Find Your Story Here: Vanessa Bell’s “Self-Portrait”
Join Victoria Hepburn in exploring Vanessa Bell’s self-portrait and how its visual complexities comprise a multifaceted statement of personal and artistic identity. The talk features readings by Daniel Zhang, Yale 2026, of excerpts from Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse and letters between sisters Woolf and Bell.
About this program
In celebration of Women’s History Month, join us for a series of conversations that explore works in the exhibition Going Modern: British Art, 1900–1960 that focus on the contributions of women to Britain’s modern art movement. Each talk focuses on a single work and is paired with a poetry reading or literary excerpt to complement the object in a unique way.
About Victoria Hepburn
Victoria Hepburn is Project Specialist in the Publications department at the YCBA. Her research focuses on British art of the mid-nineteenth century, especially the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and their associates. She supported the reinstallation of the YCBA’s permanent collection in 2025 as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Paintings and Sculpture. In 2019, she cocurated the YCBA exhibition Unto This Last: Two Hundred Years of John Ruskin.
Find Your Story Here
British art is expansive and inclusive. Find yourself in our collections through these intimate talks in our galleries.
