Boucher: The Back Story in 'Artists' Laboratory Back Story', Royal Academy of Arts

The output is a series of three paintings and three drawings by Farthing first shown in ‘Artists Laboratory 02: Stephen Farthing RA: The Back Story’ at the Royal Academy of Arts 10 November – 19th December 2010.

The three paintings are ‘Boucher: The Back Story’ 2010, ‘Boucher: The Back Story #6’ 2009 and ‘Boucher The Back Story #1’ 2009.

The three drawings are ‘Boucher: The Back Story #3’ 2009, ‘Boucher’ 2010 and ‘Boucher: The Back Story #5’ 2009.

These are part of Farthing’s ongoing enquiry into the relationship between drawing and text in narrative painting. The exhibition in which these works were first shown was the second in a series of experimental exhibitions organized by the Royal Academy that explored artists' working methods.

The exhibition was peer reviewed by a Royal Academy committee that included artists Gary Hume and Anthony Green and Head of Exhibitions Kathleen Soriano. A catalogue and monographic exhibition of 15 paintings and 35 drawings was published, exhibited and funded by the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Farthing oversaw both the catalogue and exhibition, which used a commissioned essay by Yale Shakespeare scholar David Kastan, the transcript of a conversation between Farthing and the artist Stephen Chambers and annotated illustrations of selected works from the exhibition.

A substantial review of the exhibition by Dr Janet McKenzie was published in Studio International 21 December 2010. A drawing from this exhibition was purchased by the British Museum for its collection. The drawing component of this exhibition was additionally exhibited in a one person show ‘The Drawn History of Painting’, at The Drawing Gallery, 17th March – 10th April 2010 and in a group show ‘Drawing: Interpretation/Translation’, Hui Gallery, New Asia College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 14th March to 25th March, 2011.