The landmark year-long online seminar series, Observations, examined the contributions of women to art and design history. Named after English artist Mary Beale’s 1633 text Observations by MB, which is widely recognised as the first manuscript on painting written by a woman artist, the NGV-curated series featured leading historians, writers and curators from around the world. Speakers explored the work of some of the most significant women in art and design; and the contexts, frameworks and networks that both supported and challenged their respective practices. At the centre of the series was the NGV’s milestone acquisition of Mystic marriage of St Catherine (1574-1577) by Italian artist Lavinia Fontana, who is regarded as the first professional woman painter in Western art history. Now the oldest painting by a named woman artist in the NGV Collection, Mystic marriage of St Catherine is the only work by Fontana in an Australian institution.
The Observations program was offered as four online seminar streams delivered throughout 2022.