KES Artists Enjoy a Private Viewing at The Holburne Museum

In March, our Year 12 A Level artists and Special Talent pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9 had the exciting opportunity to visit the newly opened The Tudors: Passion, Power & Politics exhibition at The Holburne Museum. As part of the partnership agreement between the Museum and King Edward’s, the gallery kindly opened its doors early to allow us a private viewing of the exhibition.  We were also greeted by the show’s curator and given a fascinating introductory talk about the paintings on display.  

Pupils were then encouraged to explore the exhibition and make a series of drawings, with particular focus on the detail and embellishment of the sitters’ clothes. Once initial sketches had been made, we then used the Museum’s learning space to make large scale portraits. Pupils worked in groups, and taking inspiration from the paintings, they drew out and decorated their portraits with a range of materials and techniques, including collage, pen and wash and wax resist. The mixed-media outcomes were then mounted on board and ‘assembled’ to create the final image.  

The pupils thoroughly enjoyed looking around the exhibition and making drawings and it was wonderful to see the different year groups work together so collaboratively. We didn’t quite manage to finish the work whilst at the Holburne, but pupils came back to complete elements of their design in the following weeks and have produced some bold, colourful and detailed images. This was definitely a new and very rewarding experience for all involved.  

Mr Hume-Smith, Head of Art and Photography 

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