British School at Rome
May 2023
On May 4, 2023, the British School at Rome (BSR) unveiled a new ceiling painting by one of the world’s most celebrated artists, Bridget Riley. Riley has created many murals and wall paintings, but this latest work, Verve, is her first ceiling painting. The large-scale work is installed in the foyer of the BSR, covering four barrel vaults of the ceiling and using her ‘Egyptian palette’. Riley has strong ties with the BSR, including an exhibition of her work which was presented at the BSR in 1996. More recently, since 2016 she has endowed The Bridget Riley Fellowship, which provides an opportunity for a young painter to spend six months at the BSR to develop their work. Riley said: “I would like to thank the British School at Rome for its invitation to paint the vaulting barrels of Edwin Lutyens’ beautiful ceiling. It was the beginning of an exhilarating visual chase. Exhilarating but not without hazard. Through many pleasurable challenges, encouraged by Mark Getty’s enthusiasm, I pursued this perceptual adventure and played my ‘color acoustics’ with great delight. Looking up, the color of the skies offers a glimpse of nature in her most promising and serene mood.” Mark Getty, Chair of the BSR Council, said: “We are thrilled that Bridget Riley has developed, executed, and given this wall painting to the BSR. It will adorn our entrance for decades to come, and pronounce clearly the strong relationship which exists between British and Commonwealth artists and thinkers, and the Roman and Italian world.” Learn more at British School at Rome.