NEWS ABOUT THE WALPOLE SOCIETY

Volume 87 of the Walpole Society (Volume LXXXVII), which is currently in preparation, comprises a catalogue raisonné of works by the Irish-born portraitist Charles Jervas (1675–1739) compiled by Caroline Pegum of the Office of Public Works of Ireland. A successful portraitist, picture dealer, and polyglot, who spent several years in Italy and translated Cervantes’ Don Quixote from Spanish (the translation remains in print), Jervas’s talents were prodigious. During his lifet

The 2026 Berger Prize longlist was announced last night, 8 July, by Dr Jonny Yarker, Chair of the Berger Prize judging panel, at an event at the Warburg Institute. We are delighted to share the fifteen shortlisted titles: Kate Anderson, Catriona Murray, Jemma Field, Anna Groundwater, Karen Hearn, Liz Louis Art & Court of James VI & I National Galleries Scotland Christine Casey Architecture and Artifice: The Crafted Surface in Eighteenth-Century Building Practice Paul Mellon

The official podcast of the Berger Prize, British Art Matters is back for a third season! In the first episode of this series, Dr Christina Faraday meets Dr William Aslet who recently succeeded Dr Richard Stephens as Editor of the Walpole Society’s Annual Volume. Dr Aslet is an architectural historian who works on early modern Britain and Europe. Listen on the Walpole Society website, on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts to hear Christina and William discuss his plans and aspirati

We are delighted to announce that Anthony Geraghty, Professor of History of Art at the University of York, has joined the jury for the 2026 Berger Prize. Anthony Geraghty is Professor of the History of Art at the University of York. He is an architectural historian, with a specialist interest in Sir Christopher Wren and the English baroque. He has published widely in this area, including a catalogue of the Wren drawings at All Souls College Oxford (Lund Humphries, 2007). His

Joseph Wright of Derby, The Corinthian Maid, 1782-4. Oil on canvas, 106.3 x 130.8 cm. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. To coincide with the National Gallery’s acclaimed exhibition, Wright of Derby: From the Shadows , this month we are giving subscribers free access to Elizabeth Baker’s 2009 article, ‘Documents Relating to Joseph Wright “Of Derby” (1734-97)’. The article features a number of important documents relating to Wright’s life, including his account book, let

To coincide with the recent Turner 250 Conference, which was held at the Tate Gallery last month to mark JMW Turner’s bicentenary, we are making an article from our archives freely available to newsletter subscribers. Appearing in only the third issue of the Volume of the Walpole Society , this article by Alexander Finberg on Turner’s South Wales Sketchbook, part of the Turner Bequest now in the Tate , is closely bound up with the Walpole Society’s foundation. It was when ca

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2025 Berger Prize is Eleonora Pistis, for her book Architecture of Knowledge: Hawksmoor and Oxford (Brepols, 2024). Dr Pistis will be awarded £5,000 through the generosity of the Berger Collection Educational Trust. and each of the shortlisted authors will be awarded £500. The winner was announced by Tim Knox, Director of the Royal Collection, at a reception at the Warburg Institute on 12 November. Jonny Yarker, the chairm

The Walpole Society is delighted to present the shortlist for the 2025 Berger Prize. The leading book prize for art history, the Berger...

The longlist for the 2025 Berger Prize was announced at the Walpole Society Summer Party on 9 July 2025, held at the Warburg Institute....