Howard Jacobson: Flesh - ACiD - University of the West of England
Howard Jacobson: Flesh - ACiD - University of the West of England
Howard Jacobson: Flesh - ACiD - University of the West of England
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ISSN 2044-2653<br />
<strong>Howard</strong> <strong>Jacobson</strong>: <strong>Flesh</strong><br />
David<br />
Inshaw RWA<br />
// Rural<br />
Dreamer<br />
// Alberto<br />
Giacometti<br />
In <strong>the</strong> Studio<br />
// Ken <strong>Howard</strong><br />
BackChat<br />
// Sir<br />
Christopher<br />
Frayling<br />
03 Winter<br />
2010 £4
Contributors<br />
// Richard Storey took a BA<br />
Honours degree in Drama from<br />
Bristol <strong>University</strong> (2006). He worked<br />
for <strong>the</strong> Bristol Evening Post for<br />
12 years and is author <strong>of</strong> Perfect<br />
Persuasion. He is a former Board<br />
member <strong>of</strong> Bristol Arts Centre<br />
and Travelling Light Theatre<br />
Company.<br />
// Jilly Cobbe has a degree in Fine<br />
Art Drawing and is a practicing<br />
artist living near Stroud. She has<br />
a life-long fascination with <strong>the</strong><br />
history <strong>of</strong> art, especially <strong>the</strong> artist<br />
behind <strong>the</strong> art.<br />
// Cliff Hanley was born in<br />
Glasgow, where he studied at<br />
Glasgow School <strong>of</strong> Art. He later<br />
took up design and writing<br />
as a sideline to a career in music.<br />
Gave up guitar session work in<br />
London to return to painting<br />
and more recently, writing.<br />
// Michael Liversidge was<br />
Head <strong>of</strong> History <strong>of</strong> Art and<br />
Dean <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Faculty <strong>of</strong> Arts at<br />
Bristol <strong>University</strong>. He co-curated<br />
‘Canaletto and <strong>England</strong>’ for<br />
Birmingham City Art Gallery<br />
and ‘Imagining Rome:<br />
British Artists and Rome<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Nineteenth Century’<br />
for Bristol City Art Gallery.<br />
// Tristan Pollard is a Senior<br />
Front-<strong>of</strong>-House Assistant at <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA where he has worked for<br />
twelve years. He studied Fine Art<br />
to Foundation level and has also<br />
worked for <strong>the</strong> civil service and<br />
Bristol Museum. A keen writer<br />
and occasional artist, he lives in<br />
Bristol with his wife and son.<br />
// Jodie Inkson’s obsession with<br />
typography began at school when<br />
she painstakingly hand cut every<br />
letter <strong>of</strong> a project. Climbing <strong>the</strong><br />
design ranks in London, she formed<br />
Wire Sky in 2003, winning awards<br />
and a position in Who’s Who. She<br />
sees her beloved modernist chairs<br />
as art, not sure whe<strong>the</strong>r she prefers<br />
sitting on <strong>the</strong>m or looking at <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
// Peter Ford is Vice President<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA. He has travelled widely<br />
to art events and exhibitions<br />
where his etchings, woodcuts<br />
and paperworks have been shown.<br />
Since 2004 he has organised five<br />
exhibitions for <strong>the</strong> RWA including<br />
<strong>the</strong> 2009 Open Print Exhibition<br />
and ‘Celebrating Paper’ in<br />
January 2010.<br />
// Alice Hendy studied Fine Art<br />
at Exeter College, learning to use<br />
photography to capture ideas and<br />
document her work at Kingston<br />
<strong>University</strong>, where she studied<br />
Sculpture. Alice has always<br />
loved cameras – her current beau<br />
is a Canon D500; it makes her<br />
heart sing.<br />
// Hugh Mooney is an art<br />
photographer and recently studied<br />
Fine Art at <strong>the</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong>. A physicist by<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>ession, he spent 30 years<br />
in <strong>the</strong> aerospace industry prior<br />
to retiring in 1998. A camera<br />
is his constant companion.<br />
// Nicky Stone is a ceramicist<br />
based in Falmouth. She makes<br />
‘exquisite female figures’ from<br />
porcelain clay using her own<br />
body as a reference. The figures<br />
are celebratory and refer to<br />
ancient archetypal depictions <strong>of</strong><br />
Goddesses and Queens. Nicky is<br />
a mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> sons and sometimes<br />
a teacher.<br />
// Simon Baker is an RWA<br />
Trustee and a solicitor on <strong>the</strong><br />
cusp <strong>of</strong> celebrating 40 years in<br />
practice. An avid enthusiast <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> visual arts since discovering<br />
that books with “pictures and<br />
conversations” were <strong>the</strong> best,<br />
he is too much <strong>of</strong> an impulse<br />
buyer to qualify as a collector.<br />
// Francis Greenacre was Curator<br />
<strong>of</strong> Fine Art at Bristol Museum<br />
and Art Gallery from 1969 to<br />
1997. Toge<strong>the</strong>r with Douglas<br />
Merritt he has just completed<br />
Public Sculpture <strong>of</strong> Bristol which<br />
will be published by Liverpool<br />
<strong>University</strong> Press January 2011.<br />
// Ali Heywood works as a<br />
costumier and <strong>the</strong>atre designer<br />
and is passionate about <strong>the</strong> value<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Arts to bring about change,<br />
particularly for young people.<br />
Ali is a founding member <strong>of</strong><br />
Stand+Stare Collective who create<br />
interactive and immersive <strong>the</strong>atre<br />
performances.<br />
// Kate Morgan is <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
Exhibitions Manager. After<br />
completing a History degree<br />
and an MA at <strong>the</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
Bristol, she has worked in <strong>the</strong><br />
cultural sector for <strong>the</strong> last ten<br />
years. Beginning in <strong>the</strong> world<br />
<strong>of</strong> museums, she moved into <strong>the</strong><br />
realm <strong>of</strong> visual arts six years ago.<br />
// Sheila Yeger has written<br />
extensively for stage, radio and<br />
television. She is at present in<br />
<strong>the</strong> second year <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Diploma in<br />
Art and Design at Queens Road,<br />
Bristol. When not writing plays<br />
or making Art, she can be found<br />
wild swimming, or dancing <strong>the</strong><br />
Argentinian Tango.<br />
What a pot pourri <strong>of</strong> delights<br />
awaits <strong>the</strong> reader <strong>of</strong> this, our third<br />
issue <strong>of</strong> ART.<br />
Repressed sex is <strong>the</strong> subject<br />
<strong>of</strong> Simon Baker’s illuminating<br />
interview with Man Booker<br />
prize winning novelist, <strong>Howard</strong><br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong>, who celebrates <strong>the</strong> way<br />
Victorian artists depicted <strong>the</strong><br />
frustration <strong>of</strong> non-consummation<br />
in <strong>the</strong>ir shockingly fleshy<br />
paintings.<br />
Alberto Giacometti’s sticklike<br />
sculptures are well known.<br />
Less well known is <strong>the</strong> story <strong>of</strong><br />
his life-long association with <strong>the</strong><br />
Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul<br />
de-Vence. Adrien Maeght shares<br />
with us memories <strong>of</strong> his teenage<br />
years, living and working among<br />
some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most seminal artists<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> post-war years.<br />
Signs <strong>of</strong> regeneration are in<br />
Francis Greenacre’s sights. Shop<br />
signs, that is. Once a visual aid<br />
to <strong>the</strong> illiterate in late medieval<br />
and eighteenth century shopping<br />
streets, gloriously eccentric metal<br />
signs are now creeping back onto<br />
Bristol’s streets. Go seek <strong>the</strong>m out.<br />
David Inshaw RWA is one<br />
<strong>of</strong> Britain’s best recognised<br />
artists, highly regarded for <strong>the</strong><br />
powerful intensity <strong>of</strong> his English<br />
landscapes. Tristan Pollard met<br />
rural dreamer Inshaw to explore<br />
what it is that informs Inshaw’s<br />
elemental, brooding and highly<br />
charged images.<br />
As if this isn’t enough,<br />
we round <strong>of</strong>f with equally<br />
revealing meetings with surreal<br />
photographer, Hannah Starkey;<br />
master <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> studio nude, Ken<br />
<strong>Howard</strong>; and some pithy BackChat<br />
from Sir Christopher Frayling.<br />
Richard Storey<br />
Managing Editor<br />
art<br />
Summer 2010<br />
1
EDITORIAL<br />
Publisher<br />
Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong> Academy<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Richard Storey<br />
Art Director<br />
Jodie Inkson – Wire Sky<br />
Editorial contributors<br />
Simon Baker, Jilly Cobbe,<br />
Peter Ford, Francis Greenacre,<br />
Cliff Hanley, Ali Heywood,<br />
Michael Liversidge, Hugh Mooney,<br />
Tristan Pollard, Gregory Reitschlin,<br />
Nicky Stone, Sheila Yeger<br />
Specialist photography<br />
Alice Hendy<br />
RWA news<br />
Kate Morgan<br />
kate.morgan@rwa.org.uk<br />
Academicians’ news<br />
Louise Holt<br />
louise.holt@rwa.org.uk<br />
Friends <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA news<br />
carolyn.stubbs@btinternet.com<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
Anouk Mercier<br />
t: 0117 973 5129<br />
e: anouk.mercier@rwa.org.uk<br />
Leza Jagroop<br />
e: leza.jagroop@gmail.com<br />
t: 07770 888 456<br />
COPY DEADLINE<br />
Spring 2011 issue: 28 January<br />
FRIENDS OF THE RWA<br />
Friends annual subscriptions<br />
Single £25<br />
Joint £36<br />
Individual life £375<br />
Joint life £500<br />
Student £13<br />
Country single £20<br />
Country joint £30<br />
See membership application form<br />
page 43<br />
Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong> Academy,<br />
Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX<br />
t: 0117 973 5129<br />
General enquiries e: info@rwa.org.uk<br />
Magazine e: richard.storey@rwa.org.uk<br />
Registered Charity No 1107149<br />
The opinions in this publication do<br />
not necessarily reflect <strong>the</strong> views <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong> Academy. All<br />
reasonable attempts have been made to<br />
clear copyright before publication.<br />
To read an electronic version <strong>of</strong> ART,<br />
or to visit <strong>the</strong> RWA online:<br />
www.rwa.org.uk<br />
Follow us on Facebook and<br />
twitter.com/rwabristol<br />
ART is printed by WPG on sustainably<br />
sourced FSC certified paper using<br />
vegetable inks. www.wpg-group.com<br />
Inside<br />
Cover<br />
Detail from David Inshaw’s Goldfinches 2003/4<br />
oil on canvas 91 x 91cm.<br />
Editorial, Contributors 1<br />
Exhibitions 4 & 5<br />
Diary – events, lectures, workshops, tours 6 & 7<br />
RWA news 9<br />
Academicians’ news 12<br />
<strong>Flesh</strong>: eroticism, prudery & British art 16<br />
Simon Baker meets novelist <strong>Howard</strong> <strong>Jacobson</strong> to discuss<br />
his programme, <strong>Flesh</strong>, made for <strong>the</strong> Channel 4 series:<br />
‘The Genius <strong>of</strong> British Art’.<br />
Rural Dreamer: David Inshaw RWA 21<br />
Tristan Pollard and photographer Alice Hendy visit<br />
Academician David Inshaw at his Wiltshire studio<br />
for this exclusive interview.<br />
Signs <strong>of</strong> Regeneration 26<br />
Francis Greenacre celebrates <strong>the</strong> return <strong>of</strong> Bristol’s<br />
three dimensional shop signs.<br />
Giacometti and <strong>the</strong> Fondation Maeght 30<br />
Adrien Maeght remembers his post-war upbringing<br />
among <strong>the</strong> Surrealists.<br />
Portrait <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Artist: In search <strong>of</strong> Gwen John 34<br />
Writer Sheila Yeger re-visits her play Self Portrait,<br />
about <strong>the</strong> life and times <strong>of</strong> Gwen John.<br />
Close-up: Hannah Starkey 36<br />
Hugh Mooney interviews one <strong>of</strong> Britain’s most influential<br />
artist-photographers <strong>of</strong> contemporary life.<br />
Inside <strong>the</strong> artist’s studio: Ken <strong>Howard</strong> OBE RA RWA 38<br />
Richard Storey and photographer Alice Hendy visit Ken <strong>Howard</strong>,<br />
“last <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Impressionists”, at his London studio.<br />
Friends <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA notes and news 41<br />
Letters, Reviews 44 & 45<br />
Listings 47<br />
BackChat: Sir Christopher Frayling 48<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
3
Exhibitions<br />
Matisse:<br />
Drawing<br />
with Scissors<br />
Methuen and Milner<br />
Galleries<br />
8 January – 6 February<br />
The French painter, sculptor<br />
and designer, Henri Matisse<br />
(1869-1954) was one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 20th<br />
century’s most influential artists.<br />
His vibrant works are celebrated<br />
for <strong>the</strong>ir extraordinary richness<br />
and luminosity <strong>of</strong> colour. Matisse:<br />
Drawing with Scissors, features 35<br />
lithographic prints <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> famous<br />
cut-outs, produced in <strong>the</strong> last four<br />
years <strong>of</strong> his life, when <strong>the</strong> artist was<br />
confined to his bed, and includes<br />
many <strong>of</strong> his iconic images, such<br />
as The Snail and <strong>the</strong> Blue Nudes.<br />
Main Galleries<br />
4 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
Inside-Out<br />
Sharples, Winterstoke<br />
and Stancomb Wills<br />
Galleries<br />
8 January – 8 February<br />
Inside-Out: a cross discipline<br />
exhibition from Jamaica Street<br />
Artists highlighting <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
vibrancy and diversity. We<br />
showcase a number <strong>of</strong> emerging<br />
and established artists, and<br />
ex-studio members who have<br />
gone on to achieve international<br />
success. By feeding <strong>the</strong> public’s<br />
intrigue and fascination with <strong>the</strong><br />
studio’s secret world <strong>of</strong> creativity<br />
it recreates <strong>the</strong> artistic cycle <strong>of</strong><br />
evolution, generating a feeling<br />
<strong>of</strong> movement and dynamism that<br />
mirrors <strong>the</strong> RWA’s first steps<br />
into <strong>the</strong> new-year and exciting<br />
changes in its programme.<br />
A series <strong>of</strong> talks, workshops and<br />
screenings will be delivered in<br />
conjunction with <strong>the</strong> exhibition.<br />
Please see <strong>the</strong> RWA website.<br />
Open<br />
Photography 2<br />
Main Galleries<br />
20 February – 5 April<br />
After its success in 2008,<br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA Open Photography<br />
returns this spring. With over<br />
400 photographs on display by<br />
amateurs and pr<strong>of</strong>essionals alike,<br />
this exhibition has something<br />
for everyone. The work on display<br />
will be truly wide-ranging, from<br />
<strong>the</strong> controversial and provocative<br />
to <strong>the</strong> traditional and serene.<br />
Invited artists include Barry<br />
Cawston, Richard Cox and Sachiyo<br />
Nishimura. For more information<br />
on submitting please email<br />
openphotography@rwa.org.uk.<br />
Association <strong>of</strong><br />
Contemporary<br />
Jewellery<br />
City<br />
26 November – 24 December<br />
Free <strong>of</strong> charge<br />
ACJ Bristol and invited guests<br />
return to <strong>the</strong> RWA with a selected<br />
exhibition <strong>of</strong> challenging new<br />
work exploring <strong>the</strong> human scale<br />
in a city perspective and <strong>the</strong> urban<br />
environment.<br />
Glo Williams RWA<br />
6 January – 2 February<br />
Free <strong>of</strong> charge<br />
Glo’s effervescent work kick<br />
starts <strong>the</strong> New Year in <strong>the</strong> New<br />
Gallery with a colourful, lively<br />
exhibition <strong>of</strong> figurative paintings<br />
and drawings covering a variety<br />
<strong>of</strong> subjects and media. This<br />
Bristol artist will be pushing <strong>the</strong><br />
boundaries on recurring <strong>the</strong>mes<br />
such as her ever popular florals.<br />
Sebastian Smith<br />
Bringing it all Back Home<br />
5 February – 2 March<br />
Free <strong>of</strong> charge<br />
Ex Bristol artist working in<br />
Provence returns after 14 years<br />
with a new series <strong>of</strong> abstractions<br />
that continue to deal with his<br />
exploration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> horizon as a<br />
necessary hinge between reality and<br />
spirituality. Works will include a<br />
8m panel worked in situ. See Diary.<br />
Abigail McDougall<br />
Art for Sustainable Transport<br />
5 March – 6 April<br />
Free <strong>of</strong> charge<br />
Art for Sustainable Transport<br />
features landscapes and cityscapes<br />
reached by sustainable means:<br />
walking, cycling or by train. Held<br />
in conjunction with <strong>the</strong> charity<br />
Sustrans we show sumptuous<br />
new watercolours and oils. Artist<br />
led watercolour workshops will<br />
be taking place during this show.<br />
Please see <strong>the</strong> RWA website.<br />
Selected But<br />
Hung Later<br />
16 January – 15 February<br />
Free <strong>of</strong> charge; all works for sale<br />
The standard <strong>of</strong> work submitted<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Friends Annual Exhibition<br />
was high and <strong>the</strong> selectors<br />
– Anne Hicks RWA, Peter Swan<br />
RWA and Patrick Daw RWA –<br />
chose more works than we could<br />
hang in <strong>the</strong> space. This Selected<br />
But Hung Later exhibition is<br />
<strong>the</strong> result.<br />
Of equal calibre to <strong>the</strong> high<br />
standard <strong>of</strong> work shown in our<br />
Friends Annual Exhibition we are<br />
sure that this show will provide<br />
a great start to <strong>the</strong> New Year.<br />
New Gallery Friends Room<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
5
ROYAL WEST OF ENGLAND ACADEMY<br />
Patron<br />
Her Majesty <strong>the</strong> Queen<br />
Board <strong>of</strong> Trustees<br />
Chairman<br />
Dr Norman Biddle HON RWA<br />
Honorary Treasurer<br />
Bob Barnett<br />
Trustees<br />
Simon Baker<br />
Elizabeth Boscawen<br />
Jennifer Bryant-Pearson<br />
Stewart Geddes RWA<br />
Simon Quadrat PRWA HON RA<br />
Paul Wilson<br />
President<br />
Simon Quadrat PRWA HON RA<br />
Immediate Past President<br />
Derek Balmer PPRWA<br />
Past Presidents<br />
Peter Thursby FRBS PPRWA<br />
Leonard Manasseh OBE RA FRIBA<br />
FCSD PPRWA<br />
Mary Fedden OBE D LITT RA PPRWA<br />
Bernard Dunstan RA PPRWA<br />
Academicians’ Council<br />
President<br />
Simon Quadrat PRWA<br />
Vice President<br />
Peter Ford RE RWA<br />
Honorary Architectural Advisor<br />
Michael Jenner FRIBA FRSA RWA<br />
Council Members<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Paul Gough PHD MA<br />
FRSA RWA<br />
Margaret Lovell FRBS RWA<br />
Peter Swan RWA<br />
Director<br />
Trystan Hawkins<br />
Facilities Manager<br />
Nick Dixon<br />
Gallery Assistant<br />
Ben Harding<br />
Senior Front <strong>of</strong> House Assistant<br />
Tristan Pollard<br />
Senior Front <strong>of</strong> House Assistant<br />
Lorraine Guest<br />
Creative Apprentice<br />
Ben Giles<br />
Exhibitions Manager<br />
Kate Morgan<br />
Exhibitions and Collections Officer<br />
Louise Holt<br />
Acting Membership<br />
and Events Manager<br />
Anouk Mercier<br />
Marketing and PR<br />
Louisa Davison<br />
Front <strong>of</strong> House Assistants<br />
Annabel Page<br />
Joe Tymkow<br />
Adam Hancher<br />
Accountants<br />
Hollingdale Pooley<br />
Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong> Academy<br />
Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX<br />
6 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
December<br />
// Saturday 4th<br />
2pm<br />
158 Autumn Exhibition<br />
Gallery Tour<br />
Led by John Eaves RWA. Free with<br />
exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Saturday 11th<br />
2pm<br />
158 Autumn Exhibition<br />
Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Trevor Haddrell RWA.<br />
Free with exhibition admission fee.<br />
January<br />
// Saturday 8th<br />
2pm<br />
Inside-Out Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Vera Boele-Keimer from<br />
Jamaica Street Artists.<br />
Free with exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Sunday 9th<br />
3pm<br />
Matisse Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Kate Lynch RWA.<br />
Free with exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Saturday 15th<br />
2pm<br />
Inside-Out Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Andrew Hood from Jamaica<br />
Street Artists. Free with exhibition<br />
admission fee.<br />
3 – 4pm<br />
JSA Artist Talk –<br />
Vera Boele-Keimer<br />
and Jan Blake<br />
© Max McClure<br />
Free <strong>of</strong> charge, to book call 0117 973<br />
5129. Jan’s sculptural installations<br />
are concerned with light, movement<br />
and transformation. Jan will create<br />
new work in response to <strong>the</strong> RWA’s<br />
majestic sense <strong>of</strong> space. Vera’s<br />
abstract paintings demonstrate a<br />
fascination with natural processes<br />
and structures. Jan and Vera <strong>of</strong>fer<br />
an in-depth look at <strong>the</strong>ir practice.<br />
See www.veraboelekeimer.co.uk<br />
and www.janblake.co.uk.<br />
// Sunday 16th<br />
2 – 3pm<br />
Colour in <strong>the</strong> Home<br />
– An Inspirational Talk<br />
by Joa Studholme<br />
RWA Fedden Gallery £10 (£8<br />
for RWA Friends), includes tea/<br />
c<strong>of</strong>fee and exhibition entrance<br />
fee. To book please call <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
Reception on 0117 973 5129.<br />
See colour in a new light with this<br />
illustrated talk by Joa Studholme,<br />
International Colour Consultant<br />
to paint and wallpaper specialist,<br />
Farrow & Ball. Learn how to create<br />
<strong>the</strong> perfect scheme by developing<br />
your knowledge <strong>of</strong> colour families,<br />
paint finishes and wallpaper.<br />
www.farrow-ball.com<br />
3pm<br />
Matisse Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Janette Kerr RWA.<br />
Free with exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Saturday 22nd<br />
2pm<br />
Inside-Out Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Rachel Milne from Jamaica<br />
Street Artists. Free with exhibition<br />
admission fee.<br />
2 – 5pm<br />
Food Illustration<br />
Workshop with<br />
