Ms Alexandra Loske

Biography

Alexandra Loske is an art historian and freelance writer and translator with a particular interest in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century European art and architecture. She was born and grew up in Germany and came to England in 1997, where her first job was as a cataloguer and IT manager at the specialist art booksellers Shipleys in London's Charing Cross Road. She has been working at the University of Sussex since 1999. She is the managing editor of the Frogmore Press, which was founded in 1983 and publishes the literary journal The Frogmore Papers and other collections.

Alexandra obtained an M.A. in Linguistics and English Literature from Humboldt University Berlin in 1997 and ten years later added an M.A. in Art History from the University of Sussex. She then received an AHRC funded D.Phil scholarship. Her research is based at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, where she also regularly gives guided tours and talks.

In 2011/12 she curated the exhibition Robert Goff - An Etcher in the Wake of Whistler at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery.

In April 2012 Alexandra was elected on to the committee of the Regency Society of Brighton and Hove.

In 2012 Alexandra curated an exhibition about the life and work of the composer Frederick Delius, which was installed for the 2012 Proms season at the Royal Albert Hall in London. 

In 2013 she will be curating an exhibition on colour and colour theory in the 18th and 19th century, with specific reference to the interior design scheme of the Royal Pavilion. The exhibition will be at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. Regency Colour and Beyond 1785 - 1835.

Role

Alexandra Loske joined the team of associate tutors in the department of Art History in November 2008 and has since been teaching the modules Visual Cultures II and Art on Site and contributed to the lecture courses Communicating Art, Stories of Art and Exhibition Studies.

Alexandra was the Resources Coordinator and Language Learning Advisor of the Language Learning Centre from 2001 until 2011.

Qualifications

In January 2008 Alexandra embarked on an AHRC-funded part time D. Phil on the colour scheme of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton (Collaborative Scholarship, University of Sussex and The Royal Pavilion).

M.A. in Art History (distinction), University of Sussex (2007)

M.A. in English Literature, Linguistics and Medieval Studies, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (1997)

Activities

Conference papers and lectures:

2013:

27 June 2013: Light and colour from the East? Curator's talk  as part of the Regency Colour and Beyond exhibition at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton

3 April 2013:  The Regency Society John Small lecture: Regency colour and Colour Theory. The Royal Pavilion, Brighton

22 February 2013: “Boldly carved, silvered and tinted…”: The Use of Silver As Architectural Colour in the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. Global Perspectives on Colour Symposium, Royal College of Art, London

2012:

15 November 2012: Regency Colour and Chinoiserie in the Royal Pavilion. Petworth House, The National Trust.

13 October 2012: Regency Colour and Chinoiserie in the Royal Pavilion. The Regency Society Weekend, Brighton, 12-14 October 2012.

13 July 2012: Enlightened Romanticism: Colour theory in the age of Moses Harris, Goethe and George Field. Progress in Colour Studies 2012, University of Glasgow

30 June 2012: Midwifery and Mourning in Regency Britain. Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton 

21 June 2012: Princess Charlotte: Daughter of England. Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton 

7 June 2012: Princess Charlotte - The Forgotten Princess. Lunchtime lecture at the National Portrait Gallery, London

1 March 2012: Robert Goff - An Etcher in the Wake of Whistler. Lecture to the Royal Pavilion Foundation, Brighton, The Royal Pavilion

2011:

23 November 2011: Mary Gartside: A Rare Example of a Female Colour Theorist in Early 19th c. England. Work in progress seminar, Department of Art History, University of Sussex

13 October 2011: Colour Theory in the Age of Goethe. Lecture, Institute of Physics, University of Durham

16 September 2011: George IV and his Giraffe - A Tale of Politics, Exoticism and Science. Fundraising lecture, St Michael's and All Angels, Brighton. 

9 July 2011: Dress à la turque in the work of two eighteenth century European painters: Angelika Kauffman (1741-1807) and Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702-1789) Invitation to present a paper at the Costume Society Symposium, Eastbourne 

31 May 2011: Colour Theory Before Maxwell. Lecture, King's College London, Anatomy Theatre and Museum

22 March 2011: George IV and his Giraffe - A Tale of Politics, Exoticism and Science. Lecture to the Friends and Patrons of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, The Old Courthouse

15 March 2011:  Byron and the Prince Regent - Two Romantic Georges. The Byron Society, The Naval Club, London

Other lectures throughout the academic year, Department of Art History, University of Sussex:

• The Royal Pavilion, Brighton as exhibition space
• Where do we encounter exhibitions?
• The Fauvists
• The German Expressionist movement
• Ernst-Ludwig Kirchner
• Barbara Hepworth
• Angelica Kauffman
• The History of the Royal Academy

 April 2009 and 2010: Sites of Art: The Royal Pavilion, Brighton -  Department of Art History, University of Sussex.

