American Friends of the V&A visit to London

June 21-23, 2011

Textiles Conservation Studio at the Victoria and Albert Museum

On June 21-23, the American Friends of the V&A held their inaugural trip to London. London with the Victoria and Albert Museum devoted each of the three days to a different aspect of the Museum’s diverse character with additional special access to some extraordinary private collections.

To tie-in with the V&A’s headline exhibition The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900 the group attended a private tour of the exhibition out of hours; saw some true masterpieces of the period in a private collection; had a drinks reception and tour at Leighton House as well as a fantastic evening in the Ladies’ Smoking Room at the newly refurbished and recently opened St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.

Spencer de Grey, Senior Partner and Head of Design, speaks to the AFV&A group during a visit to Foster+Partners

To tie-in with other parts of the V&A’s extraordinary collections, visits to the V&A’s contemporary galleries were followed by tours of some of London’s leading artist and architect studios, including Antony Gormley, Tom Dixon and Foster + Partners. In addition, the AFV&A group attended private tours of the V&A’s world-class Medieval and Renaissance Galleries, its world-renowned conservation studios and the homes of celebrated art collectors.

The trip was a tremendous success and we look forward to planning more for the future.


Postmodernism Lecture at the Bard Graduate Center, New York

May 10, 2011

On May 10, 2011, co-curators Glenn Adamson and Jane Pavitt, presented a lecture on their upcoming exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990, which opens at the V&A on September 24, 2011. Preceded by a reception, the lecture was presented in collaboration with the Bard Graduate Center.

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990 will be the first in-depth survey of art, design and architecture of the 1970s and 1980s. The exhibition will run until January 8, 2012.


V&A curator Anna Jackson presents lecture on Maharaja exhibition

February 3, 2011

Diana Quasha, Anna Jackson and Molly Charland

On February 3rd, Anna Jackson, lead curator of Maharaja: the Splendour of India's Royal Courts gave a lecture on the exhibition. This lecture was presented in collaboration with the Society of the Four Arts Campus on the Lake in Palm Beach, Florida and was preceded by a luncheon in the Pannill Pavilion at the Society of the Four Arts.

Exhibition tour dates:


V&A curator Jane Pritchard gives lecture on Diaghilev exhibition in discussion with Lynn Garafola

December 9, 2010

Lynn Garafola, Jane Pritchard and Diana Quasha

On December 9th, 2010 the American Friends of the Victoria and Albert Museum hosted a lecture on Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929. The lecture was given by Jane Pritchard, co-curator of the V&A exhibition, in discussion with Lynn Garafola, Professor of Dance History at Barnard College. The lecture was presented in collaboration with the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and was followed by a reception.

The exhibition explores the world of the influential artistic Serge Diaghilev and the most exciting dance company of the 20th century, the Ballets Russes. The exhibition closed recently at the V&A in London and is now touring internationally.

Exhibition tour dates:


The Golden Age of Couture opens at the Frist

June 18, 2010

Sarah Darling, Julie Roberts, Lee Ann Womack, Holly and Hilary Williams.
Photo courtesy Aaron Crissler.

The V&A exhibition The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957 opened at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville on June 18th. A Member Preview was held on June 17th and was widely attended.

The exhibition highlights part of the V&A's magnificent clothing collection and explores the rebirth of high fashion in Europe after World War II.


V&A curator Anna Jackson gives lecture on Maharaja at the Asia Society

May 11, 2010

Photo courtesy Jonathon Ziegler / patrickmcmullan.com

On May 11th, the American Friends of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Asia Society hosted a lecture by Anna Jackson, Deputy Keeper of the Asian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and lead curator of the exhibition Maharaja: the Splendour of India's Royal Courts, on which the lecture was based.

The exhibition, which celebrates the extraordinarily rich culture of India's kings, closed recently at the V&A to begin its tour of North America. Ms. Jackson presented a stimulating lecture on the role that the Indian kings played in the political, social and cultural history of the sub-continent to over 130 attentive listeners.

A reception was held after the lecture and guests were serenaded by a sitar player accompanied by the tabla.

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