Art, Hairdressing and Art History during the Renaissance
Peer by Amanda Jane Graham
Peer weaves together key aspects of Amanda Jane Graham’s life: visual art, sociology, and her twenty-four years as a hairstylist. Graham applies sociological analysis to her experiences and investigates the intertwined histories of art and hairdressing. She presents her findings through distinctive, detailed artworks. These reveal the rich, fascinating, and largely unknown history of the hairdressing profession and the discrimination that hairdressers experienced from the Renaissance to the present day where artistic recognition for their work was frequently denied.
Velcro Roller Set: Three-Ply-Braids, and Alligator Clips
Colour Pencils, 77 × 57 cm, 2026
Velcro Roller Set: Three-Ply-Braids, and Alligator Clips was inspired by the hair design documented by Domenico Ghirlandaio in his painting, Portrait of a Girl 1490, which is part of the national gallery of London’s collection.
Velcro Roller Set: Three-Ply-Braids, and Alligator Clips is housed in a private collection
The title ‘Peer’ references the quest for recognition from the Parisian hairstylists of the 18th century who campaigned through the French courts for artistic recognition and the title of colleague or peer for their work in the arts which culminated in the publication of a hairdressing manifesto in 1768. In post-revolutionary Britain, bias against hairdressing as a career choice intensified, creating what scholars call an inherited narrative.
Building on this research, Graham’s creative approach encompasses drawings, sculpture, and sound installations. Through this work, she invites a re-evaluation of historical art from a hairstylist’s perspective, affirming centuries of collaboration.
The Research Behind Peer
Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan: Zero Blade and Detailer
Colour Pencils, 100 x 70 cm, 2026
The drawing, Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan: Zero Blade and Detailer, is inspired by the haircut in Andrea Mantegna’s painting, Portrait of Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan (detail), 1459-1460, tempera on panel located at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan: Zero Blade and Detailer is part of a private collection.
Building on her research, Graham’s creative approach encompasses drawings, sculpture, and sound installations. Through this work, she invites a re-evaluation of historical art from a hairstylist’s perspective, affirming centuries of collaboration. In hairdressing, the mirror is considered a stylist’s third eye: standing behind a client, the stylist looks them directly in the eye. Similarly, Graham’s artwork becomes her third eye as she enters into direct conversation with the viewer, asking them to observe the often-overlooked expertise in historical art.
The Methodolgy Behind Peer
Venus: Tinfoil Highlights
Medium: Coloured pencils and pastels,78 x 35 cm, 2021
Venus: Tinfoil Highlights is inspired by the hair style and hair colour in the painting Venus (1495-96) by Sandro Botticelli, part of the Musei Reali Torino's collection.
Venus: Tinfoil Highlights is available to purchase.
The drawing, A Painter, a Hairdresser, and a Lady, is inspired by the painting, Idealised Portrait of a Lady (Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci as Nymph), ca. 1480 – 1485, by Sandro Botticelli, housed at the Städel Museum
A Painter, a Hairdresser, and a Lady is available to purchase.
A Painter, a Hairdresser, and a Lady
Colour pencils, pastels, and acrylic paint, 63.5 x 49.5 cm, 2025
Mobile Hairdresser is inspired by the ornate hairstyle in the painting Saint Mary Magdalene by Francesco d'Ubertino, Bartolomeo Verdi, known as Bachiacca, on view at the Uffizi Gallery.
Mobile Hairdresser is part of a private collection.
Mobile Hairdresser
Colour Pencils, 100 x 70 cm, 2026
Hair and Makeup Artists
Colour Pencils, 84 × 70 cm, 2026
Hair and Makeup Artists is ininspired by the scene impeccably captured in Gerard ter Borch’s painting Woman at a Mirror, 1652, at the Rijks Museum.
Hair and Makeup Artists is in a private collection.
Thomas Aquinas: Zero Blade
Colour pencils and pastels, 70 x 41 cm, 2026
Thomas Aquinas: Zero Blade is inspired by the well-groomed hair design in the painting of Saint Thomas Aquinas by an unknown artist at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Thomas Aquinas: Zero Blade is available to purchase.