Emma Dibben<br />
RWA Fedden Gallery £15 per<br />
person (including entrance to<br />
exhibition and materials). To book<br />
please call 0117 9735129. Food<br />
illustrator Emma Dibben’s handson<br />
workshop covers drawing<br />
techniques, colour <strong>the</strong>ory, and a<br />
demonstration in painting with<br />
gouache, providing an opportunity<br />
for everyone to produce <strong>the</strong>ir own<br />
vegetable painting. Emma’s work<br />
can be seen gracing <strong>the</strong> pages <strong>of</strong><br />
many well-known publications.<br />
See www.emmadibben.com.<br />
// Sunday 23rd<br />
3pm<br />
Matisse Gallery Tour<br />
© Max McClure<br />
Led by Lucy Willis RWA.<br />
Free with exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Thursday 27th<br />
7pm<br />
Bill Viola: The Eye<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Heart (2004)<br />
A film by Mark Kidel, A Calliope<br />
Media Production in association<br />
with BBC and ARTE France,<br />
60mins RWA Fedden Gallery £6<br />
per person (including exhibition<br />
entrance fee). To book please call<br />
0117 9735129<br />
// Saturday 29th<br />
11am – 12.15pm<br />
Friends Lecture<br />
Threads <strong>of</strong> History:<br />
The World <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Bayeux Tapestry<br />
C<strong>of</strong>fee and refreshments 10.15am.<br />
£6 (visitors £8)<br />
Rupert Willoughby is a historian<br />
who specialises in <strong>the</strong> domestic and<br />
social life <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> past and author<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> best-selling ‘Life in Medieval<br />
<strong>England</strong>’. Commissioned by <strong>the</strong><br />
Bishop <strong>of</strong> Bayeux who fought at<br />
Hastings, and executed by skilled<br />
English craftsmen, <strong>the</strong> Bayeux<br />
Tapestry is <strong>the</strong> last survivor <strong>of</strong> a<br />
vanished art form. In this illustrated<br />
talk Rupert will present a lively<br />
introduction to <strong>the</strong> tapestry in which<br />
he unravels some <strong>of</strong> its mysteries<br />
and places it in <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> its age.<br />
2pm<br />
Inside-Out Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Anthony Garratt from<br />
Jamaica Street Artists. Free with<br />
exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Sunday 30th<br />
10am – 12 noon<br />
Bristol Drawing School<br />
Life Drawing Class<br />
£10, materials provided. A unique<br />
opportunity to draw from life in<br />
<strong>the</strong> stunning RWA Main Galleries,<br />
taught by artist Carol Peace from<br />
<strong>the</strong> Bristol Drawing School www.<br />
drawingschool.org.uk<br />
3pm<br />
Matisse Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Hea<strong>the</strong>r Maclennan RWA.<br />
Free with exhibition admission fee.<br />
February<br />
// Saturday 5th<br />
10am – 1pm<br />
Character Design for<br />
Children with Tom Plant<br />
and Leah Heming<br />
RWA Fedden Gallery. Free <strong>of</strong><br />
charge however booking is<br />
essential. To book please call<br />
0117 9735129. Pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
illustrators and character<br />
designers Leah Heming and<br />
Tom Plant work in <strong>the</strong> world<br />
<strong>of</strong> children’s publishing, comic<br />
books and animation. Today <strong>the</strong>y<br />
introduce <strong>the</strong> basics <strong>of</strong> character<br />
design with games and drawing<br />
to inspire <strong>the</strong> group to produce<br />
expressive and interesting visual<br />
characters that <strong>the</strong>y could use<br />
for <strong>the</strong>ir own stories. See www.<br />
tom-plant.com and www.leahheming.com.<br />
11 – 5pm<br />
Painting in-situ<br />
– Sebastian Smith<br />
The New Gallery RWA.<br />
Admission free. As a prelude to<br />
his exhibition ‘Bringing it all<br />
Back Home’, Sebastian Smith<br />
will be putting himself under<br />
pressure to complete a painting<br />
8m x 2.5m in 6 hours.<br />
12 – 4pm<br />
Bristol Drawing Club<br />
at <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
Join <strong>the</strong> Bristol Drawing Club<br />
for an afternoon <strong>of</strong> free drawing<br />
activities and workshops around<br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA galleries. Please<br />
visit www.bristoldrawingclub.<br />
blogspot.com for more<br />
information on <strong>the</strong> Bristol<br />
Drawing Club.<br />
// Thursday 24th<br />
6pm<br />
The Making <strong>of</strong><br />
Landscape Photography<br />
A talk by<br />
Charlie Waite<br />
£6 per person. Please call <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA to book your place<br />
0117 973 5129. Widely revered<br />
internationally as <strong>the</strong> doyen <strong>of</strong><br />
English landscape photography,<br />
Charlie will be using <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
Open Photography as a starting<br />
point to discuss <strong>the</strong> making <strong>of</strong><br />
landscape photography.<br />
// Saturday 26th<br />
11am – 12.15pm<br />
Friends Lecture<br />
Masterpieces<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Twentieth Century<br />
C<strong>of</strong>fee and refreshments<br />
10.15am. £6 (visitors £8)<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Anthony Slinn studied<br />
at Liverpool College <strong>of</strong> Art, spent<br />
30 years teaching and <strong>the</strong>n set up<br />
his ‘Roadshow’ in 1983 to share<br />
his enthusiasm for Art and artists<br />
giving around 200 presentations<br />
a year. Now that we are no longer<br />
in <strong>the</strong> 20th century we can stand<br />
and look back. Anthony chooses<br />
a major work from each decade,<br />
taking us through a fascinating<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> artists and genres,<br />
including Cubism, Su<strong>the</strong>rland,<br />
Lichtenstein and Warhol.<br />
2pm<br />
Open Photography 2<br />
Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Dr Blu Tirohl, member<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> selection committee. Free<br />
with exhibition admission fee.<br />
The RWA is pleased to be<br />
working in partnership with<br />
Bristol Festival <strong>of</strong> Photography<br />
this year. The RWA and BFOP<br />
will be hosting a number <strong>of</strong><br />
exciting workshops and talks<br />
during <strong>the</strong> show. For more<br />
details please keep an eye on <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA website www.rwa.org.uk<br />
or visit http://bfop.org<br />
2011<br />
March<br />
Diary<br />
December<br />
// Tuesdays 1st<br />
/ 8th / 15th / 22nd<br />
10.30am – 12.30pm<br />
Events, Lectures<br />
Workshops, Tours//<br />
How to get <strong>the</strong> best out<br />
<strong>of</strong> your digital camera –<br />
Stephen Morris<br />
RWA Fedden Gallery. £50 per<br />
person (£40 for RWA Friends).<br />
To book please call 0117 973<br />
5129. A four-week course with a<br />
practical, need-to-know approach<br />
to overcoming <strong>the</strong> technology<br />
and making it work for you<br />
creatively. A laptop with photoediting<br />
s<strong>of</strong>tware is desirable<br />
but not essential.<br />
// Friday 4th<br />
7pm<br />
RWA Annual Dinner<br />
and Auction<br />
A limited number <strong>of</strong> tickets<br />
are now available. For more<br />
information, or to purchase<br />
a ticket, please contact Anouk<br />
Mercier on 0117 973 5129 or<br />
at anouk.mercier@rwa.org.uk<br />
// Saturday 5th<br />
Registration<br />
10am – 12 noon<br />
Photo Marathon 2011<br />
£7 in advance, £10 on <strong>the</strong> day.<br />
Don’t worry, <strong>the</strong>re’s no running<br />
involved. The event is a day to<br />
challenge you to think creatively,<br />
meet new people and have some<br />
fun. Each entrant will receive a<br />
disposable camera and a list <strong>of</strong><br />
topics to capture. This event<br />
will be run by Second Look.<br />
For booking information<br />
please visit www.bfop.org or<br />
www.secondlook.org.uk<br />
2pm<br />
Open Photography 2<br />
Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Peter Ford RWA.<br />
Free with exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Saturday 19th<br />
2pm<br />
RWA Friends AGM<br />
2pm<br />
to March<br />
Open Photography 2<br />
Gallery Tour<br />
Led by Tamany Baker, member<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> selection committee. Free<br />
with exhibition admission fee.<br />
// Saturday 26th<br />
11am – 12.30pm<br />
Talk by Tamany Baker<br />
Photographer and member <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> selection committee for Open<br />
Photography 2.<br />
2 – 2.30pm<br />
A Series <strong>of</strong> Portfolio<br />
Review Sessions with<br />
Tamany Baker<br />
Both events free <strong>of</strong> charge;<br />
booking is essential. Please book<br />
online at www.bfop.org.<br />
Running throughout this period<br />
will be <strong>the</strong> RWA Art History Day<br />
Schools. Please keep an eye on <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA website for more details or<br />
sign up through <strong>the</strong> Latest News<br />
page to receive information.<br />
April<br />
// Saturday 2nd<br />
11am – 12.30pm<br />
Film Photography in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Digital Age – Martin<br />
Edwards<br />
Personal views on <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong><br />
silver-based and alternative<br />
photographic processes plus a<br />
look at analogue photography<br />
and processes from a selection<br />
<strong>of</strong> local photographers.<br />
2 – 2.30pm<br />
Colour Management<br />
– Andy Johnson from<br />
Calumet<br />
Join Andy Johnson who will be<br />
discussing colour management<br />
from a photographer’s perspective.<br />
Learn how to maximise <strong>the</strong><br />
potential <strong>of</strong> your images and use<br />
colour pr<strong>of</strong>iles to prepare images<br />
for printing.<br />
Both events RWA Fedden Gallery,<br />
free <strong>of</strong> charge; booking is essential.<br />
Please book online at www.bfop.org.<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
7
Practice<br />
based<br />
master<br />
classes<br />
8 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
Introducing<br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA’s new<br />
programme <strong>of</strong><br />
master classes<br />
Painted Land<br />
Stewart Geddes RWA<br />
Monday 18 – Wednesday 20 April 2011<br />
Stewart Geddes, until recently Head <strong>of</strong> Painting at Cardiff<br />
School <strong>of</strong> Art and Design, looks at developing landscape<br />
painting as an equivalent to experience and sensation:<br />
an extension <strong>of</strong> observation.<br />
Revised Impressions<br />
Peter Ford RE RWA IAPMA<br />
Monday 11 – Wednesday 13 April 2011<br />
Chance and risk-taking as routes to new images in etching,<br />
relief printing and constructing collagraphs. Includes<br />
printing without a press and an introduction<br />
to bookplate design.<br />
Arts School 9.45am – 5.00pm: £150/£90 (conc) per person<br />
(£10 materials supplement for <strong>the</strong> printmaking course).<br />
Hotel discounts available. Please call 0117 973 5129.<br />
Hold your special event and entertain your<br />
guests in <strong>the</strong> magnificent RWA building,<br />
with exhibitions acting as a unique backdrop.<br />
The galleries <strong>of</strong>fer a flexible space and full<br />
facilities which can be tailored to suit your<br />
event, from day-time business meetings<br />
to evening functions for up to 400 people.<br />
Hire costs from £150 to £2000 per event.<br />
Contact Anouk Mercier on 0117 973 5129<br />
or at anouk.mercier@rwa.org.uk<br />
Open Photography<br />
Exhibition<br />
20 Feb - 5 Apr 2011<br />
A call for work with<br />
contemporary approaches<br />
to photography in art<br />
and artwork involving<br />
photographic processes.<br />
Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong> Academy<br />
Queen's Road • Bristol BS8 1PX<br />
0117 973 5129<br />
w w . w r g.uk w a . o r<br />
• Award ceremonies<br />
• Receptions<br />
• Weddings<br />
• Conferences<br />
• Lectures<br />
• Dinners<br />
CALL FOR ENTRIES<br />
For fur<strong>the</strong>r information on submitting<br />
please email your details to: openphotography@rwa.org.uk<br />
Hire <strong>the</strong> RWA Galleries<br />
for your special event<br />
// RWA Director: Trystan Hawkins<br />
Where <strong>the</strong>re’s<br />
a will...<br />
I have been in post for over three<br />
months, getting to know everyone,<br />
finding out more about <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
and developing our future plans.<br />
Soon, <strong>the</strong> RWA will have a new café,<br />
improved physical access and dedicated<br />
spaces for younger people, bringing<br />
more visitors than ever into this<br />
prestigious building.<br />
We have also been refining our plan<br />
to upgrade our galleries in order to<br />
exhibit work from collections which<br />
to date, we have been unable to show.<br />
I’m seeking new ways to involve<br />
artists at different stages in <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
careers through a number <strong>of</strong> innovative<br />
membership initiatives which I will be<br />
announcing in February.<br />
Finally, I have been looking at<br />
safeguarding <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
for generations to come:<br />
158 Autumn Open Exhibition // visitors thoughts<br />
There’s a lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> work here<br />
that I really,<br />
really like.<br />
A friend and I<br />
were playing<br />
<strong>the</strong> game <strong>of</strong>:<br />
which one<br />
would you<br />
have most<br />
liked to have<br />
done, and<br />
which would<br />
you most like<br />
to take home<br />
and she chose<br />
<strong>the</strong> same<br />
painting for<br />
each category.<br />
I haven’t<br />
decided yet.<br />
Sophie<br />
<strong>Howard</strong>:<br />
Sculptor, 53<br />
I think it’s<br />
very good<br />
and I like <strong>the</strong><br />
ones that have<br />
meaning.<br />
I like <strong>the</strong><br />
drawing<br />
(by Helenka<br />
Janeckova)<br />
I also like <strong>the</strong><br />
painting with<br />
<strong>the</strong> robots<br />
and <strong>the</strong> cities,<br />
showing how<br />
much <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
developing.<br />
Jonjo Cordy:<br />
Student, 11<br />
Some<br />
very good<br />
stuff here,<br />
surprisingly.<br />
Much better<br />
than some<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Opens<br />
I’ve attended.<br />
More quality<br />
work, and<br />
much more<br />
work on show.<br />
I just wish I<br />
had <strong>the</strong> dosh<br />
to buy it and<br />
<strong>the</strong> space to<br />
hang it.<br />
John<br />
Callaghan:<br />
Artist, 59<br />
Two extraordinary ladies... one RWA<br />
Without <strong>the</strong> foresight and generosity<br />
<strong>of</strong> Ellen Sharples and Augusta Talboys,<br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA may never have gained such<br />
a prestigious building or extensive<br />
permanent collection.<br />
In 1849 Mrs Sharples left a gift in her<br />
will allowing <strong>the</strong> RWA to start building<br />
its beautiful galleries. In 1941 a gift in<br />
<strong>the</strong> will <strong>of</strong> Mrs Talboys set up a fund to<br />
allow <strong>the</strong> RWA to buy work each year to<br />
build its collection.<br />
Today, you can help <strong>the</strong> RWA with a<br />
gift in your will. Any size <strong>of</strong> gift will help<br />
bring <strong>the</strong> most talented visual artists into<br />
<strong>the</strong> daily lives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>England</strong>. It will mean that your children,<br />
grandchildren, and even <strong>the</strong>ir children<br />
will be inspired to come back again<br />
and again.<br />
Find out more about leaving a legacy<br />
by contacting Anouk Mercier:<br />
0117 906 7600 anouk.mercier@rwa.org.uk<br />
I think <strong>the</strong><br />
158 RWA<br />
Autumn Open<br />
Exhibition is<br />
better than<br />
<strong>the</strong> 157.<br />
I like (no 71)<br />
I think it’s<br />
well worth<br />
£1200.<br />
It’s very<br />
enigmatic;<br />
reminds me<br />
<strong>of</strong> Giacometti.<br />
I might buy it.<br />
Corinne<br />
Fitzpatrick:<br />
Architect, 46<br />
I really like<br />
this year’s<br />
show, one <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> strongest<br />
for <strong>the</strong> past<br />
few years.<br />
There are<br />
plenty <strong>of</strong><br />
strong works<br />
to see, in<br />
all kinds<br />
<strong>of</strong> mediums.<br />
I’ll have to<br />
come back<br />
and spend<br />
more time;<br />
it’s impossible<br />
to see<br />
everything<br />
in one visit.<br />
Merhrdad<br />
Bordbar:<br />
Artist, 27<br />
Launch <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
Patrons Scheme<br />
2011 will see <strong>the</strong> launch <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA Patrons<br />
Scheme (formerly <strong>the</strong> RWA Benefactors<br />
Scheme). Patrons can support <strong>the</strong> RWA at<br />
different levels, with a choice <strong>of</strong> three types <strong>of</strong><br />
membership: Silver, Gold and Platinum. As well<br />
as priority access, Patrons will benefit from<br />
a range <strong>of</strong> exclusive opportunities, including<br />
enjoying relationships with key movers and<br />
shakers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA and a bespoke programme<br />
<strong>of</strong> events.<br />
Leading on from Benefactors, our Patrons<br />
will continue to play a vital role in supporting<br />
<strong>the</strong> realisation <strong>of</strong> projects and events at <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA and, in doing so, ensure <strong>the</strong> success<br />
and growth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Academy. As work begins<br />
on new and exciting projects, including <strong>the</strong><br />
introduction <strong>of</strong> climate controls in <strong>the</strong> Main<br />
Galleries, <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> a new Education<br />
Programme and <strong>the</strong> building <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new café,<br />
it is more than ever an exciting time to become<br />
an RWA Patron.<br />
If you are interested in becoming a Patron,<br />
or to find out more information about <strong>the</strong><br />
scheme, please contact Anouk Mercier:<br />
t: 0117 906 7600 e: anouk.mercier@rwa.org.uk<br />
I was here<br />
last year and<br />
this show<br />
is so much<br />
more vibrant.<br />
When I came<br />
in, I could<br />
immediately<br />
feel <strong>the</strong><br />
difference;<br />
<strong>the</strong> work<br />
seems to have<br />
been hung<br />
very carefully.<br />
My work was<br />
hung last<br />
year, and this<br />
year. I shall<br />
return to see<br />
more <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
show.<br />
Helenka<br />
Janeckova:<br />
Artist, 31<br />
I really like<br />
<strong>the</strong> artwork<br />
but some<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m I<br />
don’t really<br />
understand.<br />
I like quite<br />
a few <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
sculptures<br />
and <strong>the</strong><br />
painting<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trees<br />
shown from<br />
a distance.<br />
Lydia Ness:<br />
Student, 11<br />
I’ve been<br />
coming<br />
here for ten<br />
years and<br />
I think it’s<br />
particularly<br />
excellent this<br />
year. More<br />
modern, quite<br />
a lot <strong>of</strong> Cubist<br />
work. Overall<br />
though, it’s<br />
too eclectic<br />
and difficult<br />
to take in all<br />
<strong>the</strong> styles<br />
on show. It’s<br />
great to be<br />
able to buy<br />
work as well.<br />
Paul Wild:<br />
IT specialist,<br />
42<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
9
10 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
A N E X H I B I T I O N<br />
Drawing and painting courses<br />
in a beautiful light, airy space<br />
www.drawingschool.org.uk<br />
BRISTOL’S JAMAICA STREET ARTISTS TAKE<br />
OVER THE RWA ALONGSIDE THE LATE WORKS OF<br />
THE MASTERLY MATISSE (1950-1954) CREATING<br />
A DYNAMIC CONTRAST OF OLD AND NEW.<br />
An eclectic exhibition including workshops, tours and talks<br />
Private view 7th January 2011<br />
Opens 8th January to 8th February 2011<br />
AT THE ROYAL WEST OF ENGLAND ACADEMY<br />
Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX / 0117 973 5129 / www.rwa.org.uk<br />
Also by Jamaica Street Artists<br />
THEARTBOX<br />
A unique Christmas pop-up shop and gallery<br />
Opening night and private view 1st December 2010 6-9pm<br />
Opens 1st December to 23rd from Wednesday to Sunday<br />
11am-6pm and Thursday late nights 11am-9pm<br />
31 COLLEGE GREEN, BRISTOL<br />
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION<br />
Please contact Jamaica Street Artists at<br />
JSADEVELOPMENT09@YAHOO.CO.UK<br />
39 Jamaica Street, Stokes Cr<strong>of</strong>t, Bristol, BS2 8JP<br />
Outside <strong>the</strong> Studio<br />
// Inside <strong>the</strong> Gallery<br />
The RWA will be starting<br />
<strong>the</strong> New Year with a bang,<br />
celebrating <strong>the</strong> diversity and<br />
creativity <strong>of</strong> Bristol based<br />
artists in an exhibition entitled<br />
Inside-Out. We have invited<br />
studio group Jamaica Street<br />
Artists to exhibit throughout<br />
three <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> galleries, running<br />
alongside its exhibition <strong>of</strong><br />
Matisse’s découpage.<br />
The exhibition displays<br />
<strong>the</strong> heterogeneous nature<br />
<strong>of</strong> Jamaica Street Artists,<br />
paying equal respect to <strong>the</strong><br />
multitude <strong>of</strong> mediums and<br />
disciplines housed within its<br />
walls. Amongst <strong>the</strong> array <strong>of</strong><br />
painting, illustration, ceramics,<br />
sculpture, photography and<br />
film will sit several unique<br />
installations, including plans<br />
to recreate an interior space<br />
from <strong>the</strong> studio. The proposed<br />
replica will allow a different<br />
artist to work from within<br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA each day, taking <strong>the</strong><br />
With thanks<br />
to our supporters:<br />
friends<br />
concept <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> studio outside<br />
its traditional sphere and<br />
transplanting it into <strong>the</strong> very<br />
public space <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gallery.<br />
Inside-Out is streng<strong>the</strong>ned<br />
