Blog

"As a skilled botanical illustrator, Anna was part of a largely invisible community of women whose significant contributions to scientific advancement have gone mostly unnoticed." By Margie MacKinnon Originally published in RESTORATION CONVERSATIONS magazine SPRING/SUMMER, Issue 9 Anna Atkins, Carix (America), c. 1848-1853, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester, New York In 1842, scientist John Herschel coined the term ‘cyanotype’ to d

Until July 2026, the retrospective exhibition Ruth Orkin: The Illusion of Time is on show in Bologna’s Palazzo Pallavicini, following major European exhibitions over the last five years, in France, Spain, Portugal, Hungary and several other stops in Italy. By Linda Falcone Originally published in RESTORATION CONVERSATIONS magazine ISSUE 9 SPRING/ SUMMER 2026 Ruth Orkin, Jinx and Justin in MG, Florence, Italy, 1951, courtesy of © Ruth Orkin Photo Archive This interview begins

Relative Ties, the current exhibition at the Women’s Art Collection (WAC) at Murray Edwards College in Cambridge, explores the work of four women of the Nicholson family. By Margie MacKinnon Originally published in RESTORATION CONVERSATIONS magazine SPRING/SUMMER, Issue 9 EQ Nicholson, Runner Bean, c. 1950, wallpaper, © Estate of EQ Nicholson, private collection Relative Ties, the current exhibition at the Women’s Art Collection (WAC) at Murray Edwards College in Cambridge, e

Infranco and Gulacsy see art as a quest By Linda Falcone Originally published in RESTORATION CONVERSATIONS magazine Spring/Summer 2026 - Issue 9 On mornings at Il Palmerino, as soon as the weather improves, many a landscape artist from various corners of the globe, come to capture its gardens, immortalised on page by author Vernon Lee, and on canvas by painter Lola Costa, successive owners of the Tuscan estate, over the course of 115 years between them. In Autumn, still-lif

Renaissance Women: From d’Este to Dunant By Eleanor Walker Originally published in RESTORATION CONVERSATIONS magazine Spring/Summer 2026 - Issue 9 Renowned British author Sarah Dunant is known for her writing featuring strong, independent women in important Renaissance centres. Rubens (after Titian), Isabella in Red, c. 1605, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna. Source: Wikipedia From In the Company of the Courtesan, and Sacred Hearts, to In the Name of the Family and The Birth o

Exhibitions, performances, lectures and a community art event on Elena Salvini Pierallini's book art, in venues with a history for women's achievement Throughout her more than sixty-year career, Tuscan artist Elena Salvini Pierallini (1934–2024) produced an eclectic oeuvre largely comprised of embroidery, photography and book art. Monographic and pop-up exhibitions featuring the artist’s work are planned in several Florentine venues this summer, in addition to dance performa