Arts

Art: “Alice in Wonderland” at the Tate Liverpool

A whimsical exhibition is opening at the Tate Liverpool this weekend, illustrating just how much the now-classic children’s tale has served as source material for painters, writers, filmmakers, scholars, and philosophers.
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“This photograph is the first Dodgson took of the young Alice Liddell, his muse for the book that was to become a literary masterpiece," says Tate Liverpool guest curator Christoph Benjamin Schulz. "Dodgson bought his first camera in 1856, the year he took his pen name, Lewis Carroll; only recently had photography become accessible to keen amateurs. Dodgson was best known for his portraits of friends, acquaintances, and their children, and left a legacy of over 3,000 images.”Photo: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London
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Photo: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London
Charles Dodgson, Alice Pleasance Liddell, Summer, 1858
“This photograph is the first Dodgson took of the young Alice Liddell, his muse for the book that was to become a literary masterpiece," says Tate Liverpool guest curator Christoph Benjamin Schulz. "Dodgson bought his first camera in 1856, the year he took his pen name, Lewis Carroll; only recently had photography become accessible to keen amateurs. Dodgson was best known for his portraits of friends, acquaintances, and their children, and left a legacy of over 3,000 images.”

Nearly 150 years after Lewis Carroll (a.k.a Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) dreamed up a white rabbit, a caterpillar with a hookah problem, and a choleric Queen of Hearts, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland continues to inspire and provoke us. With its dynamic polarities—Victorian restraint versus unbridled imagination—the fanciful story, originally spun to entertain a girl named Alice Liddell on a boating trip on July 4, 1862, has especially resonated with artists of all genres, from Surrealism to Pop. A new exhibition opening at the Tate Liverpool this weekend illustrates just how much the now-classic children’s tale has served as source material for painters, writers, filmmakers, scholars, and philosophers. Christoph Benjamin Schulz, the guest curator of “Alice in Wonderland,” spoke to Vogue about five highlights of the exhibition.

"Alice in Wonderland" will be on view from November 4 – January 29; tate.org.uk/liverpool