by an enlightening narrative<br />
<strong>of</strong> Jamaica Street Artists<br />
impressive history, from<br />
its disparate beginnings<br />
to <strong>the</strong> gradual formation<br />
<strong>of</strong> its current coherent<br />
identity. Highlights include<br />
international art fair Retox,<br />
its numerous Open Studios,<br />
and 2009’s successful auction<br />
and exhibition at Bristol City<br />
Museum and Art Gallery.<br />
An accompanying<br />
programme <strong>of</strong> screenings,<br />
talks and tours from some <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> studio’s well-known names<br />
also provides an additional<br />
insight into <strong>the</strong> secret life <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> studio, bringing <strong>the</strong> art<br />
and exhibition to life. For more<br />
information please visit <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA website – www.rwa.org.uk.<br />
2008 marked a new<br />
era at <strong>the</strong> RWA with<br />
<strong>the</strong> galleries being<br />
taken over entirely by<br />
photographers for <strong>the</strong><br />
very first time. Due<br />
to <strong>the</strong> popularity <strong>of</strong><br />
this exhibition it will<br />
be returning in early<br />
2011 with some new<br />
exciting developments.<br />
Over 400 works will be<br />
displayed by amateur and<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional photographers<br />
alike, producing an array<br />
<strong>of</strong> colour and variety in <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA galleries. The works<br />
will be chosen by a panel <strong>of</strong><br />
esteemed judges including<br />
Dr Blu Tirohl (Senior<br />
Lecturer in Photography at<br />
UWE), Tamany Baker (1st<br />
prize winner for ‘Fine Art –<br />
Andrew Hood – Ashok Road, New Delhi<br />
Open Photography 2<br />
Conceptual and Constructed’<br />
photography at <strong>the</strong> Sony<br />
World Photography Awards<br />
2009), Philip Searle (organiser<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bristol Festival <strong>of</strong><br />
Photography and owner <strong>of</strong><br />
Photographique), Trystan<br />
Hawkins (RWA Director),<br />
Simon Quadrat (President<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA) and Peter Ford<br />
(Executive Vice President <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA).<br />
This year’s invited artists<br />
include Barry Cawston (winner<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 2008 RWA Purchase<br />
Prize), Richard Cox and<br />
Sachiyo Nishimura.<br />
The RWA is very pleased<br />
to be working in partnership<br />
with Bristol Festival <strong>of</strong><br />
Photography this year.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> main festival<br />
will not be returning until<br />
2012, <strong>the</strong> festival organisers<br />
will be putting on a number <strong>of</strong><br />
exciting workshops and talks<br />
throughout Open Photography<br />
to launch next year’s festival.<br />
For more information on <strong>the</strong>se<br />
please keep an eye on <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
website – www.rwa.org.uk.<br />
Awards this year include<br />
an editorial feature and a<br />
subscription to Printmaking<br />
Today for one year, a free<br />
place on a two-day polymer<br />
photogravure workshop at<br />
Spike Print Studio and a £500<br />
cash prize and two years free<br />
membership <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Friends <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA.<br />
CALL FOR ENTRIES<br />
Selection will be made by<br />
digital image. Each artist may<br />
submit up to four works online<br />
for £20 (£18 for Friends).<br />
To register your interest in<br />
submitting and to find out<br />
more please sign up through<br />
<strong>the</strong> RWA website (see <strong>the</strong><br />
open exhibitions page) or<br />
email openphotography@rwa.<br />
org.uk quoting ‘RWA Open<br />
Photography exhibition 2011’.<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
11
Academicians’<br />
news<br />
12 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
Following on from his<br />
successful one-man<br />
exhibition in <strong>the</strong> New<br />
Gallery this summer,<br />
Martin Bentham’s<br />
catalogues are available<br />
in <strong>the</strong> RWA shop for £6.<br />
Chris Dunseath will<br />
be presenting work<br />
alongside artists: Chooc<br />
Ly Tan, Geraldine Cox,<br />
Sam Knowles and Agata<br />
Agatowska as part <strong>of</strong><br />
‘Beyond Ourselves’.<br />
This exhibition, which<br />
is coinciding with <strong>the</strong><br />
British Art Show in<br />
Nottingham, will bring<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r five innovative<br />
contemporary artists,<br />
demonstrating <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
different emotional<br />
responses to<br />
understanding <strong>the</strong><br />
natural phenomena<br />
in our universe. The<br />
varied works respond<br />
directly to man’s quest<br />
to understand <strong>the</strong> world<br />
and his place within it,<br />
with some marvelling<br />
at our physical laws<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>rs playfully<br />
imagining how <strong>the</strong>se<br />
might be overturned.<br />
Exploring man’s<br />
passionate engagement<br />
with both physics<br />
and philosophy on an<br />
everyday level, ‘Beyond<br />
Ourselves’ aims to<br />
inspire a new approach<br />
for contemporary<br />
artists. 16 November<br />
– 2 December 2010<br />
at Nottingham Lace<br />
Market Gallery<br />
25 Stoney Street<br />
The Lace Market<br />
Nottingham<br />
NG1 1LP from Mon –<br />
Fri 9am – 4.30pm<br />
t: 0115 9 10 4 747<br />
www.beyondourselves.eu<br />
The Exhibition will<br />
also travel to The Royal<br />
Society 16 February –<br />
April 2011 as part <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir 350th anniversary<br />
celebrations and is<br />
one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first art<br />
exhibitions to be held<br />
<strong>the</strong>re. The Royal Society<br />
London 6-9 Carlton<br />
House Terrace London<br />
SW1Y 5AG. Contact<br />
t: +44 (0)20 7451 2500<br />
for fur<strong>the</strong>r details.<br />
RWA Vice-President<br />
Peter Ford is one <strong>of</strong><br />
three artists receiving<br />
<strong>the</strong> main prizes at<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1st International<br />
Biennale <strong>of</strong> Small<br />
Prints to be held in<br />
Guangzhou, south<br />
China. Guangzhou,<br />
a port on <strong>the</strong> Pearl<br />
River, formerly known<br />
as Canton, is one <strong>of</strong><br />
seven partner cities<br />
twinned with Bristol.<br />
In December 2010 Peter,<br />
who is now a member<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bristol China<br />
Partnership, will attend<br />
<strong>the</strong> prize awarding<br />
ceremonies, <strong>the</strong> opening<br />
banquet and subsequent<br />
conference. An article<br />
in Chinese about Peter’s<br />
prints and paperworks<br />
is concurrently<br />
appearing in <strong>the</strong><br />
latest issue <strong>of</strong> Chinese<br />
Printmaking – surely<br />
a first for an RWA<br />
member.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>r east, in<br />
September 2010, a<br />
large relief print<br />
on handmade paper<br />
was accepted for <strong>the</strong><br />
collection <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Wonju,<br />
S.Korea Hanji Paper<br />
Research Institute.<br />
This work had been on<br />
exhibition in Wonju<br />
where Peter attended an<br />
international congress<br />
on traditional Korean<br />
paper. Also in August<br />
2010, three small<br />
etchings were accepted<br />
for <strong>the</strong> collection <strong>of</strong><br />
prints and drawings<br />
held at <strong>the</strong> famous<br />
Pushkin Museum in<br />
Moscow.<br />
Peter Ford with<br />
Stewart Geddes will be<br />
presenting <strong>the</strong> first <strong>of</strong> a<br />
series <strong>of</strong> practice based<br />
RWA master classes<br />
in April 2011 – see<br />
advertisement page 8.<br />
Alfred Rozelaar<br />
Green will feature in an<br />
exhibition dedicated to<br />
‘The St. John’s Wood Art<br />
School and The Anglo-<br />
French Art Centre’.<br />
This exhibition will<br />
celebrate <strong>the</strong> rise <strong>of</strong> this<br />
influential school and<br />
<strong>the</strong> artists who studied<br />
and taught <strong>the</strong>re. The<br />
exhibition will run<br />
from 19 November – 24<br />
December 2010 at <strong>the</strong><br />
Boundary Gallery 98<br />
Boundary Road<br />
London NW8 0RH<br />
t: 020 7624 1126<br />
e: agi@boundarygallery.com<br />
www.boundarygallery.com<br />
Ken <strong>Howard</strong>’s oneman<br />
exhibition, ‘An<br />
Artist’s Odyssey’ will<br />
display 70 paintings<br />
including recent works<br />
from India, Crete,<br />
Venice, London and<br />
Cornwall. Ken <strong>Howard</strong><br />
will also be launching<br />
his autobiography,<br />
‘Light and Dark’<br />
with a signing on<br />
26 January 10am – 5pm.<br />
Exhibition opens 26<br />
January – 12 February<br />
2011 from 10am – 5pm<br />
at <strong>the</strong> Richard Green<br />
Gallery 147 New Bond<br />
Street London W1S<br />
2TS t: 0207 493 3939<br />
e: paintings@richardgreen.com<br />
Work by Honorary<br />
Academician, John<br />
Hoyland, will be<br />
celebrated during<br />
an exhibition at Yale<br />
Centre for British<br />
Art. ‘The Independent<br />
Eye: Contemporary<br />
British Art from <strong>the</strong><br />
Collection <strong>of</strong> Samuel<br />
and Gabrielle Lurie’<br />
will display works by<br />
post-war British artists,<br />
including Patrick<br />
Caulfield, John Walker,<br />
R.B. Kitaj and <strong>Howard</strong><br />
Hodgkin and marks <strong>the</strong><br />
first museum exhibition<br />
<strong>of</strong> selected works from<br />
<strong>the</strong> Lurie collection <strong>of</strong><br />
British art, which will<br />
be gifted to <strong>the</strong> Yale<br />
Centre for British Art.<br />
John Hoyland said<br />
this about his medium:<br />
“Paintings are <strong>the</strong>re to<br />
be experienced, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
are events. They are<br />
also to be meditated<br />
on and to be enjoyed<br />
by <strong>the</strong> senses, to be<br />
felt through <strong>the</strong> eye…<br />
Paintings are not to<br />
be reasoned with,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y are not to be<br />
understood, <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
to be recognised.”<br />
Independent Eye runs<br />
from 16 September –<br />
2 January 2011 at <strong>the</strong><br />
Yale Centre for British<br />
Art 254 College Street<br />
New Haven Connecticut<br />
06511 United States<br />
t: (203) 432-2800<br />
Sarah van Nierkerk<br />
will feature in an<br />
exhibition at Bedales<br />
Gallery titled PRINTS.<br />
As a former pupil <strong>of</strong><br />
Bedales Schools, Sarah<br />
van Nierkerk has<br />
agreed to show a small<br />
selection <strong>of</strong> her work<br />
alongside work from<br />
John <strong>Howard</strong> Print<br />
Studios in Cornwall.<br />
Exhibition runs from<br />
8 November – 4 December,<br />
Mon – Fri 2 – 5pm<br />
Sat 10am – 1pm with<br />
free admission. The<br />
exhibition will be<br />
closed 2 October and<br />
20 November. Bedales<br />
School Church Road<br />
Steep Petersfield GU32<br />
2DG t: 01730 300 100<br />
www.bedales.org.uk<br />
Maxine Relton will<br />
be leading ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
small group trip<br />
through South India<br />
on 12 – 27 February<br />
2011, in support <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Tamil Charity<br />
SCAD (Social Change<br />
and Development).<br />
‘Sketchbook Journey to<br />
India’ is an opportunity<br />
to get close to <strong>the</strong> heart<br />
<strong>of</strong> Indian culture,<br />
beyond <strong>the</strong> tourist trail,<br />
and to develop your<br />
drawing skills. Nonsketchers<br />
and beginners<br />
are equally welcome.<br />
Contact Maxine<br />
t: 01453 832 497 or<br />
e: maxine.relton@<br />
tiscali.co.uk<br />
1 Chris Dunseath, Corrugated Space,<br />
mulberry paper, 45cm x 29cm x 48cm<br />
2 Ken <strong>Howard</strong>, Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur,<br />
oil on board 25.4 x 30.5cm<br />
3 Ken <strong>Howard</strong>, S. Giorgio Maggiore,<br />
Summer Light, oil on board 101.6 x 121.9cm<br />
4 Exhibition opening, Hangu, N.E. China<br />
Peter Ford<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
Peter Reddick RWA<br />
(1924 – 2010)<br />
Remembered by George Tute MA (RCA)<br />
RWA (Hons) RE<br />
Peter was one <strong>of</strong> our foremost artist/wood<br />
engravers, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new generations <strong>of</strong><br />
artists following on from <strong>the</strong> great pre-war<br />
period <strong>of</strong> wood engraving.<br />
Peter’s time at <strong>the</strong> Slade School <strong>of</strong> Fine<br />
Art gave him a thorough grounding in<br />
drawing, composition, an understanding<br />
<strong>of</strong> tone and colour and <strong>of</strong> craftsmanship.<br />
The scintillating quality <strong>of</strong> his engraving<br />
was a feature giving his work a<br />
characteristic signature.<br />
Peter, with his wife and children, left<br />
to work in Ghana (1960-1962) as lecturer<br />
in commercial design at Kumasi College.<br />
He embarked on wood engravings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Ghanaian scenery and it was through<br />
<strong>the</strong>se and o<strong>the</strong>r work for Penguin books<br />
for example, that <strong>the</strong> public in <strong>the</strong> UK<br />
first knew his work through Motif No 7.<br />
Peter returned to Britain in 1962<br />
and took up a lecturing post in design<br />
at Glasgow School <strong>of</strong> Art (1962-1967),<br />
finally settling with his family in Bristol<br />
as lecturer in illustration on <strong>the</strong> Diploma<br />
in Art and Design Degree course (now BA,<br />
Fine Art and Design).<br />
Parallel with his teaching career Peter<br />
made wood engraved illustrations for many<br />
notable publishers such as <strong>the</strong> Folio Society,<br />
Readers Digest, <strong>the</strong> Limited Editions Club<br />
<strong>of</strong> New York, The Fleece Press, The Old Stile<br />
Press, <strong>the</strong> Gregynog Press, <strong>of</strong> which he was<br />
made Gregynog Fine Arts Fellow between<br />
1979- 1980. Notable among his output were<br />
illustrations for <strong>the</strong> novels <strong>of</strong> Hardy and<br />
Trollope published by <strong>the</strong> Folio Society.<br />
However distinguished Peter was<br />
as artist and wood engraver, it did not<br />
overshadow his o<strong>the</strong>r strengths – <strong>the</strong><br />
attributes <strong>of</strong> generosity and kindness,<br />
his desire to involve himself with students<br />
in, as well as out <strong>of</strong>, College, his ambition<br />
to promote printmaking. He had a very<br />
heightened sense <strong>of</strong> social responsibility,<br />
wanting to give back his experience, his<br />
knowledge, and his skill as a craftsman,<br />
to those who did not necessarily have <strong>the</strong><br />
benefit <strong>of</strong> a full time art education. He did<br />
this without monetary reward and in doing<br />
so followed <strong>the</strong> tradition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Quaker<br />
movement, <strong>of</strong> which he had been a member<br />
since <strong>the</strong> age <strong>of</strong> sixteen.<br />
Peter was a founder member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Bristol Art Space and Chairman <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Spike<br />
Island Printmaking workshop. He was a<br />
member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Society <strong>of</strong> Wood engravers<br />
and a retired member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal Society <strong>of</strong><br />
Painter Etchers. Throughout his career he<br />
exhibited regularly and had several one-man<br />
shows in Bristol (1980/ 1982/ 1996) and a<br />
recent Retrospective at Spike Island. His last<br />
one-man show <strong>of</strong> wood engravings that I<br />
had <strong>the</strong> pleasure <strong>of</strong> seeing was at Newnham<br />
on Severn in August, where Peter quietly<br />
sitting on his chair, enjoyed <strong>the</strong> homage <strong>of</strong><br />
many admirers, a rare achievement to have<br />
in one’s own lifetime.<br />
A major archive <strong>of</strong> his work is held in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Library <strong>of</strong> Manchester Metropolitan<br />
<strong>University</strong>.<br />
Peter will be sadly missed but <strong>the</strong><br />
memory <strong>of</strong> him will always kindle warm<br />
thoughts and a sense <strong>of</strong> optimism and<br />
example amongst those who knew him<br />
and his work will be a lasting memorial.<br />
Frances Seymour RWA<br />
(1931-2010)<br />
Remembered by Mike Jenner FRIBA FRSA RWA<br />
Frances Conway, initially trained in<br />
business, had no formal art education.<br />
She was married first to Robert Hurdle,<br />
who was <strong>the</strong>n on <strong>the</strong> staff <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bristol Art<br />
School, with whom she had two sons and a<br />
daughter, and during that time she began to<br />
paint. After <strong>the</strong> marriage was dissolved she<br />
married <strong>the</strong> late writer John Seymour, with<br />
whom she had a daughter.<br />
She was elected an Associate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
RWA in 1963, and a full Academician in<br />
1993. She exhibited at <strong>the</strong> Arnolfini in<br />
Bristol and at a gallery in Biarritz, had a<br />
one-woman show at Bristol Arts Centre<br />
and was a finalist in Courage’s ‘Bristol 600’<br />
competition. In 2003 she served on <strong>the</strong><br />
selection and hanging committee for <strong>the</strong><br />
‘Tooth and Claw’ exhibition.<br />
Fiercely independent, she developed a<br />
unique style which reflected her interest<br />
in people, who appeared in almost all her<br />
paintings. In her sixties she travelled<br />
alone to Morocco, returning with masses<br />
<strong>of</strong> drawings and watercolours. On one<br />
occasion, when she was drawing a group<br />
<strong>of</strong> children in a remote village, she was<br />
suddenly surrounded by <strong>the</strong>ir increasingly<br />
angry and incomprehensibly shrieking<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>rs. She was saved by <strong>the</strong> local Imam<br />
who fortunately could speak a little English<br />
and explained what she was doing. The<br />
upshot was that <strong>the</strong> Imam and his wife<br />
invited her to dinner, and for <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> her<br />
stay she was lionised by <strong>the</strong> whole village.<br />
In her seventies, after an adult lifetime<br />
in Clifton, Bristol she uprooted to Liverpool<br />
where one <strong>of</strong> her daughters lived, and<br />
opened <strong>the</strong> Atelier Gallery in which she<br />
exhibited her own work and that <strong>of</strong><br />
many o<strong>the</strong>rs. Frances Seymour died<br />
on 25 September after a long illness.<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
13
Academicians’ news<br />
The Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>England</strong> Academy HHHH<br />
The Bristol Academy <strong>of</strong> Painters, sculptors<br />
and architects was founded in 1844. In<br />
1845 it received a gift <strong>of</strong> £2000 from Ellen<br />
Sharples, wife <strong>of</strong> a painter and mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong><br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r, and on her death in 1849 she left<br />
a fur<strong>the</strong>r £3400. These sums,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n very large, decided <strong>the</strong><br />
academicians to build <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
own premises. Two architects<br />
submitted designs and <strong>the</strong><br />
trustees decided to build to<br />
Charles Underwood’s plans<br />
and J.H. Hirst’s elevations (a<br />
dreadful decision which must<br />
have been a nightmare for both<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m). The building, with<br />
Underwood’s superb top-lit<br />
galleries, and with uninspired<br />
façade sculptures by <strong>the</strong> overprolific<br />
John Thomas (almost<br />
certainly <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> an<br />
assistant) was opened in 1858.<br />
Hirst’s façade was highly<br />
attractive, with <strong>the</strong> still existing five arches<br />
on <strong>the</strong> first floor <strong>the</strong>n open as a loggia,<br />
and a huge monumental double flight <strong>of</strong><br />
external steps leading up to it. By 1909 <strong>the</strong><br />
academicians were forced to recognise that<br />
having to run up and down stairs in <strong>the</strong><br />
rain was absurd, so <strong>the</strong> free services <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
architectural pr<strong>of</strong>ession were called upon<br />
again. The resulting dull façade was an<br />
14 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
unhappy mixture <strong>of</strong> Hirst’s originally virile<br />
but now emasculated upper floor and attic,<br />
and a routine Edwardian-French base. The<br />
alterations were a disaster, but produced<br />
two great internal benefits. The building<br />
works much better<br />
than it did before,<br />
and <strong>the</strong> stair and<br />
entrance hall is a<br />
major triumph. The<br />
“<br />
This is one<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> three<br />
or four finest<br />
classical<br />
interiors in<br />
Bristol.<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r sombre but<br />
immensely dignified<br />
marble stair rises to<br />
a landing and <strong>the</strong>n<br />
divides to ascend<br />
on each side up to<br />
<strong>the</strong> newly-enclosed<br />
loggia. Above <strong>the</strong><br />
stair is a dome,<br />
and in <strong>the</strong> lunettes<br />
lovely murals by<br />
Walter Crane. His<br />
colourful decorative<br />
style is <strong>the</strong> perfect foil to <strong>the</strong> cool marble<br />
below. This is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> three or four finest<br />
classical interiors in Bristol; <strong>the</strong> whole<br />
building is superior to <strong>the</strong> ra<strong>the</strong>r leaden<br />
municipal museum and art gallery.<br />
Abridged from Bristol’s 100 Best Buildings<br />
