Alumna, also known as Jennifer Allen (Fine Art, 1998), reflects on the artist’s influence on her own work
Quilla Constance #QC Quilla Constance in her #QC exhibition from 2016

In celebration of Black History Month, the National Trust will be displaying a painting by celebrated African-American artist Richmond Barthé for the first time. Seated Man in a Landscape was only attributed to Barthé recently, after Alice Rylance-Watson, Assistant National Curator at the National Trust, noticed that the signature had been incorrectly transcribed.

Subsequent research confirmed not only that the painting was a rare remaining oil painting by Barthé, but also the identity of the sitter, Lucian Levers.

To accompany the exhibition, The National Trust has invited modern artists from the black community to share how they have been inspired by Barthé’s work. St John’s alumna Quilla Constance (QC) is among the artists featured in a new video, which has been produced by Media Worx and is narrated by BBC Radio 2’s Trevor Nelson.

QC is an interdisciplinary artist who studied Fine Art at St John’s before completing her MFA in Visual Arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Her work spans live performances, paintings, costumes, photographs, and music videos, staged in varied contexts, from art galleries to music clubs. In the video produced by the National Trust, QC reflects on how Barthé influenced her own artistic practice.

Seated Man in a Landscape will be on display at Belton House from 6 October in celebration of Black History Month. The accompanying video will be screened at Belton House, and subsequently available to stream on The National Trust website.

You can find out more about QC here, and about Seated Man in a Landscape here.