Court on Canvas Tennis in Art

by Sumner, Ann; McConkey, Kenneth; Holland, Robert; Elks, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780856677069
• ISBN10: 085667706X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-15
• Publisher: Philip Wilson Publishers

Summary

Tennis in Art celebrates the origins of the game in Birmingham and explores the ways in which tennis has inspired artists from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. The book guides us from the origins of the game as a genteel pastime for the upper classes, through its codification as a sport, to the international high-earning power game of today. It illustrates the changes in fashion associated with the sport and the important role tennis played in the emancipation of women in the early part of the twentieth century. The book contains a survey of images of tennis in art from the 1870s onwards, and detailed examinations of the works are placed in a wider social, historical and art historical context.

Author Biography

Ann Sumner has held curatorial positions at the National Portrait Gallery, London; Holburne Museum, Bath; and Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, and was Keeper at Dulwich Picture Gallery. She spent seven years as Head of Fine Art at National Museum Wales before joining the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, as Director and Professor of Fine Arts and Curatorial Practice in 2007.