Did you ever wonder how we got here, and how sometimes tiny pieces of history make up, and have shaped our lives?
Or realised how every day, all of us are making history?
Join me, Sarah Dowd, in exploring what has happened in the everyday lives of people for the better, or at least the experiences that have just make us laugh and say…
This is… History. For F***’s Sake, the podcast that explores untold stories that make a difference.
When the world seemingly shut down for almost two years, what were we doing? We were creating art, making history and crying out of human contact. We were craving our culture.
I’m your host, Sarah Dowd, and I have worked on over 200 history, heritage and arts projects in the last 20 years across the world, everywhere from the Imperial War Museum in London to exploring how we put a fleet of ships in the sky, or bringing wrecks back from Honolulu.
I was recently diagnosed with ADHD which has brought a whole new layer of thinking about creativity and how we get people – ALL PEOPLE – really engaged with our shared history and culture.
Stories. Art. Film. Books. Ships. Music. Museums. People. Joy. Experiences. Humour. Humanity.
Because it’s all History, For F***’s Sake.
Find out more at historyffs.com
How do a BBC fever dream, Victorian sex scandals, and a secret brotherhood of rebellious artists rewrite what we think we know about the past? In this provocative episode of History for F**k’s Sake host Sarah Dowd is joined by Dr. Alison Smith, Director of Collections and Research at the Wallace Collection, and one of the UK’s leading voices on 19th-century British art and the Victorian nude.
Together, they discuss Ken Russell’s wild 1967 film Dante’s Inferno to interrogate the pop-culture myth of the Pre-Raphaelites and pull back the curtain on the revolution these artists launched in the age of upheaval. Exploring how 1848 upended ideas about morality, class, the body, and who gets to tell the stories of beauty and power.
Why did the female nude become a political battleground on canvas? Why are we still haunted by Victorian debates over agency and control? And can we ever escape the straitjackets of archetype and respectability whether in art galleries or on TikTok?
If you’ve ever wondered why history is never just old news, this is essential listening.
Here are the highlights:
00:00 Intro: Ken Russell’s Dante’s Inferno, and the Pre-Raphaelite myth
01:08 Dr. Alison Smith, her journey through Britain’s top museums and falling for Pre-Raphaelite art
02:37 Why Dante’s Inferno is so wild, silly, and unsettling
05:38 Victorian art, sexuality, and why the 1960s needed to rebel against it
08:03 Who were the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB)
13:03 Millais’ Christ in the House of His Parents shocks the Victorians
14:13 What happens when the revolutionary spirit falters?
17:22 The female form: how the PRB changed the depiction of women
20:24 From faces and gestures to the classical revival of the nude
22:11 Who narrates women’s stories through art?
26:04 Women artists’ agency, and why Elizabeth Siddal wasn’t just a “muse”
28:28 Female archetypes in the Victorian era -why we’re still trying to break free today
30:32 The tension over what museums “should” show
33:52 Are we the new Victorians?
38:24 Must-see Pre-Raphaelite artworks across Britain
40:01 Stained glass, architecture, and why Romantic art makes our hearts soar
About Dr. Alison Smith, BA, DPhil:
Dr Alison Smith is Director of Collections and Research at the Wallace Collection. A leading specialist in nineteenth-century British art, she has previously held senior curatorial roles at the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain, where she spent eighteen years as a curator of British art to 1900. During her time at Tate she curated and co-curated major exhibitions including Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde, Millais, Exposed: The Victorian Nude, Artist and Empire, and Burne-Jones.
Born in Brighton, Alison studied History of Art at the University of Nottingham before completing her MA and PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has written widely on Victorian art and culture, and her work has played an important role in reinterpreting the Pre-Raphaelites as one of Britain’s first modern art movements.
Connect with Sarah:
Website:www.historyffs.com
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahdowd/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/historyffs-pod/
Substack: @historyffs
YouTube: @HistoryFFSPod
Instagram: @historyFFSPod
TikTok: @historyffspod
Bluesky: @historyffs.bsky.social
Follow the show for new episodes exploring the objects, people, and moments that shaped our world. If you want the story AND the sound of the past, this is essential listening.
How do a BBC fever dream, Victorian sex scandals, and a secret brotherhood of rebellious artists rewrite what we think we know about the past? In this provocative episode of History for F**k’s Sake host Sarah Dowd is joined by Dr. Alison Smith, Director of Collections and Research at the Wallace Collection, and one of the UK’s leading voices on 19th-century British art and the Victorian nude.
Together, they discuss Ken Russell’s wild 1967 film Dante’s Inferno to interrogate the pop-culture myth of the Pre-Raphaelites and pull back the curtain on the revolution these artists launched in the age of upheaval. Exploring how 1848 upended ideas about morality, class, the body, and who gets to tell the stories of beauty and power.
Why did the female nude become a political battleground on canvas? Why are we still haunted by Victorian debates over agency and control? And can we ever escape the straitjackets of archetype and respectability whether in art galleries or on TikTok?
If you’ve ever wondered why history is never just old news, this is essential listening.
About Dr. Alison Smith, BA, DPhil:
Dr Alison Smith is Director of Collections and Research at the Wallace Collection. A leading specialist in nineteenth-century British art, she has previously held senior curatorial roles at the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain, where she spent eighteen years as a curator of British art to 1900. During her time at Tate she curated and co-curated major exhibitions including Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde, Millais, Exposed: The Victorian Nude, Artist and Empire, and Burne-Jones.
Born in Brighton, Alison studied History of Art at the University of Nottingham before completing her MA and PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has written widely on Victorian art and culture, and her work has played an important role in reinterpreting the Pre-Raphaelites as one of Britain’s first modern art movements.