Kerrie Suteu chose….

Sketchbook by Sara Hennell

In an age where we have become accustomed to taking photos via mobile phone of our lives, it's refreshing to see someone taking the time to carefully paint life in a sketchbook.  

The images of our lives are now on screen, shared with large numbers of people but this sketchbook feels more intimate and special than that experience.   

Kerrie Suteu is the Creative Media Officer at the Herbert.

What the curator says: 

Sketchbook by Sara Hennell, 1835 to 1838 

Sara Hennell was born in London but moved to Coventry along with her sister Caroline. Caroline married Charles Bray, a local ribbon manufacturer and owner of the Coventry Herald newspaper. 

The Brays and Sara Hennell were close friends of the author George Eliot, who lived in Coventry in the 1840s. Their radical thinking had a great influence on her. 

Sara was intelligent and well read and wrote several books on the subject of religious ethics. However the restrictions imposed on women by society at the time meant that she was prevented from pursuing a fulfilling professional career. Painting was a popular hobby for many young women in this situation and Sara became a skilful artist.