Join us for a talk about the life and work of the artist Milein Cosman, marking the culmination of a cataloguing and digitisation project to preserve and make accessible Cosman’s extensive archive of more than 10,000 items, generously funded by the Cosman Keller Art and Music Trust.
Known best for her drawings of musicians, artists and performers, German British artist Milein Cosman (1921-2017), would draw people, often unseen, from the wings of a rehearsal, during performances, on city streets and during commissions. This talk will examine Cosman’s early life in Düsseldorf, Germany, her emigration to Britain in 1939 fleeing persecution, and her studies at the Slade School of Fine Art during World War Two. It will showcase Cosman's artistic output and discuss how her husband, the émigré musicologist Hans Keller, was her muse. It will also explore Cosman’s professional life creating exhibitions, presenting a 1958 television art programme series, drawing illustrations for publications, as well as Cosman’s various friendships including with Kyffin Williams, Ernst Gombrich, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, and John Heartfield.
The Show and Share will take place between 1pm-2pm with a talk by the Project Cataloguer, Evangeline Mills at 1.15pm, and will accompany a curated display of items from the Milein Cosman Archive, containing diaries, letters, photographs, artworks and ephemera.
Generously funded by the Cosman Keller Art and Music Trust.