From the Brontë Parsonage:
Last opportunity to see rare Emily portrait as she bids farewell to Brontë Museum after three month loan
The Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth will be sad to see the return of the rare and iconic portrait of Emily Brontë painted by her brother Branwell and on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in London.
The famous portrait has been on display at the museum as part of the 2008 exhibition ‘No Coward Soul’ celebrating the life and work of Emily Brontë. After spending three months in Haworth, where the portrait was originally painted, Emily is due to return to her permanent London location on October 7th 2008.
Only two portraits of Emily Brontë are known to have survived, both have been painted by her brother Branwell and are owned by The National Portrait Gallery. Due to the rare nature, poor condition and significance of these pictures, they very seldom leave the capital city. However, this summer The Brontë Parsonage Museum have been fortunate enough to have been able to display one of these Emily portraits.
Objects owned by Emily, her manuscripts and her artwork are extremely rare. Unlike her sister Charlotte, she had not achieved literary fame in her own lifetime; therefore objects belonging to her were rarely saved. The Brontë Parsonage Museum houses the largest collection of Emily Brontë artefacts in the world and the museum has attracted thousands of visitors from across the globe to the 2008 exhibition which includes virtually their entire collection of Emily related objects;
“We heard about the 2008 Emily exhibition at the museum and decided to make a trip to Haworth from Aberdeen, Scotland. Emily is a particular favourite of mine and when we arrived we were truly moved by her objects on display. To be able to see her artwork, her handwriting and her own gloves made our pilgrimage to Haworth very special indeed. Our trip was made a trip of a lifetime by being able to see the portrait of Emily by her brother Branwell- stunning to look at yet not what we expected at all. We might never see the mysterious portrait again and I am glad we made the effort to travel down to Haworth”
S. Derwent, Aberdeen
The next two weeks will be the last chance for visitors to view the portrait outside of London. The ‘No Coward Soul’ exhibition runs to the end of the year.
Do you really need a better excuse to make the trip?
Categories: Art-Exhibitions, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Emily Brontë
From the Brontë Parsonage: 
I am going to see it before it leaves.
ReplyDeleteAlso, i just wanted to let you know, that if you recall someone was going send me the script to the Wuthering Heights movie that John Maybury was going to direct. Well, i've recieved the script and read it. To be honest, i think it's poor. It's awful in fact.
The start is very interestin. It begins with the younger Catherine arriving at Wuthering Heights. She is then locked in a room and it is her who encounters Cathy's ghost rather than Lockwood. It's preety much all over the place. Cathy is very weak in it. Heathcliff is not Heathcliff. He's soppier than Larry Oliviers Heathcliff. I agree with John Maybury, the script needs to be changed!!! I just hope Peter Bowker has done a better job. If anyone has questions about the script, i'll be happy to answer them.
Great for you - it's a rare treat to see the portrait at 'home'.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the script. We would love to hear more, and we don't have a way to get in touch with you off-comments. Could you write to our email address (bronteblog AT gmail DOT com)?