Ann Hassan, 'After, "Portrait of Susanna Lunden (?) ('Le Chapeau de Paille')" - Rubens.
© The National Gallery, London.

After the Masters: A SMart exhibition by socially marginalised artists

10 - 28 April 2006
The Space (Education Centre)
Admission free

This exhibition featured the work of thirteen artists who have experienced difficulties of homelessness or social exclusion.

'After the Masters' was the result of a ten-year long collaboration between the National Gallery and the SMart Network, a charity dedicated to changing the lives of homeless and socially marginalised people through the arts.

Each of the art works in this exhibition had been inspired in some way by the Gallery's collection of Old Master paintings.

For over a decade, the SMart artists had been visiting the Gallery and had attended special workshops held in its Education Centre. The resulting twenty-five works in this remarkable exhibition represented each of their personal responses to the Gallery's collection.

Gallery Director Charles Saumarez Smith has been an enthusiastic supporter of SMart:

'It is a source of great pride to all of us here that we house one of the world's great collections, to which admission is absolutely free, and we welcome everyone. It is very rewarding to see people, whose lives have been incredibly difficult, finding inspiration in the Gallery and making their own wonderful and imaginative works after visiting us. We are delighted to be playing host to this exciting exhibition.'

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