by Mike Jenner, published by Redcliffe<br />
Press, November 2010. S<strong>of</strong>tback £16.95<br />
Art Blogs<br />
Internet art blogs are<br />
ten a penny. Greg Reitschlin<br />
selects some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> best:<br />
UK Street Art<br />
Graffiti, street art,<br />
exhibitions around <strong>the</strong> UK.<br />
www.ukstreetart<br />
Things Magazine<br />
An online journal about<br />
objects and meanings.<br />
www.thingsmagazine.net<br />
Jonathon Jones on Art<br />
Established Guardian art<br />
critic speaks his mind<br />
www.guardian.<br />
co.uk/artanddesign/<br />
jonathonjonesblog<br />
Saatchi<br />
Online tv, magazine, videos,<br />
features, news, reviews<br />
and interviews<br />
www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/<br />
blogon/<br />
Telegraph<br />
Architecture, art, jazz…<br />
it’s all here.<br />
Blogs.telegraph.co.uk<br />
/culture/art<br />
The Art Blog<br />
Named as one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> top art<br />
blogs by Art In America<br />
magazine<br />
– reviews, thoughts, gossip<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>artblog.org<br />
ArtMoCo<br />
Modern contemporary design<br />
and architecture<br />
www.mocoloco.com/art<br />
Art Culture<br />
International art and design<br />
news, tailored towards <strong>the</strong><br />
creative mind<br />
www.artculture.com<br />
The Acrylic Painting Course<br />
An acrylic painting blog,<br />
<strong>of</strong>fering hints, tips and lessons<br />
www.apaintingcourse.<br />
blogspot.com<br />
Peter Swan RWA<br />
Our very own Peter Swan’s blog<br />
www.peterswanrwa.<br />
blogspot.com<br />
AUREA<br />
ANTIQUES • FURNITURE • LAMPS • TABLEWARE • GLASS • ACCESSORIES • FABRICS • CURTAINS<br />
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RWA 1.4page_xmas_2010.indd 1 26/10/2010 10:18:21<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
15
<strong>Flesh</strong><br />
<strong>Howard</strong> <strong>Jacobson</strong><br />
talks to Simon Baker<br />
16 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
I am meeting novelist <strong>Howard</strong> <strong>Jacobson</strong>,<br />
soon to be Man Booker prize-winner,<br />
at <strong>the</strong> Groucho Club in Dean Street. It is<br />
5pm on a fine September day and serious<br />
conversations are gearing up in <strong>the</strong> bars <strong>of</strong><br />
Soho. A few yards down, where Soho gives<br />
way to Chinatown, pink paper hangings<br />
promise a less cerebral entertainment. We<br />
are discussing his programme, made for <strong>the</strong><br />
Channel 4 series: ‘The Genius <strong>of</strong> British Art’,<br />
featuring six personalities celebrating British<br />
art from <strong>the</strong> 16th to <strong>the</strong> 21st Centuries.<br />
:<br />
eroticism,<br />
prudery &<br />
British art<br />
1<br />
2
1 (overleaf)<br />
<strong>Howard</strong><br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong><br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong>’s programme<br />
is entitled, with blunt<br />
frankness: <strong>Flesh</strong>.<br />
As he says: “If you<br />
want to understand a<br />
culture, see how its art<br />
tackles <strong>the</strong> subject <strong>of</strong><br />
sex. Whatever we claim<br />
to think about sex, it is<br />
only in our art that we<br />
tell <strong>the</strong> truth. British<br />
art and literature deny<br />
18 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
2 (overleaf)<br />
Titania<br />
1866<br />
John Simmons<br />
3 Candaules<br />
and Gyges<br />
c 1830<br />
William Etty<br />
4 The Mermaid<br />
1857<br />
Frederick<br />
Lord Leighton<br />
<strong>the</strong> myth, No sex please<br />
we’re British – we take it<br />
too seriously to enjoy<br />
it. The genius <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
British is that we don’t<br />
just do <strong>the</strong> fires <strong>of</strong><br />
love today. We think<br />
about how we will feel<br />
tomorrow. Our art <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> nude is not less<br />
sensual for taking sex<br />
seriously, but more so.”<br />
“<br />
An art, <strong>Jacobson</strong> tells me, that<br />
celebrates richness, fullness,<br />
plenty and excess. To be<br />
embarrassed by it, he argues, is<br />
to be embarrassed by life itself.<br />
3<br />
<strong>Flesh</strong> sets out to celebrate <strong>the</strong> most telling<br />
emanation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British art <strong>of</strong> sexual<br />
desire, its wild fleshiness and torments,<br />
its sweets and sorrows. It is to be found<br />
where we least expect it – in <strong>the</strong> art <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Victorians. An art, <strong>Jacobson</strong> tells me, that<br />
celebrates richness, fullness, plenty and<br />
excess. To be embarrassed by it, he argues,<br />
is to be embarrassed by life itself.<br />
His literary heroes include Tennyson,<br />
Dickens, George Elliot and Hardy all <strong>of</strong><br />
whom wrote about sensual passion and<br />
desire. For <strong>the</strong>m and <strong>the</strong>ir contemporaries<br />
sex was no small matter. Contrary to our<br />
stereotypes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Victorians, for <strong>the</strong>m<br />
sex was an obsession not an aversion.<br />
The great subject <strong>of</strong> Victorian art and<br />
literature is thraldom, thraldom to desire.<br />
To demean this is a slur on <strong>the</strong> English.<br />
Puritanical may not be <strong>the</strong> right word for<br />
<strong>the</strong> Victorians but – so what if it is? And<br />
what if we are shocked by <strong>the</strong>ir depiction<br />
<strong>of</strong> passion in art? “When <strong>the</strong> English<br />
‘do sex’ ”, <strong>Jacobson</strong> says, “we feel that<br />
it is something which will disturb us.”<br />
I ask him about what seems to be his<br />
starting point, namely <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Yorkshire born William Etty (1787-1849)<br />
and his picture <strong>of</strong> Candaules and Gyges.<br />
Etty started painting in <strong>the</strong> 1820s. After<br />
spending two years in Italy he returned<br />
home, dedicated to <strong>the</strong> art <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nude.<br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong> says that Etty changed <strong>the</strong><br />
“temperature <strong>of</strong> British painting”.<br />
He is a hero <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> programme.<br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong> first stumbled on <strong>the</strong><br />
Candaules picture 20 years ago. He explains<br />
it is “about looking” and was important<br />
to him in <strong>the</strong> writing <strong>of</strong> his second novel,<br />
Peeping Tom. Is seeing an act <strong>of</strong> possession,<br />
or <strong>the</strong>ft? Is <strong>the</strong>re a right and wrong<br />
kind <strong>of</strong> seeing? Should we be looking at<br />
all? Etty’s picture depicts <strong>the</strong> shocking<br />
story, told at <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> Heroditus’s<br />
Histories, <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> King <strong>of</strong> Lydia, so erotically<br />
obsessed with his wife that, at <strong>the</strong> risk<br />
<strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong>ir lives, he arranges for ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
man, his general, covertly to see her as she<br />
undresses. <strong>Jacobson</strong> says that today “we<br />
just don’t get it”. It is not an act <strong>of</strong> male<br />
power and dominance but <strong>of</strong> obsessive<br />
desire that beauty should be looked at.<br />
To prepare for <strong>the</strong> programme<br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong> visited Manchester City Art<br />
Gallery where <strong>the</strong>re is a wall <strong>of</strong> Etty’s<br />
nudes including Ulysses and <strong>the</strong> Sirens,<br />
extravagant both in its size and sensuous<br />
figure painting. Two pairs <strong>of</strong> pictures,<br />
English and French hanging toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
in <strong>the</strong> gallery, made <strong>the</strong> point for him,<br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong> explains. I say that a Renoir<br />
nude, which he describes as “fruit”,<br />
seems to me much less significant than<br />
a Sickert nude which <strong>the</strong> programme<br />
shows alongside. He swiftly adds: “ ...and<br />
as a thinking woman, more enticing”.<br />
Comparison between <strong>the</strong> second pair,<br />
a “come on” Sappho by <strong>the</strong> French painter<br />
Charles-August Mengin <strong>of</strong> 1877 and<br />
Syrinx by Arthur Hacker <strong>of</strong> 1892, with<br />
its awkwardness at <strong>the</strong> unwanted surprise<br />
<strong>of</strong> sex, shows <strong>the</strong> English picture to be<br />
<strong>the</strong> more interesting, complicated and<br />
alluring. This, <strong>Jacobson</strong> says, shows <strong>the</strong><br />
advantage <strong>of</strong> a good collection. It gave him<br />
<strong>the</strong> script for <strong>the</strong> programme.<br />
For such provincial collections we<br />
have to thank our philanthropic Victorian<br />
businessmen and industrialists. <strong>Jacobson</strong><br />
says that he wanted to celebrate those<br />
provincial movers and shakers, <strong>the</strong>ir love<br />
<strong>of</strong> art and <strong>the</strong>ir belief in its educational<br />
value. They were not abashed by <strong>the</strong><br />
sensual nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> art which <strong>the</strong>y gave<br />
to <strong>the</strong> institutions which <strong>the</strong>y founded.<br />
They were people <strong>of</strong> high ideals and<br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong> is fascinated by what <strong>the</strong>y<br />
felt would edify <strong>the</strong>ir fellow citizens.<br />
They were not inhibited by taboos.<br />
William Lever presented <strong>the</strong> museum he<br />
built in memory <strong>of</strong> his wife with Alma<br />
Tadema’s highly suggestive Tepidarium<br />
which <strong>Jacobson</strong> describes as a witty<br />
and insolently knowing painting. There<br />
was no cant <strong>the</strong>re. I tell <strong>Jacobson</strong> that,<br />
when he turns to camera and delivers<br />
his polemic championing <strong>the</strong> provincial,<br />
he has me out <strong>of</strong> my seat and cheering.<br />
(“It is to be impervious to <strong>the</strong> winds <strong>of</strong><br />
fashionable modernity which shake capital<br />
cities, to be independent and intransigent<br />
and alive to <strong>the</strong> genius <strong>of</strong> a particular<br />
place, not a citizen <strong>of</strong> everywhere and<br />
nowhere”.) Creating universal art out<br />
<strong>of</strong> a single place is genius.<br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong> also cites his admiration<br />
for John William Waterhouse and his<br />
Manchester picture Hylas and <strong>the</strong><br />
Nymphs shown at <strong>the</strong> RA in 2009.<br />
He cannot understand <strong>the</strong> difficulty<br />
which his friend Waldemar Januszczak<br />
has with this picture while championing<br />
<strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> Jeff Koons, which is known to<br />
be pornographic but accepted because it is<br />
ironic. Hylas succumbs, not to <strong>the</strong> femmes<br />
fatale, but to <strong>the</strong> erotic love in which he<br />
drowns and which <strong>the</strong> artist depicts with<br />
such colour and sensuality.<br />
The human body, he says, is not<br />
celebrated in contemporary British art.<br />
This is a long way from <strong>the</strong> art <strong>of</strong><br />
Sickert and Stanley Spencer. He speaks<br />
emphatically <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> importance, as art, <strong>of</strong><br />
Spencer’s nude portraits <strong>of</strong> Patricia Preece<br />
and <strong>of</strong> his unsparing depiction in <strong>the</strong>m<br />
<strong>of</strong> unattainable passionate desire and <strong>the</strong><br />
sheer cruelty <strong>of</strong> voluptuousness. He fears<br />
that <strong>the</strong> Spencer family will not let <strong>the</strong><br />
programme makers use <strong>the</strong> image <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
“leg <strong>of</strong> mutton” portrait whose influence<br />
can clearly be seen in <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “icy”<br />
Lucien Freud.<br />
How comfortable is <strong>Jacobson</strong> about <strong>the</strong><br />
Victorian love <strong>of</strong> fairy painting? His visit<br />
to Bristol City Art Gallery, where he sees<br />
Leighton’s Titania, is <strong>the</strong> point at which he<br />
considers this. He acknowledges that it is<br />
edgy and foreign to our imaginations. But<br />
seeing women as bewitching is not seeing<br />
<strong>the</strong>m as wicked; beautiful but not horrible.<br />
Ra<strong>the</strong>r it is <strong>the</strong> masochism <strong>of</strong> male desire<br />
and that sense <strong>of</strong> being separated from<br />
oneself and taken into a fascinating<br />
irrational world. The Victorians were<br />
interested in young girls and recognised<br />
desires which <strong>the</strong>y could not act on.<br />
We are back again with <strong>the</strong> issue <strong>of</strong><br />
taboo and <strong>the</strong> question: who truly are<br />
<strong>the</strong> stereotypical Victorians?<br />
As I take my leave and plunge into<br />
<strong>the</strong> street, my mind is buzzing with <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>mes <strong>of</strong> our conversation: <strong>the</strong> power<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> provincial; <strong>the</strong> genius <strong>of</strong> British<br />
painting; <strong>the</strong> debt we owe to those<br />
philanthropic Victorian patrons and<br />
industrialists, <strong>the</strong>ir investment and<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir ideals. In <strong>the</strong> broader sweep <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> our art, is not our lack<br />
<strong>of</strong> self-confidence in our provincial cities<br />
and galleries unjustified?<br />
“<br />
When <strong>the</strong> English ‘do sex’<br />
<strong>Jacobson</strong> says, we feel that it is<br />
something which will disturb us.<br />
4<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
19
20 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
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contact: Richard Storey, Managing Editor<br />
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by 15 January 2011.<br />
Beatrice Phillpotts 1983 / 2004<br />
oil on canvas 175 x 122cm<br />
Rural<br />
David<br />
Inshaw<br />
Dreamer<br />
Tristan Pollard
David Inshaw’s home,<br />
a converted 18th<br />
century Quaker<br />
meeting house, is a<br />
haven <strong>of</strong> airy calm.<br />
Carefully placed<br />
paintings and<br />
drawings rest on <strong>the</strong><br />
floor or are ranged<br />
in neat rows along<br />
shelves with his own<br />
collection <strong>of</strong> artworks,<br />
while tidy stacks <strong>of</strong><br />
photographs, sketches<br />
and o<strong>the</strong>r reference<br />
material cover most flat<br />
surfaces. His studio<br />
space is equally tidy,<br />
with tubes <strong>of</strong> paint<br />
lined up, a palette <strong>of</strong><br />
oils waiting, a large<br />
canvas sitting on an<br />
easel. Elgar, Tallis and<br />
Mozart CDs lie close to<br />
his stereo, while a large<br />
model Spitfire, <strong>the</strong> envy<br />
<strong>of</strong> any schoolboy, sits<br />
on <strong>the</strong> shelf close by.<br />
Photographs<br />
by Alice Hendy<br />
22 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
One <strong>of</strong> this country’s leading<br />
painters, Inshaw has work in<br />
private and public collections<br />
including <strong>the</strong> RWA, Bristol<br />
City Museum and Art<br />
Gallery, <strong>the</strong> Department <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Environment and <strong>the</strong><br />
Tate Gallery: work <strong>of</strong>ten seen<br />
to embody a quintessential<br />
Englishness, a distillation<br />
<strong>of</strong> all that is great about this<br />
country.<br />
Born in Wednesfield,<br />
Staffordshire in 1943, Inshaw<br />
never thought he would<br />
become an artist. “When I was<br />
at school I stuttered badly, so<br />
I occupied myself by drawing<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than talking. In my<br />
fourth year a new, dynamic<br />
teacher asked three <strong>of</strong> us if<br />
we had thought <strong>of</strong> going to<br />
art school. We said we never<br />
knew <strong>the</strong>re was such a thing,<br />
so he said “I’ll take you down<br />
to have a look”. When we went<br />
in it was full <strong>of</strong> beatniks: men<br />
with beards, sandals and jeans<br />
and women with fishnet tights<br />
and high-heeled shoes; a den<br />
<strong>of</strong> iniquity and we said – our<br />
parents will never let us come<br />
here.’’ Fortunately Inshaw’s<br />
teacher was as persuasive as<br />
he was dynamic, and following<br />
a meeting at <strong>the</strong> school<br />
parents’ evening, Inshaw was<br />
permitted to attend art college.<br />
“The first person I can<br />
remember, as a painter, was<br />
Samuel Palmer, because we<br />
lived at Biggin Hill, not far<br />
from Shoreham where he<br />
used to paint. Ano<strong>the</strong>r early<br />
influence came from a visit to<br />
<strong>the</strong> Tate Gallery as a schoolboy,<br />
seeing Stanley Spencer’s Christ<br />
Carrying <strong>the</strong> Cross. People<br />
lean from a window, curtains<br />
billowing out like angel’s<br />
wings behind <strong>the</strong>m. A fantastic<br />
painting; one <strong>of</strong> my earliest<br />
influences.”<br />
Although Inshaw found<br />
<strong>the</strong> training at Beckenham Art<br />
School invaluable, acceptance<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Royal Academy and<br />
exposure to <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong><br />
American artists such as<br />
Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns<br />
and <strong>the</strong> Pop Artists, made him<br />
question <strong>the</strong> style he had been<br />
taught. “I spent <strong>the</strong> next three<br />
years trying to find a way <strong>of</strong><br />
producing pictures that had<br />
<strong>the</strong> kind <strong>of</strong> immediacy I felt<br />
<strong>the</strong> art world needed.”<br />
“<br />
When we went in it was full <strong>of</strong> beatniks:<br />
men with beards, sandals and jeans and<br />
women with fishnet tights and high-heeled<br />
shoes; a den <strong>of</strong> iniquity and we said,<br />
– our parents will never let us come here.<br />
In 1966, soon after he’d<br />
taken up a post in Bristol,<br />
teaching printmaking, he met<br />
Christine Butler who gave<br />
him a copy <strong>of</strong> Thomas Hardy’s<br />
Tess <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> D’Urbervilles;<br />
a gift which was to have a<br />
considerable influence on his<br />
future painting. “The thing<br />
I liked about Hardy was <strong>the</strong><br />
way he used landscape as a<br />
metaphor for human emotion,<br />
describing <strong>the</strong> way people felt.<br />
I thought that was a fantastic<br />
clue to what I wanted.”<br />
At <strong>the</strong> same time, Inshaw<br />
was sharing a flat with<br />
Alf Stockham, who was also<br />
undergoing a transitional<br />
phase in style. Toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>the</strong>y would drive to Dorset,<br />
searching for Hardy country<br />
and immersing <strong>the</strong>mselves in<br />
<strong>the</strong> dramatic scenery: “Not to<br />
paint, but just to seek a new<br />
beginning, to find <strong>the</strong> end<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> piece <strong>of</strong> string which<br />
had eluded us”. From <strong>the</strong>n<br />
on Inshaw’s work became a<br />
celebration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> power <strong>of</strong><br />
Nature, with his landscapes<br />
encapsulating <strong>the</strong> various<br />
moods <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Wiltshire and<br />
Dorset countryside; brilliant<br />
blue skies and golden<br />
sunshine; dark and brooding<br />
thunderheads; long, dramatic<br />
shadows; darkening skies rent<br />
by lightning.<br />
An impressive example<br />
<strong>of</strong> Inshaw’s Romantic style<br />
can be seen at Bristol City<br />
Museum and Art Gallery,<br />
in All our days were a Joy.<br />
A young woman wearing a<br />
long dark dress, stands alone<br />
in a country graveyard. The<br />
grass around <strong>the</strong> graves is<br />
well maintained, <strong>the</strong> greenery<br />
growing over <strong>the</strong> graves is<br />
rampant and unkempt, trees<br />
surround <strong>the</strong> graveyard, silent<br />
sentinels. Towards <strong>the</strong> right<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> painting, a large, dark<br />
tree appears to be encroaching<br />
upon <strong>the</strong> cemetery, Nature<br />
regaining her foothold.<br />
Every blade <strong>of</strong> grass and leaf is<br />
painted in precise detail. This<br />
work encompasses many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>mes that were to become<br />
Inshaw’s own; <strong>the</strong> woman is<br />
alone, but could be waiting for<br />
someone, or turning as she<br />
hears a sound; dark clouds<br />
reveal a narrow strip <strong>of</strong> blue<br />
sky, a hint perhaps that hope<br />
is on <strong>the</strong> horizon.<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
23
“<br />
‘I think <strong>the</strong><br />
only ingredient<br />
that pulls it<br />
all toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
is sex. That’s<br />
<strong>the</strong> only thing<br />
that matters.’<br />
We laugh, but<br />
his observation<br />
isn’t entirely<br />
without truth.<br />
Inshaw is careful not to analyse his<br />
work too much. “Things do happen and<br />
I’m aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m happening, but I don’t<br />
try to make a plan <strong>of</strong> how <strong>the</strong>y should<br />
happen. It’s a question <strong>of</strong> moments; I’m<br />
always looking out for things, aware that<br />
at any moment something could happen<br />
that might be useful.” Although certain<br />
landmarks, such as Silbury Hill and<br />
<strong>the</strong> cliffs <strong>of</strong> <strong>West</strong> Bay, remain favourite<br />
subjects, Inshaw’s work <strong>of</strong>ten branches<br />
