment at a wide range of venues, including public galleries, secondary schools, universities, cruise liners, and private arts societies in the UK and overseas. She is an accredited NADFAS lecturer, and an experienced gallery guide, especially at Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, where she works as a Guide and Lecturer.