Talk: Why is the Mona Lisa the World’s Most Famous Picture? with Richard Kay

In partnership with Lawrences Auctioneers

Leonardo’s Mona Lisa may claim to be the most famous image in Western Art. 98% of all the visitors to the Louvre go to see it: over 6,000,000 people every year. In this talk, Richard Kay assesses the origins of the picture and its history, its allure in popular culture and he considers two very different reasons why Leonardo’s masterpiece has now acquired a truly untouchable degree of fame 500 years after it was painted.

Following a degree in the History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, Richard began his career at Sothebys in 1987. He worked in their salerooms in Chester, Sussex and London for nearly nine years, focusing on British and European pictures and prints. Richard joined Lawrences in 1999, having previously been an Associate Director at Phillips Auctioneers where he oversaw picture sales and valuations for the firm in Central Southern England.

Since joining Lawrences, Richard has achieved great successes with works by artists as varied as John Atkinson Grimshaw, Winifred Nicholson (for whom Lawrences held the world record auction price for almost a decade), William Heath Robinson, Paul Sandby and Joseph Farquharson. He carefully researched an oil painting by John William Godward that was bought for £380,000.

Richard is a regular lecturer, devising talks for study days at Lawrences on themes as varied as Mona Lisa and Minimalism and also speaking to local art groups, Somerset County Museum, NADFAS and Sothebys Institute of Art amongst many others. He was a regular contributor to Antique Collecting magazine for over 20 years.

£10 (includes a complementary tea or coffee)