out into more whimsical and humorous<br />
territory, with images <strong>of</strong> fairies,<br />
mermaids and Felix <strong>the</strong> Cat making <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
appearance. The emergence <strong>of</strong> a lighter<br />
side to his work partly came about as <strong>the</strong><br />
intensity <strong>of</strong> working on complicated, large<br />
works began to take its toll, physically<br />
and artistically. ‘After about ten years <strong>of</strong><br />
doing carefully constructed paintings,<br />
it became a mannerism. It was just a<br />
process, which had lost its point. I had<br />
to find a new way <strong>of</strong> working, while<br />
retaining that intensity.<br />
“I would suffer terrible stomach aches<br />
from just sitting and painting. Then I<br />
stood up to paint, walked backwards and<br />
forwards to <strong>the</strong> painting – that made a lot<br />
<strong>of</strong> difference. It created a whole new brush<br />
mark which developed as gradually <strong>the</strong><br />
images became simpler. I stopped telling<br />
constructed stories.<br />
“I became interested in o<strong>the</strong>r things<br />
and incorporated <strong>the</strong>m into my work.<br />
I like painting figures. On <strong>the</strong> beach<br />
at <strong>West</strong> Bay, you see all sorts <strong>of</strong> things,<br />
so I just made <strong>the</strong>m into fantasies.”<br />
24 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
She Did Not Turn 1974, oil on canvas 137 x 183cm<br />
Felix <strong>the</strong> Cat was a favourite childhood<br />
cartoon character and Inshaw always<br />
identified with <strong>the</strong> anxious creature who<br />
“seemed to be striving to work out <strong>the</strong><br />
meaning <strong>of</strong> life”. Eventually <strong>the</strong> character<br />
made his way into a painting as a figure<br />
on a rucksack, from <strong>the</strong>n on appearing<br />
in several paintings. However, not happy<br />
with having his childhood hero stuck<br />
as a luggage logo, Inshaw decided to<br />
emancipate Felix by painting out <strong>the</strong><br />
rucksack. “He was gone, free to express<br />
himself”, laughs Inshaw. “That’s what<br />
happens when you’re painting, you can<br />
think, whimsically. I like humour in<br />
painting, a sort <strong>of</strong> slight, wry humour.<br />
It’s to do with <strong>the</strong> fact that we’re not here<br />
forever, <strong>the</strong> transitory nature <strong>of</strong> things.<br />
We might as well have a laugh.”<br />
The transitory nature <strong>of</strong> man is<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> Inshaw’s recurring <strong>the</strong>mes;<br />
Nature dominates to such an extent that<br />
at times it seems to overwhelm <strong>the</strong> canvas.<br />
In The Cricket Game at Little Bredy,<br />
<strong>the</strong> landscape appears to envelop <strong>the</strong><br />
cricketers, <strong>the</strong> human figures dwarfed<br />
by <strong>the</strong> massive trees and rolling hills,<br />
while in The Raven, a girl, sitting in a<br />
chair, apparently waiting for someone<br />
or something, is surrounded by looming,<br />
sculpted trees that have <strong>the</strong> solidity <strong>of</strong><br />
rocks and mountains.<br />
“Nature always has <strong>the</strong> upper hand,<br />
coating man’s endeavours, layer upon<br />
layer. For example, one <strong>of</strong> my favourite<br />
places, Cornwall, has been raped and<br />
pillaged by man over <strong>the</strong> centuries and<br />
you can see evidence <strong>of</strong> that, but you can<br />
also see that Nature does eventually take<br />
over again, and I quite like that idea.”<br />
Despite a difficult year, new <strong>the</strong>mes<br />
are beginning to appear in <strong>the</strong> unfinished<br />
canvases that line his studio space. “I felt<br />
that I’d lost direction, come up against<br />
a brick wall and didn’t know how to get<br />
through it, but I’m gradually beginning<br />
to find a way. I’m interested in tents and<br />
trees and hill figures and WWII pill-boxes,<br />
but how you pull that lot toge<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
God knows.” He grins mischievously.<br />
“I think <strong>the</strong> only ingredient that pulls<br />
it all toge<strong>the</strong>r is sex. That’s <strong>the</strong> only<br />
thing that matters.” We laugh, but his<br />
observation isn’t entirely without truth.<br />
Many <strong>of</strong> his paintings contain elements<br />
ranging from restrained eroticism<br />
through to open sexuality, from <strong>the</strong><br />
voyeuristic to <strong>the</strong> dreamlike surrealism<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> Bay paintings.<br />
“I do try to give a sensuous feeling<br />
when I paint a picture. I like to convey<br />
a sensuality, which I don’t think much<br />
art does today. I think painters are<br />
voyeuristic; it goes with <strong>the</strong> job. You’re<br />
always waiting for something to happen,<br />
that connection to be made, so you’re<br />
always looking, in a way which most<br />
people aren’t.” He smiles, apologetically,<br />
“I’m always daydreaming; at school,<br />
my best subject was daydreaming.”<br />
Sky Blue Framing & Gallery<br />
Big Christmas Exhibition<br />
The perfect place to find an original present or gift – featuring a<br />
huge collection <strong>of</strong> new artworks by all <strong>of</strong> our most popular artists:<br />
• Ten newly released Quentin Blake/Roald Dahl collectors edition prints.<br />
• Recently released Limited Edition prints from Mary Fedden, John Knapp-<br />
Fisher, David Brayne RWS, Stephen Hanson, Michael Ogden and a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> new faces.<br />
• Silk screen prints by <strong>the</strong> ever popular Susie Brooks and Jane Ormes<br />
with etchings by Veronique Giarrusso and Sue Brown.<br />
• Curvaceous sculptures by Cathy Judge.<br />
• Framing service for artworks purchased here or sourced elsewhere.<br />
• Beautiful designer jewellery and Art Christmas cards.<br />
27 North View, <strong>West</strong>bury Park, Bristol BS6 7PT<br />
Email: mike@skybluefineart.com www.skybluefineart.com<br />
EASY PARKING NEAR WAITROSE<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
25
Bristol City<br />
Council’s<br />
regeneration<br />
schemes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
1990s revived<br />
one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
attractive features<br />
<strong>of</strong> later medieval<br />
and eighteenth<br />
century townscapes<br />
– imaginative<br />
3-dimensional shop<br />
signs. Shops come<br />
and go and <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
signs are inevitably<br />
ephemeral. In <strong>the</strong><br />
hope that <strong>the</strong>se<br />
shop signs will<br />
inspire successors<br />
Francis Greenacre<br />
draws attention<br />
to some recent<br />
examples.<br />
26 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
1 Steve Joyce,<br />
Pet Shop<br />
sign, 1992,<br />
East Street,<br />
Bedminster<br />
Signs <strong>of</strong><br />
regeneration Francis<br />
2 Richard Fox<br />
and Benedict<br />
Whybrow,<br />
Radford Mill<br />
Farm Shop<br />
sign 1982/3,<br />
Picton Street 1 2<br />
Greenacre<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
27
At <strong>the</strong> bottom end <strong>of</strong> Picton Street are<br />
Bell’s Diner and <strong>the</strong> Radford Mill Farm<br />
Shop, two surviving and pioneering<br />
providers <strong>of</strong> good food, cooked and<br />
uncooked, from <strong>the</strong> 1970s. Early in <strong>the</strong><br />
following decade, <strong>the</strong> owner <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> farm<br />
shop, <strong>the</strong> American Richard Fox, and <strong>the</strong><br />
engineer and artist Benedict Whybrow<br />
created an ambitious shop sign, an<br />
articulated row <strong>of</strong> pumpkins climbing<br />
up <strong>the</strong> façade. It was partly inspired by<br />
Covent Garden’s water clock in Neal’s Yard<br />
erected in 1982 and thus also by <strong>the</strong> shopclock<br />
automata <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nineteenth century.<br />
It belongs, too, to <strong>the</strong> long<br />
tradition <strong>of</strong> ornamental shop<br />
signs that adorned our cities,<br />
<strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong> spectacular<br />
watering can, once at<br />
12 St Nicholas Street and<br />
illustrated here, is an apt<br />
example. The animated<br />
pumpkins were also a piece<br />
<strong>of</strong> kinetic sculpture, but<br />
like most pieces <strong>of</strong> public<br />
sculpture that are dependent<br />
upon electricity or water, it<br />
ground to a halt quite quickly.<br />
It is still <strong>the</strong>re, however, as<br />
also is Richard Fox, who is determined to<br />
restore it. And it was itself an inspiration<br />
to <strong>the</strong> revival in Bristol <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ancient<br />
tradition <strong>of</strong> 3-dimensional shop signs in<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1990s.<br />
East Street, Bedminster’s busiest<br />
thoroughfare, was in sharp decline even<br />
before process was hastened by <strong>the</strong> arrival<br />
<strong>of</strong> a vast supermarket in 1988. Bristol City<br />
Council responded and amongst <strong>the</strong> many<br />
components <strong>of</strong> a programme <strong>of</strong> urban<br />
renewal, <strong>the</strong> most obvious <strong>of</strong> which was<br />
28 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
<strong>the</strong> pedestrianisation <strong>of</strong> a section <strong>of</strong> East<br />
Street, was <strong>the</strong> assistance given to shop<br />
keepers with <strong>the</strong> enlivening <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir shop<br />
fronts. Hugh Nettelfield <strong>of</strong> Quattro Design<br />
Architects gave Steve Joyce his first<br />
commissions for shop signs. Of <strong>the</strong> five<br />
signs he designed for East Street, only one<br />
continues to serve its original purpose,<br />
today. Above a pet shop, five parrots and<br />
several mice still perch on four rabbits<br />
supported on <strong>the</strong> paws <strong>of</strong> three cats,<br />
which stand on two terriers sitting on<br />
Wo<strong>of</strong>ie, <strong>the</strong> sculptor’s own Airdale terrier,<br />
who stands on two bags <strong>of</strong> dog biscuits.<br />
The work is in self-coloured cast resin<br />
and, most impressively, it holds its own<br />
before <strong>the</strong> superb cast terracotta winged<br />
dragons and flowers above <strong>the</strong> Edwardian<br />
“ Collinson understood <strong>the</strong> need<br />
to integrate ‘art and craft work<br />
into <strong>the</strong> fabric <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> place,<br />
as it is attention to detail...<br />
entrance to <strong>the</strong> old Imperial Tobacco<br />
Company building opposite.<br />
Before 1996 Steve Joyce was to<br />
complete at least ano<strong>the</strong>r dozen shop signs<br />
for environmental improvement schemes<br />
in St Mark’s Road, Easton, Stapleton Road,<br />
Mina Road and Grosvenor Road, St Paul’s.<br />
He had already completed three major<br />
public sculpture commissions in Bristol,<br />
including <strong>the</strong> bronze statue <strong>of</strong> John Cabot<br />
on <strong>the</strong> quayside by Arnolfini, and he was<br />
ideally suited to <strong>the</strong> complex demands <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> genre. Before going to art college in<br />
Bristol, he had completed an engineering<br />
apprenticeship and he later worked for<br />
Dore<strong>the</strong>a Restorations. He had a wide<br />
range <strong>of</strong> traditional metal-working skills<br />
and experience <strong>of</strong> working in a great<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> materials. He also got on well<br />
with Ian Collinson, <strong>the</strong> Planning Officer<br />
brought in to <strong>the</strong> Housing Department<br />
to manage <strong>the</strong>se schemes. Collinson<br />
understood <strong>the</strong> need to integrate “art and<br />
craft work into <strong>the</strong> fabric <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> place, as it<br />
is attention to detail, not grand gestures,<br />
which will have <strong>the</strong> most pr<strong>of</strong>ound effect”.<br />
Those are <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sculptor Peter<br />
Randall-Page in his preliminary report<br />
on Castle Park in 1990. Thus in St Mark’s<br />
Road, Easton, radical changes to<br />
traffic management and street<br />
lighting were supported by<br />
painted cast-iron bollards, whose<br />
distinctive design has now been<br />
patented. The upper stories<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> shops were decorated<br />
in uniform colours but with<br />
individual motifs. And <strong>the</strong>re<br />
were a wide variety <strong>of</strong> shop signs.<br />
The shop keepers made considerable<br />
contributions to <strong>the</strong> costs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se signs<br />
and consultation and agreement was<br />
sometimes a long and fragile process.<br />
The dragon over <strong>the</strong> Chinese<br />
restaurant proved especially demanding.<br />
For Steve, an exotic dragon was<br />
essentially a Welsh dragon, a beast<br />
wholly unrelated to <strong>the</strong> more ancient and<br />
legendary Chinese dragon. No wonder<br />
that his first draft design caused much<br />
<strong>of</strong>fence. The nine forms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Chinese<br />
dragon are very precise in <strong>the</strong>ir various<br />
details and to depict <strong>the</strong>m inaccurately<br />
1<br />
...not grand<br />
gestures,<br />
which will<br />
have <strong>the</strong> most<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>ound<br />
effect’<br />
”<br />
2<br />
can be a greater insult than burning <strong>the</strong><br />
American flag. Nei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> dragon nor<br />
<strong>the</strong> restaurant has survived in St Mark’s<br />
Road; nor has <strong>the</strong> travel agent who had<br />
a shop sign <strong>of</strong> winged lea<strong>the</strong>r suitcases<br />
covered with travel stickers for faraway<br />
places. Shops come and go and <strong>the</strong> signs<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten go with <strong>the</strong>m. Sadly but inevitably<br />
<strong>the</strong> crucial corner stone <strong>of</strong> St Mark’s<br />
Road, <strong>the</strong> Sweet Mart, has this September<br />
obliterated <strong>the</strong> decorative patterns on <strong>the</strong><br />
façade, which is now a harsh white. The<br />
fascia boards are now an enamel black<br />
applied with swish plastic motifs and <strong>the</strong><br />
canvas shop signs are photographically<br />
printed. Opposite, on <strong>the</strong> corner <strong>of</strong><br />
Henrietta Street <strong>the</strong> long mural <strong>of</strong> a deep<br />
sea scene has also recently been painted<br />
over, although happily <strong>the</strong> excellent<br />
coastal scene with lighthouse on <strong>the</strong> first<br />
floor <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> next door building remains.<br />
No regrets, however, for regeneration<br />
should be a passing process and in St Mark’s<br />
Road it has worked triumphantly.<br />
Mina Road in St Werburgh’s retains <strong>the</strong><br />
best sequence <strong>of</strong> Steve Joyce’s signs, some<br />
painted by Jon Bentley. They include <strong>the</strong><br />
outstanding ear <strong>of</strong> wheat above <strong>the</strong> bread<br />
shop, but <strong>the</strong> wittiest <strong>of</strong> Steve’s works is<br />
arguably <strong>the</strong> delicate sheet <strong>of</strong> copper with<br />
<strong>the</strong> cut-out pattern <strong>of</strong> scissors above Roud<br />
fabrics in Stapleton Road. In Ashley Road,<br />
St Paul’s, <strong>the</strong> City Council’s improvement<br />
scheme led to <strong>the</strong> discovery <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
impressive Victorian shop sign <strong>of</strong> Jenner<br />
& Co, Drapers and Milliners. It was in<br />
remarkably good condition and it was duly<br />
retained and excellently restored – ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
aspect <strong>of</strong> a great tradition that deserves<br />
to be fostered.<br />
3<br />
1 Steve Joyce<br />
and Jon<br />
Bentley,<br />
Shop signs<br />
c.1996,<br />
Mina<br />
Road, St<br />
Werburgh’s<br />
2 Steve Joyce,<br />
Shop signs<br />
c.1995,<br />
St Mark’s<br />
Road,<br />
Easton<br />
4<br />
3 Steve Joyce,<br />
Shop sign<br />
for Roud<br />
Fabrics<br />
c.1995,<br />
Stapleton<br />
Road<br />
4 T. L.<br />
Rowbotham,<br />
St Nicholas<br />
Street<br />
looking<br />
west, 1825,<br />
watercolour,<br />
detail,<br />
Bristol<br />
Museum and<br />
Art Gallery<br />
M2262<br />
5 Victorian<br />
shop front,<br />
Ashley<br />
Road, St<br />
Paul’s<br />
6 Steve Joyce,<br />
Shop sign<br />
c.1996,<br />
Mina<br />
Road, St<br />
Werburgh’s<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
5<br />
6<br />
29
© Archives Fondation Maeght, C. Germain © Succession Alberto Giacometti, ADAGP Paris 2010<br />
Homme qui marche 1, 1960<br />
“<br />
His pared<br />
down figures<br />
epitomised <strong>the</strong><br />
existentialism<br />
<strong>of</strong> post-war<br />
Europe. He will<br />
be remembered<br />
as one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
twentieth<br />
century’s most<br />
significant<br />
artists – an<br />
extraordinary<br />
painter, sculptor,<br />
draughtsman<br />
and engraver.<br />
Giacometti<br />
Fondation<br />
and <strong>the</strong><br />
Maeght<br />
Renowned <strong>the</strong> world<br />
over, open every<br />
day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> year and<br />
welcoming 200,000<br />
visitors annually,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Fondation Maeght<br />
in Saint-Paul-de-Vence<br />
has never once closed<br />
its doors to <strong>the</strong> public<br />
since it opened in<br />
1964. Designed for<br />
Aimé and Marguerite<br />
Maeght following<br />
<strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
youngest son, <strong>the</strong><br />
Fondation owns one<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most exhaustive<br />
collections in <strong>the</strong><br />
world <strong>of</strong> sculptures<br />
by Alberto Giacometti.<br />
This includes two<br />
versions <strong>of</strong> Walking<br />
Man, <strong>of</strong> particular<br />
interest in that <strong>the</strong><br />
artist painted <strong>the</strong><br />
bronze, ra<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
using a patina finish.<br />
Richard Storey<br />
recently met Adrien<br />
Maeght (born 1930),<br />
son <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> founders<br />
and current President<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Fondation, and<br />
invited him to recall<br />
his relationship with<br />
Giacometti.<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
© Archives Fondation Maeght<br />
31
32 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
Fondation Maeght<br />
“<br />
As for me, a young<br />
man <strong>of</strong> 17, you<br />
can imagine what<br />
extraordinary good<br />
fortune it was to<br />
be able to talk and<br />
spend time with<br />
such exceptional<br />
men as Bonnard,<br />
Matisse, Miró,<br />
Chagall, Calder,<br />
Kandinsky, Legér<br />
or Duchamp<br />
© Archives Fondation Maeght<br />
As a student in Nimes, my fa<strong>the</strong>r, Aimé,<br />
was an ardent admirer <strong>of</strong> Surrealism,<br />
founded in 1942 by Marcel Duchamp and<br />
André Breton. After <strong>the</strong> Liberation, Pierre<br />
Bonnard and Henri Matisse encouraged<br />
my fa<strong>the</strong>r to open a gallery in Paris. He<br />
did so, and it quickly became <strong>the</strong> preferred<br />
meeting place <strong>of</strong> artists, poets and writers.<br />
When he eventually met Duchamp in<br />
Manhattan, my fa<strong>the</strong>r suggested bringing<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r all those involved in Surrealism<br />
– and so <strong>the</strong> International Surrealist<br />
Exhibition was born. Aimé Maeght began<br />
work on <strong>the</strong> project with Breton, who<br />
introduced him to his friend and witness<br />
at his wedding, Alberto Giacometti.<br />
My fa<strong>the</strong>r was immediately drawn to<br />
Giacometti and invited him to take part<br />
in <strong>the</strong> exhibition which had a world wide<br />
impact and guaranteed Galerie Maeght<br />
a place at <strong>the</strong> forefront <strong>of</strong> avant-gardism.<br />
The two men shared <strong>the</strong> same<br />
vision. Giacometti didn’t have a gallery<br />
to represent him, but felt that Galerie<br />
Maeght was THE gallery where he could<br />
belong, and so my fa<strong>the</strong>r became his<br />
agent. At <strong>the</strong> time, many <strong>of</strong> Giacometti’s<br />
plaster models were still waiting to be<br />
cast; my fa<strong>the</strong>r, so convinced <strong>of</strong> Alberto’s<br />
genius, immediately decided to make<br />
bronze casts <strong>of</strong> all his work. Aimé Maeght<br />
was young and courageous, as in those<br />
days it cost a fortune to cast a sculpture.<br />
Giacometti’s first Paris exhibition<br />
at Galerie Maeght was held in 1951.<br />
He showed 36 sculptures and 18 paintings<br />
alongside drawings that echoed <strong>the</strong><br />
sculptures’ force. This was Giacometti’s<br />
public debut as a painter; he produced<br />
three original lithographs for <strong>the</strong> issue<br />
<strong>of</strong> Derrière le Mirroir that accompanied<br />
<strong>the</strong> exhibition. Hailed as a success, <strong>the</strong><br />
exhibition was a huge commercial flop.<br />
Only one sculpture was sold.<br />
As for me, a young man <strong>of</strong> 17, you<br />
can imagine what extraordinary good<br />
fortune it was to be able to talk and<br />
spend time with such exceptional men as<br />
Bonnard, Matisse, Miró, Chagall, Calder,<br />
Kandinsky, Legér or Duchamp. But it<br />
was with Giacometti that I most discussed<br />
art history and <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> artist. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> early years I did a bit <strong>of</strong> everything<br />
at my fa<strong>the</strong>r’s gallery, including being<br />
an intermediary between Alberto and<br />
Mourlot, <strong>the</strong> firm that printed our<br />
lithographs. Alberto used to work on<br />
