‘Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists’    Pallant House Gallery

Posted by Barbara on August 4, 2025 in Art, Blog, Exhibition, women artists, women artists, Women's equality issues | 2 comments

To Pallant House – again – where the current exhibition explores artistic relationships, identity, and mutual influence in modern and contemporary British art. Spanning 125 years, it showcases paintings, prints, drawings, photography, sculpture, and installations that capture the distinctive gaze between creative peers.

This exhibition is memorable for the critical appreciation of one artist of another. Whether it is their partner, friend or just a contemporary, we gain insight into their perception, opinion and respect for a fellow artist.  On arrival however, before viewing the portraits you are met with a lifesize set of cut-out representations of female artists. This is the work of Lubaina Himid that was first exhibited in 1994, and form part of a wider installation inspired by a 19^th century painting by Horace Vernet, The Studio, in which he depicted himself alongside radical peers – all men.  Himid’s installation pays homage to women artists: breakers of glass ceilings past and present.

These artists are portrayed as artworks emblematic of their practice. Apparently when the installation was first exhibited, Himid challenged visitors to walk among the figures and see how many they could name as a comment as to who gets written into art history.  Those portrayed at Pallant include portraitist Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, surrealist Frida Kahlo bearing monkey and orthopaedic corset, conceptual artist Barbara Kruger, known for her feminist aphorisms, Bridget Riley’s characteristic stripes in an Egypt-inspired palette, Claudette Johnson’s celebration of black womanhood, and photographer and poet Maud Sulter’s celebration of European and African cultures.

Now back to the exhibition itself; it is about relationships, many of which were begun at art school, and which were to prove long-lasting. The portraits show fellow artists at work and at play, and they give valuable insight into some of the artists’ groups that were formed, both formal and informal.  In damesnet we have often highlighted women artists that have been overlooked, both intentionally and unintentionally.  So for obvious reasons I will focus on works in the exhibition by women, although there are some magnificent paintings by many well-known male artists.

Lee Miller and Eileen Agar created many images of each other; one particularly striking image is of Eileen Agar at the Royal Pavilion. Miller took the photo during a visit to Brighton in 1937. Agar was known for her distinctive headwear and her onion-shaped hat echoes the forms of Brighton Pavilion’s domes and columns. It is a double portrait with the shadow of Miller on the left.

Chantal Joffe and Izabel Myerscough have been painting each other for over 30 years.  ‘Two Painters’ is the latest in a series; there is no attempt at airbrushing the effect of time. What you see is what they are.  A nice detail is the size of their brushes; Joffe’s is large while Myerscough’s is slender, reflecting their differing painting styles.

 Caroline Coon’s Pauline Boty Grand Passion, 1992, is dedicated to pop artist Boty, who died prematurely aged 28 in 1966. For Coon, Boty exemplified ‘the bravery needed to challenge sexist stereotypes and confront the established status quo’.

The exhibition runs till November 2^nd, and in my view probably merits two visits.