Laura-Jane Foley

Last updated

Laura-Jane Foley
Born
London, England
Education Homerton College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Oxford (MSt)
Kingston University (PhD)
Occupation(s)Playwright, art historian, journalist
Children1

Laura-Jane Foley is a British playwright and art historian. [1] Her play An Evening with Lucian Freud played at the Leicester Square Theatre in 2015. [2] She is a former lecturer at the University of Cambridge in History of Art and Creative Writing. [3]

Contents

Education and early career

Foley read History of Art at Homerton College, Cambridge, where she was awarded the Westall Prize. [4] She also edited Varsity , the university newspaper. [5] Foley was a choral scholar and appeared on the television programme Faking It during her second year, where she was transformed from choir girl to rock chick. [6] She then undertook an MSt in History of Art at Trinity College, Oxford. [7] She was awarded her PhD by Kingston University for a thesis entitled "Lucian Freud Portraits: Curatorial Ekphrasis in Contemporary British Poetic Practice". [8]

Writing and academic career

Foley has lectured at Bristol University and Kingston University. [9] [10] She currently lectures in History of Art and Creative Writing at Cambridge University. [3] [11]

As a journalist, Foley has written for The Independent , TES , [12] The Art Newspaper [13] and The Liberal . From 2008 to 2010, she edited Politick! a political magazine for people aged 18 to 35. [14] [15]

In 2009, Foley curated and edited The Butterfly Book, a charity art book which included contributions from Tony Blair, Kate Winslet, Grayson Perry, and others, in aid of leukaemia research. [16] She also contributed to Cambridge University – An 800th Anniversary Portrait (2009), The Old Parsonage (2010), Poetry from Art (2011), and The Echoing Gallery (2013). [17]

In 2015, Foley's play An Evening with Lucian Freud appeared at the Leicester Square Theatre in the West End. The one woman play with video cameos starred Cressida Bonas, Alastair Stewart and Maureen Lipman. The play was based on Foley's own experience with Lucian Freud after she rejected an offer to become his muse. [18] Directed by Ella Marchment, the play received national and international press attention.

In 2016, Foley collaborated with composer Stephen Barlow for a new opera composition, called 'She sings it differently'. It premiered at the National Portrait Gallery on 24 June 2016. [19]

Foley mounted the exhibition 'The Shakespeareans' at The Ivy in August 2016. It featured Joss Ackland and Jonathan Pryce. [20]

In 2016 Foley was shortlisted for an Aviva Women of the Future Award in the Arts and Culture category. [21]

In 2018 Foley released her album 'Songs for My Daughter' with proceeds going to the Lullaby Trust. [22]

Foley hosts a podcast entitled 'My Favourite Work of Art'. [23]

Personal life

Foley has a daughter with lyricist Tim Rice born in October 2016. [24]

Selected works

Theatre

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucian Freud</span> British painter and engraver (1922-2011)

Lucian Michael Freud was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewish architect Ernst L. Freud and the grandson of Sigmund Freud. Freud got his first name "Lucian" from his mother in memory of the ancient writer Lucian of Samosata. His family moved to England in 1933, when he was 10 years old, to escape the rise of Nazism. He became a British naturalized citizen in 1939. From 1942 to 1943 he attended Goldsmiths' College, London. He served at sea with the British Merchant Navy during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homerton College, Cambridge</span> College of the University of Cambridge

Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the college moved from Homerton High Street, Hackney, London, to Cambridge. Homerton was admitted as an "Approved Society" of the university in 1976, and received its Royal charter in 2010, affirming its status as a full college of the university. The college celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2018.

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<i>Portrait of Kitty</i> Painting by Lucian Freud

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<i>Head on a Green Sofa</i> Painting by Lucian Freud

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An Evening with Lucian Freud is a 2015 play written by Laura-Jane Foley. It is a one-woman show with video cameos based on a real life encounter the playwright had with the artist Lucian Freud. The play made its world premiere on 19 May 2015 at the West End's Leicester Square Theatre where it ran until 6 June 2015.

William Feaver is a British art critic, curator, artist and lecturer. From 1975–1998 he was the chief art critic of the Observer, and from 1994 a visiting professor at Nottingham Trent University. His book The Pitmen Painters inspired the play of the same name by Lee Hall.

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The Brigadier is a 2004 oil on canvas painting by the British artist Lucian Freud (1922–2011). It is a larger than life seven foot high portrait of Andrew Parker Bowles. In 2015 the work sold at auction at Christie's in New York City for $34.89 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitty Garman</span> English artist

Kathleen Eleonora "Kitty" Garman, later Kitty Epstein and Kitty Godley, was a British artist and muse. She was a model for her father Jacob Epstein, her first husband Lucian Freud, and Andrew Tift. In 2004 she had her own show at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ella Marchment</span> British opera director

Ella Marchment is a British opera director, artistic director, and an associate professor. She is a co-founder of the campaign charity SWAP'ra, Supporting Women and Parents in Opera, and the artistic director of Opera Festival of Chicago, and Opera in the Rock, Arkansas. She previously founded the opera company Helios Collective. She has directed the International Opera Awards since 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Londoner's Diary: Liz Kendall would be a breath of fresh air for". Evening Standard. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Editorial Staff (22 April 2015). "Cressida Bonas stars in one-woman play about Lucian Freud". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 "University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education - University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education" . Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Homerton alumna pens West End play - Homerton College". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Laura-Jane Foley: An Interview – [smiths]". Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Faking It". Channel 4. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ Foley, Laura-Jane Maria (April 2013). Lucian Freud portraits: curatorial ekphrasis in contemporary British poetic practice - Research Repository (phd). Kingston University. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Bristol University - Department of History of Art - Research Seminars Spring/Summer 2007" . Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "An evening with playwright Laura Jane Foley, Kingston University alumna". 11 November 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Course - Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing I - University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "Laura-Jane Foley". TES. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "All roads lead to Camden as Auerbach comes to town". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "New political magazine hopes to get young people voting". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "BBC NEWS - Programmes - Politics Show - Biting the bullet train". 30 October 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "Tony Blair and Kate Winslet contribute to butterfly book". Telegraph.co.uk. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  17. ↑ "Laura-Jane Foley" . Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Harry's ex to star in Lucian Freud play - The Sunday Times". The Sunday Times . Archived from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Helios Collective | Award-Winning Opera Company". Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  20. ↑ "Laura-Jane Foley on splitting from Sir Tim Rice and her new exhibition". 15 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "2016 Women of the Future Awards shortlist announced". 27 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "Families Hampshire North Magazine Jan/Feb 2019". Issuu. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  23. ↑ "My Favourite Work of Art on acast". acast. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  24. ↑ Finnigan, Lexi (14 May 2016). "Tim Rice splits from lover less than half his age, who is having his baby". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
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