special paper with a lithographic pencil<br />
and I would take <strong>the</strong>se drawings over to<br />
Mourlot where <strong>the</strong>y were transferred to<br />
lithographic stones. Mourlot would make<br />
two or three pro<strong>of</strong>s using more or less<br />
ink. Then I had to get Alberto to sign<br />
Le Chien, 1951<br />
each approved impression. Afterwards,<br />
we would <strong>of</strong>ten go for a c<strong>of</strong>fee toge<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
in a bistro on <strong>the</strong> corner <strong>of</strong> Rue Alésia.<br />
We’d sit and discuss engraving techniques,<br />
<strong>the</strong> precision <strong>of</strong> a line to be reproduced,<br />
<strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> paper that would lend itself<br />
to <strong>the</strong> lightest covering <strong>of</strong> ink. Many years<br />
later, in 1959, I opened my own gallery<br />
at 42, Rue du Bac, in Paris where <strong>of</strong><br />
course, Alberto regularly exhibited.<br />
In 1964, my parent’s Fondation<br />
Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence finally<br />
opened. My fa<strong>the</strong>r had <strong>of</strong>fered Giacometti<br />
somewhere to show his work that was on<br />
a par with <strong>the</strong> artist’s ambitions for it: <strong>the</strong><br />
Fondation’s central courtyard that opened<br />
onto <strong>the</strong> hills <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Cote d’Azur. And in<br />
July <strong>of</strong> that year, Alberto installed his<br />
sculptures in <strong>the</strong> courtyard, named Cour<br />
Giacometti.<br />
Alberto had a complex personality.<br />
He cared about <strong>the</strong> impact his exhibitions<br />
had on collectors; he wanted his work to<br />
be shown at a price comparable with o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
stars <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> day. But, for him, money was<br />
simply <strong>the</strong> means to creative freedom.<br />
It meant that he could travel, take care <strong>of</strong><br />
his mo<strong>the</strong>r, return to <strong>the</strong> Swiss mountains<br />
and draw <strong>the</strong> landscapes <strong>of</strong> his childhood.<br />
He was very modest, but at <strong>the</strong> same time<br />
fully aware <strong>of</strong> his worth and position in art.<br />
Giacometti liked luxury, yet insisted<br />
on living in a studio in Paris with a clay<br />
floor. My fa<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong>fered to buy him an<br />
apartment above Schubert’s, a cabaret on<br />
<strong>the</strong> boulevard du Montparnasse. Alberto<br />
refused: “I don’t want to risk being taken<br />
hostage by comfort.” Despite his odd<br />
appearance and perpetually crumpled<br />
raincoat, despite his miserable studio,<br />
Alberto was extremely elegant. His genius,<br />
talent and intelligence were such that<br />
he would have succeeded come what may.<br />
Friend <strong>of</strong> thinkers and philosophers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
time – Picasso, Simone de Beauvoir and<br />
Jean-Paul Sartre – his pared down figures<br />
epitomised <strong>the</strong> existentialism <strong>of</strong> post-war<br />
Europe. He will be remembered as one <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> twentieth century’s most significant<br />
artists – an extraordinary painter,<br />
sculptor, draughtsman and engraver.<br />
Giacometti & Maeght 1946 – 1966<br />
184pp, 161 colour illustrations.<br />
Librairie de la Fondation Maeght<br />
06570 Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France<br />
www.fondation-maeght.com<br />
© Archives Fondation Maeght © Succession Alberto Giacometti, ADAGP Paris 2010<br />
!<br />
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art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
33
Portrait <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Artist:<br />
In search<br />
<strong>of</strong> Gwen John<br />
Gwen John (1876- 1939) is<br />
now regarded as one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
foremost women artists <strong>of</strong> last<br />
century, highly acclaimed<br />
for her delicate and subtle<br />
paintings and drawings.<br />
Yet, in her lifetime, she<br />
was overshadowed by<br />
her flamboyant bro<strong>the</strong>r<br />
Augustus and her world<br />
famous lover Rodin. In her<br />
play Self Portrait, Sheila<br />
Yeger draws her portrait <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> artist and <strong>the</strong> woman, and<br />
using <strong>the</strong> device <strong>of</strong> a modern<br />
setting, explores <strong>the</strong> tensions<br />
and dilemmas faced by creative<br />
women both in John’s lifetime,<br />
and in more recent<br />
times. ART invited<br />
Sheila Yeger<br />
to share her<br />
experience.<br />
34 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
“<br />
I was reluctant to<br />
typify her simply<br />
as <strong>the</strong> lover <strong>of</strong> a<br />
great man.<br />
I first encountered Gwen John at an<br />
exhibition at <strong>the</strong> Anthony d’Offay Gallery<br />
in London in 1982. Her paintings, though<br />
unobtrusive and <strong>of</strong>ten muted in tone, spoke<br />
to me so powerfully that I could feel her<br />
presence in <strong>the</strong> room. I was determined<br />
to learn more about <strong>the</strong> woman who had<br />
made such idiosyncratic and personal<br />
work. That marked <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> a<br />
search, which culminated in June 1987,<br />
in <strong>the</strong> premiere <strong>of</strong> my play Self Portrait<br />
at Theatr Clwyd.<br />
My quest led me first to Tenby and<br />
Haverfordwest, where John spent her<br />
childhood and where I walked on <strong>the</strong><br />
windswept beaches depicted in her<br />
painting Landscape at Tenby with Figures.<br />
I travelled to Cardiff and Aberystwyth,<br />
where her diaries, letters, notebooks and<br />
sketchbooks gave me a fur<strong>the</strong>r insight into<br />
her working methods, her passions and<br />
obsessions.<br />
From Susan Chitty’s biography,<br />
I learnt <strong>of</strong> her relationship with Rodin,<br />
which I knew I must investigate, though<br />
I was reluctant to typify her simply as <strong>the</strong><br />
lover <strong>of</strong> a great man. So I went to Paris to<br />
read <strong>the</strong> 3000 love letters she wrote to <strong>the</strong><br />
sculptor over a period <strong>of</strong> 10 years. Written<br />
in schoolgirl French and explicitly erotic,<br />
<strong>the</strong>y revealed her desperate and largely<br />
unrequited passion for <strong>the</strong> man she<br />
called her Master. But equally telling was<br />
<strong>the</strong> wooden hut in Meudon, a suburb <strong>of</strong><br />
Paris, where she spent her last years in<br />
increasingly bizarre pursuits, sometimes<br />
hiding in a hedge outside Rodin’s house,<br />
waiting to catch a glimpse <strong>of</strong> him. She<br />
painted feverishly, sleeping with her<br />
feet outside <strong>the</strong> hut so that she would<br />
wake in time for Mass. On <strong>the</strong> same day<br />
I was <strong>the</strong>re, in an example <strong>of</strong> astonishing<br />
synchronicity, <strong>the</strong> house in whose<br />
grounds <strong>the</strong> hut sat was up for auction.<br />
Around <strong>the</strong> corner I found <strong>the</strong><br />
four-square home <strong>of</strong> Vera Oumanc<strong>of</strong>f,<br />
a respectable middle-aged woman, for whom<br />
John developed a reckless love. In my play,<br />
I toy with <strong>the</strong> idea that her attentions<br />
were not entirely unreciprocated. This<br />
is a prime example <strong>of</strong> how <strong>the</strong> writer’s<br />
imagination can embroider and embellish,<br />
and however inadvertently, add to <strong>the</strong><br />
myth. Gwen John, for all she appeared<br />
demure, was, I decided, a woman <strong>of</strong> huge<br />
passions, undaunted by convention.<br />
Why else would she have taken <strong>of</strong>f on<br />
<strong>the</strong> road with her bro<strong>the</strong>r’s lover, <strong>the</strong> wild<br />
and beautiful Dorelia, hoping to reach<br />
Toulouse, though <strong>the</strong>y only managed<br />
to get to Paris. En route, <strong>the</strong>y slept in<br />
hedgerows, selling portraits to pay for<br />
food. Her love for Dorelia shines out in<br />
<strong>the</strong> portrait Dorelia in a Black Dress.<br />
My search for Gwen John became a<br />
very personal journey. I became aware,<br />
that, in delving into <strong>the</strong> life <strong>of</strong> one<br />
creative woman, I must inevitably reflect<br />
on <strong>the</strong> lives <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs like her, both past<br />
and present.<br />
My first draft <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> play,<br />
a straightforward dramatic biography,<br />
when presented to Annie Casteldine, <strong>the</strong><br />
Director, was greeted unenthusiastically.<br />
She asked what I was really writing about,<br />
and my first answers failed to satisfy.<br />
When I finally admitted that I was writing<br />
about women and <strong>the</strong>ir creativity, and <strong>the</strong><br />
conflict between work and passion,<br />
she threw <strong>the</strong> draft up in <strong>the</strong> air, so that<br />
<strong>the</strong> pages fell down in no particular order.<br />
“Then write it,” she said. This was in<br />
<strong>the</strong> late eighties, when we women spoke<br />
a great deal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> very real difficulties<br />
<strong>of</strong> developing a creative life in a male<br />
dominated world. By giving my play a<br />
contemporary dimension, I was able to<br />
explore through <strong>the</strong> fictitious character<br />
<strong>of</strong> Barbara (a would-be novelist) <strong>the</strong><br />
conflicts felt by both her and Gwen,<br />
between work and love, and <strong>the</strong> struggle<br />
to find a voice in a patriarchal society.<br />
Looking at my play in 2010, I ask<br />
myself how Gwen would be regarded<br />
in <strong>the</strong> world <strong>of</strong> Art today. Would she be<br />
considered at all controversial in ei<strong>the</strong>r<br />
her work or her lifestyle? Would she<br />
find her place more readily? Would her<br />
creative voice resonate more loudly? I am<br />
conscious <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> hugely significant part<br />
played by women in <strong>the</strong> contemporary<br />
Art scene, but also aware, as I think<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> Tracey Emin or Louise<br />
Bourgeois, <strong>of</strong> how <strong>the</strong>ir Art both reflects<br />
and debates <strong>the</strong>ir role in society, <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
personal passions and dilemmas. Emin<br />
subverts <strong>the</strong> traditionally female craft <strong>of</strong><br />
embroidery, and uses it to express her<br />
own darkest, most private emotions. It’s<br />
hard to imagine John exposing herself<br />
like that, yet I learnt to see intimate<br />
reference in almost every portrait she<br />
painted, realising that many were veiled<br />
self portraits, showing, through <strong>the</strong><br />
tormented gaze <strong>of</strong> her models, her own<br />
inner torment.<br />
But times do change. Gwen John<br />
only painted women and children. Fiona<br />
Banner, at Tate Britain, exhibits a Jaguar<br />
and a Harrier Jump Jet. And John’s<br />
correspondence with Rodin might now be<br />
expressed in texts and emails, ra<strong>the</strong>r than<br />
letters, becoming thus more ephemeral and<br />
less available to <strong>the</strong> prying eyes <strong>of</strong> posterity.<br />
...she threw <strong>the</strong><br />
draft up in <strong>the</strong> air,<br />
so that <strong>the</strong> pages<br />
fell down in no<br />
particular order.<br />
“Then write it,”<br />
she said.<br />
”<br />
One question I asked myself was – if I<br />
met this woman, would I like her? I knew<br />
that I must admire her for her tenacity,<br />
her determination to paint whatever her<br />
personal circumstances but felt that I<br />
might find her cold, uncompromising,<br />
humourless, obsessive. In <strong>the</strong> end,<br />
perhaps it is only <strong>the</strong> work that really<br />
matters. And <strong>the</strong> work has survived, stood<br />
<strong>the</strong> test <strong>of</strong> time, gained respect and value.<br />
The woman I portrayed in my play, is a<br />
fiction, <strong>the</strong> product <strong>of</strong> my imagination,<br />
fed by my research, but influenced, as is<br />
every writer’s work, by my own history<br />
and predilections. I <strong>of</strong>fer my portrait<br />
cautiously, and I give <strong>the</strong> artist <strong>the</strong> last<br />
word. At <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> play, John stands<br />
beside <strong>the</strong> Self Portrait in a Red Blouse,<br />
which has been such a strong motif in<br />
<strong>the</strong> play, and, facing <strong>the</strong> audience with<br />
courage and defiance, says: “Do not ever<br />
ask me to apologise.”<br />
Self Portrait by Sheila Yeger<br />
Amber Lane Press Ltd, 1990<br />
Keeping <strong>the</strong> World Away<br />
Margaret Forster, Vintage, 2007<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
35
Hannah Starkey<br />
Hannah Starkey is one <strong>of</strong><br />
today’s most influential artistphotographers<br />
<strong>of</strong> contemporary<br />
life. Hugh Mooney met her<br />
recently to discuss her work.<br />
The photograph, as art, can put before<br />
us an inexhaustible variety <strong>of</strong> possibilities,<br />
its completely realistic representation<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world giving it unique power. The<br />
latter is most effective in its renderings<br />
<strong>of</strong> our social and personal spaces, where<br />
its au<strong>the</strong>nticity allied to an ability to<br />
evoke ra<strong>the</strong>r than merely describe, permit<br />
it to embrace that portion <strong>of</strong> our minds<br />
where <strong>the</strong> everyday and <strong>the</strong> intangible<br />
meet. Crafted by an artist-photographer<br />
<strong>of</strong> insight such a photograph taps deeply<br />
into our psyche and, as viewers, we are<br />
compelled to prolong our gaze.<br />
36 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
// Close-up<br />
Hannah Starkey is such a photographer.<br />
Her exploration <strong>of</strong> aspects <strong>of</strong> contemporary<br />
life has made her one <strong>of</strong> today’s most<br />
influential photographic artists. Born in<br />
Belfast in 1971, her work is exhibited in<br />
New York, Tokyo and in London, where she<br />
lives, and is included in collections in <strong>the</strong><br />
Tate and <strong>the</strong> V&A.<br />
Starkey is fascinated by <strong>the</strong> mental<br />
spaces which we inhabit and by <strong>the</strong><br />
photograph’s capacity for allegory and<br />
illusion. Using actors, she makes series<br />
<strong>of</strong> images <strong>of</strong> carefully staged situations<br />
which reproduce <strong>the</strong> ordinary events<br />
and predicaments <strong>of</strong> everyday life. Set<br />
invariably in urban locations, many <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>se images hover between reality and<br />
fiction and <strong>of</strong>ten give <strong>the</strong> impression that<br />
we have intruded, unseen, on <strong>the</strong> private<br />
moments <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r people. By hinting but<br />
leaving matters unresolved, <strong>the</strong>y tantalise<br />
us, creating resonances with our own<br />
thoughts, memories and associations.<br />
Through <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>the</strong> experiences <strong>of</strong><br />
strangers become our own. O<strong>the</strong>r images<br />
dwell on <strong>the</strong> appearance <strong>of</strong> modernity,<br />
with its pervasive visual culture and its<br />
influence on what we accept as <strong>the</strong> norm.<br />
Taken as a whole Starkey’s work becomes<br />
a converging locus <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> outside world<br />
and <strong>the</strong> deeply personal. The painter<br />
Edward Hopper, with whom Starkey is<br />
compared, was similarly preoccupied and<br />
we react with fascination to his portrayal<br />
<strong>of</strong> lonely urban dwellers adrift in <strong>the</strong><br />
transient places <strong>of</strong> 1940’s America. Many<br />
<strong>of</strong> Starkey’s photographs exert <strong>the</strong> same,<br />
powerful appeal. We are all, unavoidably,<br />
voyeurs at heart.<br />
Staged settings are <strong>of</strong>ten employed<br />
by modern artist-photographers because<br />
<strong>the</strong>y permit complete directorial control<br />
over what is to be achieved. Borrowing<br />
from <strong>the</strong> visual language and codes <strong>of</strong><br />
Untitled – October 1998 The Dentist, 2004<br />
our urban culture, Starkey’s images stand<br />
out not only because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> situations<br />
which are enacted but also because <strong>of</strong><br />
an aes<strong>the</strong>tic which frequently displays<br />
her fascination with <strong>the</strong> architecture <strong>of</strong><br />
modern interior spaces. Starkey invariably<br />
uses female actors in her work, although<br />
she admitted that this is a largely<br />
autobiographical device which permits<br />
her to draw on her own experiences. Many<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> situations she portrays and <strong>the</strong><br />
personal responses <strong>the</strong>y elicit are common<br />
to us all.<br />
As with <strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> many<br />
contemporary photographers, a Starkey<br />
image is best appreciated within <strong>the</strong><br />
context <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> series <strong>of</strong> which it is a part.<br />
Typical <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> her work, however,<br />
is an image in which we see two people<br />
apparently deep in conversation in a café.<br />
One, presumably <strong>the</strong> speaker, is facing<br />
away from <strong>the</strong> camera, her face hidden<br />
and wrea<strong>the</strong>d in smoke: her posture is<br />
alert but her expression is unknown. The<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r, central to <strong>the</strong> composition, is sitting<br />
back in a languorous pose – is she rapt,<br />
distracted by her own thoughts or merely<br />
bored? Starkey allows us, with no risk <strong>of</strong><br />
discovery, to pry on <strong>the</strong>se two people and<br />
provokes in us a sense <strong>of</strong> intrigue at <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
relationship and <strong>the</strong>ir conversation.<br />
The street scene outside <strong>the</strong> window<br />
firmly sets its urban location. We have<br />
all been in such a place before. We feel it.<br />
We remember our silent thoughts.<br />
Starkey has also developed a suite <strong>of</strong><br />
works which ruminate on our corporatelystyled<br />
and sometimes high technology<br />
urban environments. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than show<br />
humans as protagonists in a minor drama<br />
or relationship, <strong>the</strong>se works <strong>of</strong>ten have<br />
<strong>the</strong>m as mere components <strong>of</strong> a constructed<br />
world.<br />
A classic example shows a woman in a<br />
very clinical waiting room. The minimalist<br />
composition is immaculate and evokes<br />
a quality <strong>of</strong> stillness ra<strong>the</strong>r than that<br />
<strong>of</strong> a moment seized from <strong>the</strong> flux. The<br />
woman seems reduced to an elaboration<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> room itself much like <strong>the</strong> computer<br />
paraphernalia beside her and <strong>the</strong>re is little<br />
scope for <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> narrative. As we<br />
attempt to empathise we feel a sense <strong>of</strong><br />
unease. We all accept sanitized, modern<br />
environments like this as normal but<br />
seen in Starkey’s image, <strong>the</strong>y hardly seem<br />
places for vital and responsive human<br />
beings.<br />
As to <strong>the</strong> future, Starkey emphasised<br />
her commitment to <strong>the</strong> continuing<br />
development <strong>of</strong> her photographic<br />
language. What more can a serious artist<br />
say? There is little doubt that her special<br />
talents will ensure that she will continue<br />
to meet with critical acclaim.<br />
Recently published:<br />
Hannah Starkey Photographs<br />
1997 – 2007 (Steidl)<br />
Images courtesy Maureen Paley, London<br />
Spring issue Close-up:<br />
Thomas Joshua Cooper<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
37
Inside<br />
<strong>the</strong><br />
artist’s<br />
studio<br />
Although well<br />
known for glittering<br />
beachscapes and<br />
atmospheric rain-swept<br />
cityscapes, it is always<br />
to his cluttered studios<br />
that Ken <strong>Howard</strong><br />
returns to produce<br />
his best-known work<br />
– large-scale, backlit<br />
images <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> studio<br />
interiors <strong>the</strong>mselves.<br />
Often including highly<br />
personal motifs and<br />
a nude figure, always<br />
executed with a<br />
high degree <strong>of</strong> tonal<br />
precision, <strong>Howard</strong>’s<br />
work is informed by <strong>the</strong><br />
lines within <strong>the</strong> studio<br />
– vertical, horizontal,<br />
linear. The model<br />
is incidental; <strong>the</strong>se<br />
paintings are all about<br />
<strong>the</strong> studio atmosphere<br />
itself. “I am,” he says,<br />
“<strong>the</strong> last <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Impressionists.”<br />
Richard Storey<br />
38 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
Ken <strong>Howard</strong> OBE RA RWA<br />
Richard Storey and<br />
photographer Alice Hendy, met<br />
<strong>Howard</strong> at his London studio.<br />
Climbing <strong>the</strong> stairs in Ken<br />
<strong>Howard</strong>’s house resembles a<br />
visit to a Victorian art gallery.<br />
Every inch <strong>of</strong> wall space is<br />
covered with paintings, not<br />
one his own. His work lives<br />
above, in <strong>the</strong> gargantuan<br />
studio space, stacked ten deep<br />
against <strong>the</strong> wall, or in his<br />
