QAG Brisbane - 'Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado'

Last week I went on a little interstate excursion to QAG to view 'Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado'. It was a fantastic exhibition, full of beautiful paintings from the Prado Gallery in Spain. The exhibition featured portraits of royalty, saints, religious icons, landscapes and still lifes. I especially liked the portraits of female royals... a majority of their eyes were so captivating in conveying a sense of complete apathy and lack of interest in being painted. Almost like they were saying 'why do I have to be here? There are so many other things I need to be doing'.

The exhibition is very inclusive. Besides a very good layout, the accompanying programs/ activities were the best I have ever seen at an Australian gallery. As a teacher, one of my favourites was the 10m table of fresh fruit and veg, arranged to inspire a Spanish still life drawing. Exhibition ticket holders were invited to sit down and draw their own composition either with pencil and paper or using one of the provided ipads (and drawings could be sent to yourself!). This is an amazing activity for audience members of all ages and knowledge/ ability levels to further engage with works/ subject matter of the exhibition... also to hook them into making a return visit to the gallery! The Spanish tapas and sangria bar was also a hit!

I think it is great to see galleries providing these fantastic public programs and activities to accompany their blockbuster exhibitions. It is something that I have taken back to the gallery which I am interning in, as well as my school. What an experience!