15 February 2010: Communicating Art: Angelica Kauffman - Department of Art History, University of Sussex.

25 November 2009: Regency Colour Theory - Lecture to the Friends and Patrons of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, The Old Courthouse

11 June 2009: Mary Gartside: A Rare Example of a Female Colour Theorist in the Early Nineteenth Century. Given at Transitions: An Interdisciplinary Conference. Pelham House, Lewes http://transitions2009.wordpress.com/

Annually since 2001: The History of Brighton: From Fishing Village to University City; The History of Bath; London through the Ages - Lectures for international students and teachers at the Sussex Language Institute, University of Sussex.

Editorial work and writing projects:

Alexandra is the Managing Editor of The Frogmore Press. She oversees its web presence, writes book reviews for the bi-annual literary magazine The Frogmore Papers and edits the Frogmore Press news blog. in May 2012 she edited and published Languages of Colour, an anthology of critical writing, poetry and artwork on the theme of colour and colour theory.

2011: Writing of the tour script for the Dress for Excess - Fashion in Regency England exhibition the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. 

2010/11: Writing of the tour scripts for the team of guides at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton.  

Other training and experience:

29 November 2011 - 29 April 2012:  Curator of exhibition Robert Goff - An Etcher in the Wake of Whistler at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

1 - 19 July 2011: The Attingham Trust Summer School 2011

September 2009: Royal Collection Studies course (The Attingham Trust). Established in 1996, Royal Collection Studies is an annual course organised on behalf of the Royal Collection Trust by the Attingham Trust, which has run successful summer schools since 1952. Based near Windsor, it studies the patronage and collecting of the Kings and Queens of England from the 15th century onwards. The teaching includes lectures and tutorials, as well as visits to both the occupied and unoccupied palaces in and around London.

Art History

Current research project: 

The Decorative Scheme of the Royal Pavilion: George IV's design ideas in the context of European Orientalism and colour theory, 1765 - 1845.

This DPhil aims to investigate the connection between the decorative scheme of the Royal Pavilion and manifestations of early 19^th century Orientalism in the European arts. I am looking at the transition from the neo-classical style of the Marine Pavilion to the later, strongly coloured oriental designs of the Royal Pavilion, and investigate possible European sources of influence. The project considers Orientalism in the context of Goethe's Theory of Colours (Zur Farbenlehre) from 1810 and other contemporary colour theories.

By focusing on European influences and comparing the design and colour ideas of George IV and colour theorists of the time, my project investigates cultural, socio-historical and individual motivations for the George's design decisions. In so doing, I am demonstrating the increasing importance of wider global networks during this period and their implication in the arts.

Her research is supervised by Meaghan Clarke (University of Sussex) and David Beevers (The Royal Pavilion, Brighton)

Other research interests:

Costume in portraiture; historic interiors; the work of Angelica Kauffman; Brighton's architectural history; German Expressionism; colour theory and Romanticism; colour theory and abstract art; mid-20th century architecture, ceramics and decorative arts.

Linguistics

Bilingualism, language development and acquisition, language origin.

Department of Art History:

• Visual Cultures II (Spring and Summer term 2009 ) - Orientalism: European interpretations of the East
• Visual Cultures II (Spring and Summer term 2010) - Orientalism: European interpretations of the East
• Art on Site (Spring and Summer terms 2011)
• Art on Site (Spring and Summer terms 2012)
• Individual lectures for Communicating Art, Exhibition Studies and Stories of Art

International Summer School:

• The London Look (Summer 2012)

Sussex Centre for Language Studies:

Lectures and talks

• The History of Brighton and Hove
• London through the Ages
• Angelica Kauffman - A European artist in 18th century England
• The History of the Royal Pavilion
• George IV and his Giraffe: A Tale of Politics, Exoticism and Science
• Languages of Colour - Poetry, Linguistics and Science

Student Consultation

Office hour for the academic year 2012/2013:

Tuesdays 10-11 a.m. in Arts A 180, or by arrangement.

Loske, Alexandra, Markham, David J and Bacon , Kevin M, eds. (2012) Languages of Colour. The Frogmore Press, Lewes. ISBN 9780957068803

Loske, Alexandra (2012) Enlightened Romanticism: Mary Gartside's colour theory in the age of Moses Harris, Goethe and George Field. In: Progress in Colour Studies Conference 2012, 10-13th July, University of Glasgow.

Loske, Alexandra (2010) Mary Gartside: A female colour theorist in Georgian England. Journal of Art History and Museum Studies, 14. pp. 17-30. ISSN 2041-1987

Loske, Alexandra (2007) Angelica Kauffman's Portrait of a Woman; Oriental or occidental otherness? Brighton, The Royal Pavilion, Libraries & Museums Review, 2007 (1).

Loske, Alexandra Robert Goff: An Etcher in the Wake of Whistler. [Show/Exhibition]