Conferences and symposia

This event aligns with the National Gallery’s broader commitment to advancing conversations in art history, often intersecting with the Gallery’s exhibitions and research initiatives. Topics span a wide spectrum, from women artists, models and copyists to artists-in-residence, trustees, employees and donors. Presentations take diverse forms, including talks, films, interviews and discussion panels, featuring a combination of Gallery staff and external experts.

These research events form part of the Women and the Arts Forum’s annual programme, generously supported by Professor Diane Apostolos-Cappadona in honour of her mother, Stacia Apostolos.

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Women and the Arts Forum Conference 2025: Hidden Histories of the Museum: Women Transforming Art Collections

The conference, ‘Hidden Histories of the Museum’, sought to illuminate the often-overlooked contributions of women who have played critical roles in shaping the histories, legacies and collections of public museums and galleries specialising in pre-1900 art.

Women and the Arts Forum Conference 2024: Widening the Narrative

As part of the National Gallery’s bicentenary celebrations, the 2024 conference focused on ‘Widening the Narrative’ by highlighting the contributions of women artists, copyists, dealers and artists-in-residence, aiming to rethink dialogues and curation around women in art history.

The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance: Conference 2023

Held in association with an exhibition of the same name, this international conference examined how Quinten Massys and his contemporaries pioneered secular, humorous painting in the early sixteenth century, highlighting artistic exchanges between Italy and the Netherlands and their impact on representations of women.

Women and the Arts Forum Conference 2022: Women Artists and the National Gallery

The inaugural conference explored the myriad ways in which women, past and present, have engaged with the arts, featuring cutting-edge research, artist interviews and film premieres.