London gallery, or on <strong>the</strong> walls<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> homes <strong>of</strong> hundreds <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Howard</strong> fans throughout <strong>the</strong><br />
world. We mount <strong>the</strong> second<br />
flight <strong>of</strong> stairs and begin to<br />
smell <strong>the</strong> studio: turps, oil,<br />
paint, canvas, wood. And<br />
when we arrive, we enter <strong>the</strong><br />
definitive artist’s bohemian<br />
hang-out, filled by luminous<br />
nor<strong>the</strong>rn light and crowded<br />
with easels (several), brushes<br />
(dozens), bottles and tins and<br />
seemingly random pieces <strong>of</strong><br />
furniture. We settle down<br />
to tea provided by <strong>Howard</strong>’s<br />
Italian wife, Dora, as he<br />
enthusiastically takes us on<br />
an auto-biographical journey.<br />
“I’ve lived and worked here<br />
in this quiet Arts and Crafts<br />
studio for <strong>the</strong> last thirty years,<br />
paying £6.50 a week rent until<br />
I was finally invited to buy it.<br />
The studio was formerly owned<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Irish society painter,<br />
Sir William Orpen (1878 –<br />
1931) and it remains much as<br />
he designed it. I feel a great<br />
affinity with Orpen. Like me he<br />
was a Royal Academician and<br />
an <strong>of</strong>ficial war artist on <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>West</strong>ern Front. (<strong>Howard</strong> was<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficial war artist to Nor<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
Ireland, 1973 – 78.) I’m also a<br />
great collector <strong>of</strong> things. That’s<br />
Orpen’s paint box over <strong>the</strong>re,<br />
and here’s <strong>the</strong> famous convex<br />
round mirror, in which he<br />
was reflected painting at his<br />
easel (The Mirror, 1900), I’ve<br />
got a chair and easel he owned<br />
and I’ve even got his medals<br />
somewhere. I love collecting<br />
<strong>the</strong>se things. Sickert and<br />
William Holman Hunt owned<br />
<strong>the</strong>se two paint boxes and this<br />
is Pissarro’s water container.<br />
They’re all bunged in this<br />
cupboard; I’m not precious<br />
about <strong>the</strong> stuff I collect.<br />
I was raised near railway<br />
tracks which have much<br />
influenced how I observe <strong>the</strong><br />
world around me, and because<br />
I’m Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Perspective at<br />
<strong>the</strong> Royal Academy, perspective<br />
comes in to my pictures a lot.<br />
When I’m doing an interior I<br />
always have a set place where<br />
I stand. Then I line up what<br />
I see outside <strong>the</strong> window and<br />
mark up <strong>the</strong> window frame<br />
and glazing bars with coloured<br />
tape. For a self-portrait, I’ll<br />
square up <strong>the</strong> mirror just<br />
as Camille Corot would do,<br />
capturing <strong>the</strong> scene exactly.<br />
I mostly paint that way –<br />
accurately but without being<br />
too ‘tight’. I never place objects<br />
within <strong>the</strong> painting. I let<br />
things grow organically and<br />
find <strong>the</strong> composition within<br />
what is already <strong>the</strong>re. And I<br />
never paint from imagination;<br />
I employ models, and friends<br />
pose occasionally, as well<br />
as Dora.<br />
To set up a painting I’ll<br />
book a model for a three-hour<br />
session, during which I get<br />
<strong>the</strong> composition I want by<br />
positioning her in relation to<br />
<strong>the</strong> window, mirror, table. For<br />
<strong>the</strong> next sitting, I’ll concentrate<br />
on her and her reflection so<br />
that when she’s not here I’m<br />
able to work around her shape.<br />
I avoid putting too much<br />
detail around <strong>the</strong> edges, or<br />
outside <strong>the</strong> window, in order to<br />
encourage <strong>the</strong> viewer’s eye to<br />
stay within <strong>the</strong> painting .<br />
I’m quite a prolific worker.<br />
I’ve just sent seventy paintings<br />
to my gallery, many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m<br />
small ones that I call ‘one<br />
wet’ – done in a single sitting.<br />
When I paint outdoors I’m an<br />
alla prima painter; I complete<br />
‘at once’, in one go and never<br />
touch <strong>the</strong>m again,<br />
The larger paintings can<br />
take up to two months to<br />
complete and I’m constantly<br />
kicking <strong>the</strong>m around. They<br />
don’t always work; you win<br />
some, you lose some. Someone<br />
asked me: how do you know<br />
when a painting’s finished?<br />
It’s finished when it gives you<br />
back <strong>the</strong> sensation that made<br />
you want to start it. If I don’t<br />
get that sensation back, I’ve<br />
lost it. That’s not a problem<br />
with <strong>the</strong> small paintings,<br />
but my larger canvases are<br />
altoge<strong>the</strong>r different. I’m a<br />
bit <strong>of</strong> a stickler; when I see a<br />
painting start to slip away,<br />
I fight it. I once fought a<br />
picture for two years and in<br />
desperation put a glaze over<br />
it – linseed oil and raw umber.<br />
And it revived it instantly.<br />
I subsequently entered it for<br />
<strong>the</strong> Royal Academy Summer<br />
show, one <strong>of</strong> those years when<br />
<strong>the</strong> critics really have a go at<br />
<strong>the</strong> RA, but one said “There’s<br />
a painting in Gallery Three<br />
that’s alone worth <strong>the</strong> price <strong>of</strong><br />
entry – The River at Kingston<br />
by Ken <strong>Howard</strong>”. If only<br />
<strong>the</strong>y knew what a desperate<br />
struggle it had been.<br />
Apart from this studio I<br />
have two o<strong>the</strong>rs. I made <strong>the</strong><br />
old village hall in Mousehole,<br />
Cornwall into one. My parents<br />
moved down <strong>the</strong>re in <strong>the</strong> 50s,<br />
got what I call ‘pixie-lated’<br />
and stayed on, so Cornwall<br />
has become a second home.<br />
I’ve got a third studio in<br />
Venice, a mansarda – an<br />
attic. All three are large and<br />
airy; I’m a bit <strong>of</strong> a nut for big<br />
spaces. Each studio gives me a<br />
different sensation and <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
different inspiration. When I<br />
turn up at a studio, I don’t take<br />
clo<strong>the</strong>s, I don’t take paints;<br />
everything’s <strong>the</strong>re, I know<br />
precisely where things are.<br />
I just arrive and get on with<br />
my painting. But this London<br />
studio is my favourite.<br />
The reason that I paint<br />
studio interiors is because<br />
I spend an enormous part<br />
<strong>of</strong> my life in one, so not to<br />
paint <strong>the</strong> studio would be<br />
something lost. A painter<br />
should paint what his life is<br />
about. But it wasn’t always<br />
so with me. I lived in this<br />
studio for seven years before<br />
I painted it. It took me all<br />
that time to truly see it and<br />
what it had to <strong>of</strong>fer. I had<br />
been doing a lot <strong>of</strong> travelling,<br />
painting in several countries<br />
and after one such trip I<br />
returned here to Orpen’s old<br />
studio and looked around<br />
me. I thought: what <strong>the</strong> hell<br />
am I doing, travelling <strong>the</strong><br />
world when it’s all in here?<br />
The studio is <strong>the</strong> one place<br />
where you can set up a 40 x<br />
60 canvas and paint what’s<br />
in front <strong>of</strong> you, undisturbed.<br />
Go away, come back – <strong>the</strong><br />
subject’s still <strong>the</strong>re. The<br />
environment is wea<strong>the</strong>rpro<strong>of</strong>,<br />
<strong>the</strong> light constant. And above<br />
all else, that’s what I’m about<br />
– light; whe<strong>the</strong>r it’s Venice,<br />
Cornwall or here, in my<br />
beloved Orpen studio.”<br />
1<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
39
40 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
FINE PAINTINGS • ESTABLISHED 1955<br />
Richard Green is <strong>the</strong> sole worldwide agent for<br />
Ken <strong>Howard</strong> OBE RA<br />
The Old Harbour, Newlyn, low water (detail)<br />
Signed. Oil on canvas: 24 x 20 in / 61 x 51 cm<br />
Asking price: £12,000<br />
An Artist’s Odyssey<br />
An exhibition <strong>of</strong> 70 recent oil paintings<br />
Opens Wednesday 26th January until<br />
Saturday 12th February 2011<br />
www.richard-green.com<br />
Email: paintings@richard-green.com<br />
147 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 2TS<br />
TELEPHONE: +44 (0)20 7493 3939<br />
2010 1-2pg RWoAM v2.indd 1 12/11/2010 13:38<br />
BRISTOL FRAMING<br />
SUPPLIES<br />
MATERIALS<br />
7500 metres <strong>of</strong> picture moulding from <strong>the</strong> best UK and<br />
European manufacturers: comprehensive range <strong>of</strong><br />
mountboard: glazing: backing: finishing paints: waxes<br />
SERVICES<br />
computerised mounting: all materials cut to size:<br />
drymounting: bare rim and chop service on mouldings<br />
Richard Broome is a Fine Art Trade Guild qualified framer<br />
providing framing services for artists and galleries from<br />
his workshop here at Bristol Framing Supplies.<br />
Unit 2 Midland Road Business Park<br />
Staple Hill Bristol BS16 4NW<br />
0117 957 4457<br />
framingsupplies@btconnect.com<br />
www.bristolframingsupplies.co.uk<br />
9am-5pm Mon to Fri 10am- 4pm Sat<br />
Chairman’s Column<br />
Do let us know what you think <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> winning exhibit for <strong>the</strong> Friends<br />
sculpture prize, which was awarded<br />
to Michael Werbicki for ‘Sevenfold’,<br />
catalogue no 614.<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r prize, sponsored by<br />
<strong>the</strong> Friends, is ‘Your Choice’, which<br />
provides <strong>the</strong> opportunity for visitors<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Autumn Exhibition to vote<br />
for <strong>the</strong>ir favourite work.<br />
Early in 2011 <strong>the</strong>re will be<br />
an RWA Open Photography<br />
Exhibitions and <strong>the</strong> Friends will<br />
be sponsoring two prizes. We<br />
look forward to seeing entries<br />
submitted by our members.<br />
FRIENDS COMMITTEE 2010 – 2011<br />
Chairman<br />
Maureen Fraser<br />
e: mcf11@tiscali.co.uk<br />
Treasurer<br />
Tony Merriman<br />
t: 01934 833 619<br />
e: merriman38@hotmail.com<br />
Vice Chairman & Friends Exhibitions<br />
Gillian Hudson<br />
t: 0117 973 5359<br />
e: gs.hudson@toucansurf.com<br />
Vice Chairman<br />
Roland Harmer<br />
t: 0117 924 5638<br />
e: rolandharmer@blueyonder.co.uk<br />
Cultural & Educational Visits<br />
Tom <strong>West</strong>ern-Butt<br />
e: thomas_butt05@tiscali.co.uk<br />
Lectures<br />
Wendy Mogford<br />
t: 0117 950 0712<br />
e: wmogford@talktalk.net<br />
Volunteers coordinator<br />
Mary Drown<br />
e: Mary.Drown@blueyonder.co.uk<br />
RWA magazine liaison<br />
Carolyn Stubbs<br />
e: carolyn.stubbs@btinternet.com<br />
Liz Clarke<br />
t: 0117 977 2573<br />
e: liz@madasafish.com<br />
Simon Holmes<br />
e: simonfhholmes@lineone.net<br />
Linda Alvis<br />
t: 0117 973 0268<br />
e: linda@alvisfineart.co.uk<br />
Also:<br />
Friends Room Exhibitions<br />
Marion Roach<br />
t: 0117 929 0310<br />
e: marion@manthorp.com<br />
Membership Secretary<br />
Jac Solomons<br />
t: 0117 973 5129<br />
e: info@rwa.org.uk<br />
Committee members can also be<br />
contacted by post addressed:<br />
c/o Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong> Academy<br />
Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX<br />
Your feedback on <strong>the</strong> Soirée,<br />
c<strong>of</strong>fee table and o<strong>the</strong>r activities<br />
is welcomed by <strong>the</strong> Friends<br />
Committee toge<strong>the</strong>r with<br />
suggestions for fundraising<br />
events. We depend on <strong>the</strong><br />
willingness <strong>of</strong> our supporters to<br />
plan and organise new services<br />
so please contact Volunteers<br />
Coordinator Mary Drown if<br />
you are not one <strong>of</strong> our regular<br />
volunteers and would like to help.<br />
We are keen to know about<br />
your art activities: it might be a<br />
prize that you have won or a new<br />
direction with your work. Please<br />
The Genius <strong>of</strong><br />
William Samuel<br />
Morris<br />
Friends outing to Kelmscott<br />
Manor 17 July 2010<br />
Alongside <strong>the</strong> gently meandering<br />
Thames on Oxfordshire and<br />
Gloucestershire border, nestles William<br />
Samuel Morris’s “Heaven on Earth”,<br />
<strong>the</strong> embodiment <strong>of</strong> his utopian dream,<br />
Kelmscott Manor. Here, on a gorgeous<br />
July morning, <strong>the</strong> Friends arrived for<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir visit.<br />
Kelmscott is a Grade I listed Tudor<br />
farmhouse which, from 1870, became<br />
<strong>the</strong> beloved summer home <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> writer,<br />
designer and political thinker and his<br />
wife Jane, <strong>the</strong>ir family guests including<br />
Dante Gabriel Rossetti.<br />
Entering through <strong>the</strong> oldest part<br />
<strong>of</strong> this magical house, <strong>the</strong> Screens<br />
Passage, one arrives in <strong>the</strong> Old Hall,<br />
used as a dining room by <strong>the</strong> Morris<br />
family. Strawberry Thief design fabric<br />
adorns its walls. The North Hall, which<br />
contains furniture designed for Morris’s<br />
Bexleyheath house, leads into <strong>the</strong> panelled<br />
White Room with portraits <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Morris<br />
family and <strong>the</strong> Millefleurs tapestry.<br />
Off <strong>the</strong> White Room is The Closet<br />
which houses Rossetti’s famous portrait<br />
<strong>of</strong> Jane Morris. The Blue Silk Dress<br />
(1866-68) and finally, on <strong>the</strong> ground<br />
floor, <strong>the</strong> Green Room containing family<br />
souvenirs and a magnificent carved stone<br />
fireplace decorated with Morris tiles.<br />
The early rustic stairs, which<br />
enchanted Morris, lead to <strong>the</strong> landing,<br />
where Rossetti’s 18th Century tavern<br />
send in any art related stories<br />
to Carolyn Stubbs at<br />
carolyn.stubbs@btinternet.com.<br />
It is encouraging that <strong>the</strong><br />
Friends Exhibition has attracted<br />
an impressive number <strong>of</strong><br />
submissions and we are running<br />
a follow up show – ‘Selected<br />
But Hung Later’. The lecture<br />
programme for 2011, organised<br />
by Wendy Mogford, is now in<br />
place and details <strong>of</strong> forthcoming<br />
talks are included in Diary page 6.<br />
I look forward to hearing<br />
from you.<br />
Maureen Fraser – Chairman<br />
clock hangs, and on into Jane’s bedroom<br />
where <strong>the</strong> wallpaper is a modern<br />
reproduction <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> Morris’s most<br />
popular designs ‘Willow Boughs’.<br />
Morris’s bedroom contains a four<br />
poster bed <strong>of</strong> Elizabethan and Jacobean<br />
woodwork. The bedspread was made by<br />
Jane and her friend Augusta de Morgan,<br />
sister <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> potter William de Morgan.<br />
Woodblock by Albrecht Dürer hang on<br />
<strong>the</strong> walls.<br />
In an extension to <strong>the</strong> original house<br />
can be seen tapestries depicting <strong>the</strong><br />
biblical story <strong>of</strong> Samson. These date from<br />
<strong>the</strong> Civil War and line a room which was<br />
used by Rossetti as a studio. Here a paint<br />
box <strong>the</strong> artist left behind in 1874 can<br />
still be seen.<br />
A split stepped staircase leads to<br />
<strong>the</strong> extensive attics display <strong>of</strong> textiles,<br />
including samples from Morris & Co’s<br />
showrooms. These richly worked fabrics<br />
are a testament to Morris’s love <strong>of</strong><br />
nature and are examples <strong>of</strong> his famously<br />
repetitive designs which <strong>the</strong> gardens <strong>of</strong><br />
Kelmscott inspired.<br />
The Society <strong>of</strong> Antiquities own and<br />
manage <strong>the</strong> house and gardens. They<br />
have left <strong>the</strong> newly opened Old Kitchen<br />
unreconstructed to preserve its essential<br />
architectural qualities. A walk around<br />
<strong>the</strong> abundant gardens and meadow was<br />
a delightful finale.<br />
Linda Alvis<br />
Friends <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RWA<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
41
Friends News<br />
Simon, Monica and <strong>the</strong> BMW<br />
Titian:<br />
The Last Days<br />
by Mark Hudson<br />
On <strong>the</strong> 20th <strong>of</strong> November<br />
Mark Hudson gave a Friends<br />
Lecture on <strong>the</strong> last days <strong>of</strong> Titian.<br />
Dr Derek Balmer PPRWA<br />
reviews his recent book.<br />
Henry Ford said history is more or less<br />
bunk. That said, one questions <strong>the</strong> wisdom<br />
<strong>of</strong> such a statement and leads one to ask<br />
if <strong>the</strong>re is any justification for such a<br />
sweeping generalisation.<br />
Certainly in Mark Hudson’s book<br />
Titian: The Last Days, <strong>the</strong>re are<br />
qualifying adverbs such as ‘maybe’,<br />
‘possibly’, ‘perhaps’ and ‘supposing’<br />
which indicate <strong>the</strong> frustrations <strong>of</strong> a<br />
historian who, genuinely obsessed<br />
with his subject, cannot claim with any<br />
certainty what happened five hundred<br />
years ago. The fingerprints are wiped<br />
clean, <strong>the</strong> footprints gone for ever and <strong>the</strong><br />
gossipmongers long dead in <strong>the</strong>ir graves.<br />
Never<strong>the</strong>less Mark Hudson resolutely<br />
plods <strong>the</strong> alleyways <strong>of</strong> Venice with<br />
optimistic determination and we follow<br />
him in pursuit <strong>of</strong> evidence that will fill in<br />
<strong>the</strong> gaps <strong>of</strong> Titian’s life and times. Hudson<br />
42 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
Simon Roberts:<br />
The Road to<br />
Kathmandu<br />
Saturday 18 September 2010<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Fedden Gallery<br />
Hot foot from his interview with Radio<br />
Bristol, graphic artist Simon Roberts<br />
arrived on his trusty BMW – <strong>the</strong> bike that<br />
had taken him on his epic journey – to<br />
face a full house <strong>of</strong> Friends and visitors.<br />
He spoke movingly <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> tragic<br />
sudden loss <strong>of</strong> his wife Julie to cancer –<br />
his motivation for renting out his house<br />
and taking to <strong>the</strong> road for <strong>the</strong> solo seven<br />
month life-affirming trip. His journey<br />
took him across Europe to Istanbul,<br />
around Turkey to Iran and <strong>the</strong> Persian<br />
Gulf, up through Pakistan as far as <strong>the</strong><br />
Chinese border and <strong>the</strong>n around India<br />
to Nepal and finally Kathmandu.<br />
openly admits that <strong>the</strong> finest biography<br />
<strong>of</strong> Titian was written back in 1877 by<br />
L.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavelcaselle, but still<br />
he pursues his quarry like a dedicated<br />
detective and in doing so encounters<br />
cranks, detractors and closed doors.<br />
There is much information in this<br />
book; not all <strong>of</strong> it necessary to <strong>the</strong> central<br />
thrust <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> investigation, but for all<br />
that, <strong>the</strong> enthusiasm for his subject never<br />
falters as <strong>the</strong> complexities, atmosphere<br />
and very smell <strong>of</strong> Sixteenth Century<br />
Venice is gradually brought to life.<br />
For successful artists, <strong>the</strong> Renaissance,<br />
as it came to be known, was by no<br />
means a time <strong>of</strong> creative introspection.<br />
A studio such as Titian’s would be<br />
akin to a high level factory production<br />
line with its succession <strong>of</strong> brilliantly<br />
executed Madonnas, Crucifixions, Pietas,<br />
Altarpieces and Martyrdoms; supported<br />
by endless commissions for portraits <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> great and <strong>the</strong> good. Then <strong>the</strong>re were<br />
<strong>the</strong> Cinerama epics featuring many a<br />
busty maiden with delicate pink thighs<br />
and rotund cherubs zooming about in<br />
attendance and all made respectable<br />
by titles relating to classical myth.<br />
Andromeda, Diana and Venus were <strong>the</strong><br />
upmarket page three girls <strong>of</strong> yesteryear.<br />
Often tasteless, never dull and all <strong>the</strong><br />
better for it.<br />
Yet for all his genius and remarkable<br />
consistency, Titian and his peers sat<br />
well below <strong>the</strong> salt and were socially<br />
With adventures galore and more<br />
than a few breakdowns – he achieved his<br />
goal, making many new friends along<br />
<strong>the</strong> way. As he said, it was a journey <strong>of</strong><br />
challenges and contrasts, <strong>of</strong> excitement<br />
and discovery, during which he crossed<br />
deserts, battled ice and snow, trekked in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Himalayas, ate and drank a variety <strong>of</strong><br />
unidentified substances, and saw sights<br />
that most <strong>of</strong> us can only dream <strong>of</strong>. To<br />
while away <strong>the</strong> lonely evenings he began<br />
to keep a journal <strong>of</strong> each day’s events with<br />
accompanying comic strip illustrations.<br />
This became a fascinating book entitled<br />
‘Tea with Bin Laden’s Bro<strong>the</strong>r’ – it did<br />
actually happen. Simon, a natural and<br />
engaging storyteller, had us all captivated.<br />
Wendy Mogford<br />
Some signed copies <strong>of</strong> his book are<br />
available at £15 from <strong>the</strong> RWA.<br />
Contact Friends Secretary<br />
Jac Solomons for details<br />
acknowledged as little more than artisans.<br />
How times have changed as we in our<br />
day elevate <strong>the</strong> trivial to a level <strong>of</strong> celebrity<br />
unheard <strong>of</strong> in <strong>the</strong> past.<br />
I enjoyed this unusual book and<br />
was grateful to be reminded <strong>of</strong> my<br />
three favourite Titian paintings: – The<br />
Flaying <strong>of</strong> Marsyas, Pope Paul III with<br />
his Grandsons and <strong>the</strong> sexually charged<br />
Venus <strong>of</strong> Urbino. This last painting<br />
comes in for some remarkably naive and<br />
pompous observation from none o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than Mark Twain, whose ignorance<br />
