Female Voices in Art: Amy Orrock, National Curator for the National Trust

Amy Orrock (b. 1980, London, UK) is a National Curator for the National Trust. She has published and lectured widely on Northern European art and has co-curated the exhibitions Rubens & Women (Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2023) and Bruegel: Defining a Dynasty (The Holburne Museum, 2017). As the Senior Curator at Compton Verney from 2017 to 2023 she worked with contemporary artists on commissions, exhibitions and collection redisplays that highlighted the dialogue between the past and the present, including Sensing Naples (2023), Cranach: Artist and Innovator (2020) and Painting Childhood (2019). Prior to that, she contributed to curatorial projects at The Royal Collection and the National Portrait Gallery, London. Amy holds a B.A. in History and History of Art from University College London and completed her Masters and Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh, with a dissertation on Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Children’s Games.

Could you tell us something about your role in the art world?

I am an art historian and curator who specialises in Northern European art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I see my role as ensuring that this art remains relevant to audiences today. This is often about sharing knowledge generously. I passionately believe that art history should be available to all, and, in addition to cultivating a deep understanding of the past, I enjoy finding ways to enable everyone to engage with art; to celebrate the capacity historic works of art have to mean something to our lives today.

What did you enjoy about being a part of this project?

I think the series is a beautiful and powerful tribute to the enduring nature of portraiture, and the accomplishments of women in the art world. I like the focus on dress - as a historian of historical portraits this is always a central concern. I’m absolutely honoured to be included.

Do you have a favourite artist?

My favourite artist has for many years been Pieter Bruegel the Elder. I first encountered him as an undergraduate student and devoted several years of my life to him when I completed my doctoral dissertation on his painting Children’s Games (1560). He remains an enduring and fascinating enigma – capable, like all truly great artists, of combining technical skill and originality with powers of observation, storytelling and humanity that still sparkle across the centuries. I could spend a lifetime looking at his work.
 

What is your earliest memory involving art?

I grew up drawing and making things constantly, and always thought that I would study Fine Art at art college. But on reflection, I was more interested in other artists and in the ways in which art can transport us to different times and places in history. I remember buying my first art history book - a second-hand blue hardback about Renoir which had lost its dust jacket - and pouring over the colourful images inside, imagining myself alive in nineteenth-century France.

Do you have any special thoughts about the position of women in the art world?

I have been lucky enough to begin my career at a time when many pioneering women were paving the way in the art world. I have been inspired and supported by great and generous female colleagues, including scholars, curators and museum directors, who through their actions have helped me to see that anything possible. I have enjoyed working with contemporary women artists, as their work often grapples with what it means to be a woman today. Artists’ responses to the multifaceted nature of our lives - to the place of women throughout history, to current societal pressures, to the rich journey of motherhood - are often brave, eloquent and personal and I’m glad that these perspectives are being represented more often in art. Despite this, there are still inequalities in access to the sector - the art world is elitist, and far from being representative of the real world.

What are you wearing, and is there a story behind it?

I am wearing black trousers and a pink silk shirt by Sézane. I like the colour, and almost everything by Sézane.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on a project for the National Trust involving over twenty of their most significant houses and collections. This is truly fascinating and is continually stretching me, as I think beyond the edges of a panel or canvas and consider the complex histories and latent potential of historic houses in the round.

Could you mention a project, an institution that, or a person who has been important or inspiring for your career and why?

The National Galleries of Scotland played a seminal role in shaping my career. I worked there as a part-time Gallery Educator in the mid 2000’s while studying at the University of Edinburgh. The experience of becoming intimately acquainted with such a fantastic collection of Old Master paintings and attuned to the daily rhythms of gallery life, as well as the connections forged with visitors, many of whom were children on their first outing to an art gallery, was fundamental in shaping my desire to become a curator. After completing my PhD I undertook two curatorial internships in London, and never looked back. Being a curator is a wonderful job, and a privilege I hope I never take for granted.