in matters <strong>of</strong> female independence is<br />
unbelievable. For <strong>the</strong>se few pages alone<br />
Mark Hudson’s revelation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mindset<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> author <strong>of</strong> The Adventures <strong>of</strong> Tom<br />
Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn is worth<br />
<strong>the</strong> cover price <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book.<br />
Derek Balmer<br />
New Volunteers’<br />
Co-ordinator for<br />
RWA Friends<br />
Mary Drown has taken on <strong>the</strong><br />
role <strong>of</strong> Volunteers’ Co-ordinator.<br />
Volunteers are an essential part <strong>of</strong> our<br />
support for <strong>the</strong> RWA. You will <strong>of</strong>ten see<br />
volunteers at <strong>the</strong> RWA – <strong>the</strong>y help with <strong>the</strong><br />
handing in and selection processes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Autumn exhibition, assist at <strong>the</strong> larger<br />
private views, and act as stewards at <strong>the</strong><br />
Friends’ exhibitions. As coordinator, Mary<br />
liaises with <strong>the</strong> RWA on <strong>the</strong>ir needs and<br />
matches up <strong>the</strong> work to be done with <strong>the</strong><br />
people who want to do it. She <strong>the</strong>n puts<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r rotas for <strong>the</strong> different events.<br />
Mary’s background is in medical<br />
and scientific photography. She worked<br />
for <strong>the</strong> Wellcome Foundation before<br />
becoming <strong>the</strong> first woman photographer<br />
for Bristol Police in <strong>the</strong> 1960s. As a<br />
woman, she wasn’t allowed to cover<br />
murders or anything grisly; but she was<br />
asked to develop those photos for o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
photographers. She later worked in <strong>the</strong><br />
research laboratories <strong>of</strong> Berkeley Power<br />
Station, using large format cameras and<br />
high-speed cine film. More recently, she<br />
followed in her daughter’s footsteps to<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong>,<br />
and successfully graduated with a B.A.<br />
in Drawing & Applied Arts in 2007.<br />
Visits planned<br />
for <strong>the</strong> Friends<br />
during 2011<br />
An exciting and rewarding<br />
number <strong>of</strong> excursions are being<br />
prepared for <strong>the</strong> Friends in 2011.<br />
Musée Rodin, Paris<br />
As <strong>the</strong> fund-raising activities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Friends develop, so will <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
volunteers. Mary says, “It is important for<br />
Friends to be <strong>the</strong>re to help in any way we<br />
can. I’m looking forward to helping people<br />
become more involved by drawing on <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
talents and experience.”<br />
If you’d like to become more involved,<br />
you can phone Mary on 01454 414433 or<br />
e-mail her on mary.drown@blueyonder.co.uk.<br />
Eileen Elsey<br />
// March 12<br />
Ashmolean and a college, Oxford.<br />
// May<br />
A five day visit to Paris by coach from<br />
Bristol. Proposed outings include <strong>the</strong><br />
‘artist’ village <strong>of</strong> Barbizon, Monet’s house<br />
and garden at Giverny, Fontainebleu.<br />
Details later.<br />
// June / July<br />
Painting Vacation. Details to follow.<br />
// July 12<br />
Gloucester Ca<strong>the</strong>dral and ‘Art in Nature’,<br />
Twigworth.<br />
// September<br />
Severn Valley Railway and Museum.<br />
// November<br />
Birmingham Art Gallery and <strong>the</strong> Barber<br />
Institute.<br />
// 2011<br />
Painting Days with Roma Widger<br />
will continue during <strong>the</strong> year.<br />
For fur<strong>the</strong>r details contact: Linda Alvis<br />
e: linda@alvisfineart.co.uk<br />
//<br />
See pages 4 – 7 for<br />
full details <strong>of</strong> Friends<br />
exhibitions and events<br />
Join <strong>the</strong><br />
Friends<br />
Friends enjoy: free entry to RWA exhibitions;<br />
private view invitations to all exhibitions; a lecture<br />
programme with pr<strong>of</strong>essional speakers; cultural<br />
visits and painting trips; an opportunity to submit<br />
work to Friends’ exhibitions; preferential rates with<br />
discounts on submissions <strong>of</strong> work to <strong>the</strong> Autumn<br />
Open Exhibition; discounts on artists’ materials at<br />
Bristol Fine Art and ART magazine each quarter.<br />
Your membership will help <strong>the</strong> RWA to serve <strong>the</strong><br />
region and artistic community by raising funds<br />
for <strong>the</strong> Academy.<br />
title (optional)<br />
first name<br />
surname<br />
title (optional)<br />
first name<br />
surname<br />
address<br />
postcode<br />
telephone<br />
e-mail<br />
types <strong>of</strong> membership<br />
single annual £25<br />
joint annual £36<br />
individual life £375<br />
joint life £500<br />
student (NUS card max three years) £13<br />
For those living outside <strong>the</strong> Bath (BA), Bristol (BS),<br />
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art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
43
Chosen by Jilly Cobbe<br />
Artful<br />
quotations<br />
“What is important is to create<br />
an object capable <strong>of</strong> conveying<br />
a sensation as close as possible<br />
to <strong>the</strong> one felt at <strong>the</strong> sight <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> subject.”<br />
Alberto Giacometti<br />
“Believe it or not, I can<br />
actually draw.”<br />
Jean-Michel<br />
Basquiat<br />
“Nothing is more foreign to<br />
me than an art that serves<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r purposes than those<br />
<strong>of</strong> art alone.”<br />
Giorgio Morandi<br />
“The beautiful is in nature,<br />
and it is encountered under<br />
<strong>the</strong> most diverse forms <strong>of</strong><br />
reality. Once it is found it<br />
belongs to art, or ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
to <strong>the</strong> artist who discovers it.”<br />
Gustave Courbet<br />
“Sometimes I’ve believed as<br />
many as six impossible things<br />
before breakfast.”<br />
Lewis Carroll<br />
“The flat sound <strong>of</strong> my clogs on<br />
<strong>the</strong> cobblestones, deep, hollow<br />
and powerful, is <strong>the</strong> note I<br />
seek in my painting.”<br />
Paul Gaugin<br />
“Fantasy, abandoned by<br />
reason, produces impossible<br />
monsters; united with it,<br />
she is <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> arts<br />
and <strong>the</strong> origin <strong>of</strong> marvels.”<br />
Francisco Goya<br />
44 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
// Letters // Reviews<br />
Your news and views are important to us. Please send letters to ART,<br />
Royal <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong> Academy, Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX<br />
or email richard.storey@rwa.org.uk. Unfortunately we are unable to reply<br />
to all correspondence individually. We reserve <strong>the</strong> right to edit letters.<br />
I have just read <strong>the</strong><br />
Autumn 2010 issue<br />
<strong>of</strong> ART.<br />
It is gorgeous. It<br />
looks fabulous yet<br />
is very accessible<br />
with clear layout and<br />
distinction between<br />
its different parts.<br />
The content is varied<br />
from <strong>the</strong> snapshot to<br />
<strong>the</strong> more considered<br />
(<strong>the</strong> Barry Cawston<br />
article) with plenty <strong>of</strong><br />
current information<br />
about what’s going<br />
on at <strong>the</strong> RWA. The<br />
interviews were<br />
interesting and I<br />
wonder if this could<br />
be extended into<br />
an artist talking<br />
at length about<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir work, or<br />
similar, or two or<br />
three academics’<br />
perspectives on one<br />
artist’s work, or on<br />
a type <strong>of</strong> art.<br />
Having talked about<br />
all that l<strong>of</strong>ty stuff my<br />
favourite piece was<br />
‘Alice Hendy meets<br />
some visitors’. Nice<br />
to read some o<strong>the</strong>rs’<br />
experiences, felt a<br />
bit like having gone<br />
to <strong>the</strong> cinema and<br />
talking about <strong>the</strong> film<br />
afterwards. Maybe<br />
I’d like a better set<br />
<strong>of</strong> distinctions about<br />
art, curating and<br />
galleries to use in<br />
discussion.<br />
Looking forward to<br />
<strong>the</strong> next issue.<br />
Carol Walker<br />
Dear Hugh (Mooney)<br />
My God you are good.<br />
I really do mean it.<br />
I cannot remember<br />
any piece written<br />
about me so elegantly.<br />
You asked me in<br />
your letter if I found<br />
it acceptable. I most<br />
certainly do.<br />
Much gratitude to<br />
you for sending me<br />
<strong>the</strong> copy and I do<br />
hope our paths may<br />
cross once again<br />
one day.<br />
Cheerio for now and<br />
all warm good wishes<br />
Charlie Waite<br />
Issue number 2 is<br />
even better. Fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />
congratulations.<br />
John Sansom<br />
// BOOK<br />
Art and Print:<br />
The Curwen Story<br />
Alan Powers<br />
Illus 176pp: Tate Gallery Publications, 2008<br />
ISBN 978 1 85437 721 0<br />
Stanley Jones and<br />
<strong>the</strong> Curwen Studio<br />
Stanley Jones<br />
Illus 154pp: Herbert Press<br />
an imprint <strong>of</strong> A&C Black, London, 2010<br />
ISBN 978 14081-02862<br />
These two books tell, from<br />
different perspectives, <strong>the</strong><br />
complex story <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Essex<br />
and London based publishing<br />
// BOOK<br />
A Terrible Beauty: British<br />
Artists in <strong>the</strong> First World War<br />
Paul Gough<br />
366 pp: Sansom & Company Ltd Bristol, 2010<br />
ISBN 978 1 906593 00 1<br />
This book describes <strong>the</strong><br />
plate-spinning act British<br />
war artists in WW1 had to<br />
master: dealing with <strong>the</strong><br />
trauma <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> battle, <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
painting techniques, army<br />
politics, ‘pulling strings’, <strong>the</strong><br />
censor, being mistaken for<br />
spies, staying alive. This is an<br />
all-round sensual experience<br />
as much as a history book.<br />
Many paintings are referred<br />
to and well-described but are<br />
frustratingly not reproduced,<br />
but this is made up for by its<br />
epic scale. Cliff Hanley<br />
house, printing workshop and<br />
gallery that have carried <strong>the</strong><br />
name ‘Curwen’. The Curwen<br />
Studios were established in<br />
1958 and <strong>the</strong> Tate gallery<br />
marked <strong>the</strong> 50th anniversary<br />
with this book and an<br />
exhibition. Alan Powers, an<br />
architectural and cultural<br />
historian, manages <strong>the</strong><br />
narrative well. Much helped<br />
by plentiful illustrations, <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
in colour, I was entranced<br />
by <strong>the</strong> graphic design and<br />
illustrative work <strong>of</strong> artists<br />
such as Edward Bawden, Eric<br />
Ravilious, Paul Nash and<br />
Barnett Freedman.<br />
Stanley Jones, now 77, artist<br />
and founder <strong>of</strong> Curwen<br />
Studios is an unparalleled<br />
expert in lithography. His<br />
// BOOK<br />
Taizo Kuroda<br />
Philip Jodidio<br />
Illus 144 pp: Prestel Publishing Ltd, 2010<br />
ISBN 978 3 79 135003 5<br />
Jodidio’s monograph explains<br />
clearly why Taizo Kuroda<br />
has devoted <strong>the</strong> past 40 years<br />
to making ceramic vessels.<br />
Despite Kuroda’s insistence<br />
that his work is not concerned<br />
with Spirituality, readers may<br />
well be drawn into a Zen like<br />
state and left contemplating<br />
<strong>the</strong> existential question <strong>of</strong><br />
how we human beings occupy<br />
physical space. Exquisite<br />
photographs capture Kuroda’s<br />
skilful mastery <strong>of</strong> porcelain<br />
clay as well as <strong>the</strong> tension he<br />
creates in <strong>the</strong> rims, cracks<br />
and openings <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> beautiful<br />
forms. Nicky Stone<br />
autobiography, beginning in a<br />
working class house in Wigan,<br />
1933, will be <strong>of</strong> greatest<br />
interest to readers <strong>of</strong> ‘a certain<br />
age’. Stanley Jones’ story<br />
demonstrates <strong>the</strong> formative<br />
power <strong>of</strong> an obsession, in his<br />
case with lithography and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r techniques <strong>of</strong> original<br />
printmaking. The book<br />
includes many examples <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> writer’s own artworks<br />
and photographs <strong>of</strong> Stanley<br />
providing his expertise<br />
for artists such as Moore,<br />
Hepworth and Ceri Richards.<br />
Both books are specialist<br />
publications but anyone who<br />
enjoys art and design from<br />
<strong>the</strong> 20s and 30s will want to<br />
buy or borrow ‘Art and Print’.<br />
Peter Ford<br />
// BOOK<br />
Keeping <strong>the</strong> World Away<br />
Margaret Forster<br />
352 pp: Vintage, 2007<br />
ISBN 978 0099496861<br />
Tracing <strong>the</strong> progress <strong>of</strong> an<br />
imaginary Gwen John painting<br />
through <strong>the</strong> lives <strong>of</strong> a chain <strong>of</strong><br />
women, Forster conveys John’s<br />
awareness <strong>of</strong> light and colour.<br />
John’s avoidance <strong>of</strong> marriage<br />
somehow cornered her creativity<br />
chiefly into portraits and<br />
self-portraits <strong>of</strong> mournful,<br />
pale-faced women. The title<br />
confirms <strong>the</strong> impression <strong>of</strong><br />
a reclusive artist: “Rules to<br />
Keep <strong>the</strong> World Away – do not<br />
listen to people, do not look at<br />
people…” from this isolated<br />
viewpoint, John created her<br />
calm and safe world.<br />
Greg Reitschlin<br />
// BOOK<br />
The Sensory World <strong>of</strong><br />
Italian Renaissance Art<br />
François Quiviger<br />
206pp: Reaktion Books, London, 2010<br />
ISBN 9-781-86189-657-5<br />
Why did artists become<br />
interested in representing<br />
<strong>the</strong> senses (sight, touch,<br />
hearing, taste and smell) at<br />
<strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> middle ages,<br />
and what do <strong>the</strong>ir images<br />
reveal about Renaissance<br />
attempts to understand <strong>the</strong><br />
relationship between what <strong>the</strong><br />
// BOOK<br />
13 Sculptures Children<br />
Should Know<br />
Angela Wenzel<br />
45 pp: Prestel Publishing Ltd, London, 2010<br />
ISBN 978 3 7913 7010 1<br />
The cover says it all.<br />
Michaelangelo’s David,<br />
Oldenburg’s Giant Toothpaste<br />
Tube and Smithson’s Spiral<br />
Jetty. A quick, eclectic dip<br />
in to <strong>the</strong> world <strong>of</strong> sculpture,<br />
introduces children to works<br />
from Samothrace (c.190 BC)<br />
through Brâncusi to Anish<br />
Kapoor. Accessible information<br />
about <strong>the</strong> work and <strong>the</strong> artist,<br />
and colourful photographs will<br />
whet <strong>the</strong> appetites <strong>of</strong> young<br />
readers; games and puzzles<br />
enhance this introduction<br />
to three-dimensional<br />
masterpieces. GR<br />
mind conceives and sensations<br />
that are physically perceived?<br />
These are <strong>the</strong> questions<br />
François Quiviger’s book<br />
explores with lucid originality.<br />
The middle ages believed that<br />
sensation was dominant;<br />
Renaissance science (natural<br />
philosophy) elaborated a<br />
more sophisticated model in<br />
which reason and imagination<br />
acquire greater autonomy as<br />
faculties through which <strong>the</strong><br />
senses stimulate <strong>the</strong> intellect.<br />
How artists represented <strong>the</strong><br />
senses thus provide a key to<br />
understanding Renaissance<br />
ideas about <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong><br />
art. Altoge<strong>the</strong>r a fascinating<br />
enquiry into Renaissance<br />
vision and communication.<br />
Michael Liversidge<br />
// BOOK<br />
A Year In Art:<br />
<strong>the</strong> activity book<br />
Christine Weidemann<br />
376 pp: Prestel Publishing Ltd, London, 2009<br />
ISBN 978 3 79134 355 6<br />
This beautifully produced<br />
activity book about art does<br />
not patronise children. It<br />
<strong>of</strong>fers a painting for every<br />
day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> year, and includes<br />
plenty to discover and interact<br />
with on each page. Artists<br />
from across centuries and<br />
cultures are well represented<br />
by works chosen to fascinate<br />
any enquiring mind. Highly<br />
recommended for <strong>the</strong> over<br />
sevens (and probably lots <strong>of</strong><br />
grown-ups too).<br />
Alison Heywood<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
45
JULIAN COX ARBS<br />
46 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
INK DRAWINGS<br />
www.juliancoxartist.co.uk<br />
e@juliancoxartist.co.uk<br />
m.07814556936<br />
‘Daffodils’, hand-coated print in platinum and palladium.<br />
Ian A Foster<br />
Recipient <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 158th RWA Autumn Exhibition<br />
Best Newcomer Award 2010<br />
For more information on <strong>the</strong> current collection,<br />
private commissions and representation,<br />
visit www.ianafoster.co.uk<br />
Citerna, Umbria,<br />
June 2011.<br />
www.lizvibert.co.uk<br />
lizvibert@blueyonder.co.uk<br />
or 0117 9738772 for a chat<br />
about this & o<strong>the</strong>r 2011/12 events.<br />
LIZ VIBERT PAINTING HOLIDAYS<br />
Friendly multi-level group, versatile & inspiring guidance on<br />
watercolours and o<strong>the</strong>r media from tutor Bob Ballard.<br />
Lovely hill-top village, comfortable rooms & delicious food,<br />
swimming pool... & Piero della Francesca on your doorstep.<br />
Singles £718, doubles £599 pp excl. travel.<br />
Non-painting partners welcome.<br />
The Architecture Centre<br />
Narrow Quay<br />
Bristol BS1 4QA<br />
t: 0117 922 1540<br />
e: info@<br />
architecturecentre.co.uk<br />
Opening hours<br />
Tues to Fri 11am – 5pm<br />
Sat and Sun 12 – 5pm<br />
Closed all day Monday<br />
To 24 December<br />
Breuer in Bristol<br />
A brief 3 year period<br />
in <strong>the</strong> mid thirties put<br />
Bristol on <strong>the</strong> Modernist<br />
map. The collaboration<br />
between Bauhaus<br />
architect Marcel Breuer<br />
and Cr<strong>of</strong>ton Gane, Bristol<br />
furniture manufacturer.<br />
Bath Fine Art<br />
35 Gay Street<br />
Queen Square<br />
Bath BA1 2NT<br />
t: 01225 461 230<br />
e: gallery@bathfineart.<br />
com<br />
www.bathfineart.com<br />
Mon – Fri 10am – 5.30pm<br />
Sat 10am – 5pm<br />
and by appointment.<br />
12 November –<br />
4 December<br />
Window to <strong>the</strong> Soul<br />
A celebration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most<br />
talented artists in <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong>.<br />
Bristol Drawing School<br />
Unit 5.3<br />
Paintworks<br />
Bath Road<br />
Bristol BS4 3EH<br />
t: 0845 680 1409<br />
www.drawingschool.org.uk<br />
A not-for-pr<strong>of</strong>it private<br />
arts venue <strong>of</strong>fering<br />
drawing courses and<br />
workshops throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> year.<br />
Enrolling now for 2011<br />
City Museum<br />
& Art Gallery<br />
Queen’s Road<br />
Bristol BS8 1RL<br />
www.bristol.gov.uk/<br />
museums<br />
Extended until 30<br />
January 2011<br />
Flight: BAC 100<br />
Exhibition<br />
A century <strong>of</strong> aviation in<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>England</strong>.<br />
The Clifton Arts Club<br />
Bristol School <strong>of</strong> Art<br />
(Adjacent to RWA)<br />
Queen’s Road<br />
Bristol BS8 1PX<br />
www.cliftonartsclub.co.uk<br />
Inviting new members,<br />
join our busy programme<br />
<strong>of</strong> events, £25 per year<br />
We have lectures,<br />
workshops, gallery<br />
visits, annual exhibition<br />
and painting days. Visit<br />
our website or contact<br />
Di <strong>West</strong>ern 01454<br />
776916 for fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />
information.<br />
The Clifton Hotel Group<br />
(The Rodney, The Square<br />
& The Clifton)<br />
Julian Cox ARBS<br />
On-going exhibitions <strong>of</strong><br />
sensual original Indian<br />
ink drawings by Bristol<br />
based artist.<br />
www.juliancoxartist.co.uk<br />
Create Centre<br />
Smeaton Road<br />
Bristol BS1 6XN<br />
t: 0117 925 0505<br />
www.createbristol.org<br />
To end December<br />
Opening times Monday –<br />
Saturday 10 – 4.00<br />
Bristol 2020: vision for a<br />
carbon smart city. Please<br />
check website for details.<br />
Supported by <strong>the</strong> Arts<br />
Council, <strong>England</strong>.<br />
Gallery Nine<br />
9b Margarets Buildings<br />
Bath BA1 2LP<br />
t: 01225 319 197<br />
e: info@gallerynine.co.uk<br />
www.gallerynine.co.uk<br />
Mon – Sat 10am – 5.30pm<br />
Most Sundays 2 – 5pm<br />
12 November – 8 January<br />
2011<br />
Exhibition <strong>of</strong> paintings<br />
by June Miles<br />
Innocent Fine Art<br />
7a Boyces Avenue<br />
Clifton<br />
Bristol BS8 4AA<br />
t: 0117 973 2614<br />
www.innocent<br />
fineart.co.uk<br />
Monday – Saturday<br />
10am – 5.30pm<br />
19 November –<br />
11 December<br />
School <strong>of</strong> Paris exhibition<br />
Braque, Chagall,<br />
Cézanne, Cocteau, Dali,<br />
Gilot, Hellau, Matisse,<br />
Miró, Picasso, Renoir,<br />
Utrillo.<br />
Jamaica Street Artists<br />
37–39 Jamaica Street,<br />
Stokes Cr<strong>of</strong>t<br />
Bristol BS2 8JP<br />
t: 07766 221 266<br />
Contact: Gemma Brace<br />
at jsadevelopment09@<br />
yahoo.co.uk<br />
Weds – Sun 11am – 6pm<br />
To 24 December<br />
THEARTBOX<br />
31 College Green, Bristol<br />
A unique pop-up shop<br />
and gallery.<br />
8 January – 8 February<br />
2011<br />
Inside-out<br />
RWA Bristol (see Diary<br />
pages)<br />
An eclectic exhibition<br />
includes workshops,<br />
tours and talks.<br />
Jean Jones Gallery<br />
13 Clifton Victorian<br />
Shopping Arcade,<br />
Boyce’s Avenue<br />
Clifton Village<br />
Bristol BS8 4AAt: 07926<br />
196 978<br />
www.jeanjonesgallery.com<br />
Tues – Sat 10.30am – 5.30pm<br />
Fine Art Original<br />
Paintings, Jewellery<br />
and Cards<br />
The John Leach Gallery<br />
Mulchelney Pottery<br />
nr Langport<br />
Som TA10 0DW<br />
t: 01458 250 324<br />
www.johnleachpottery.<br />
co.uk<br />
15 November –<br />
26 January 2011<br />
Andrea Clark: All<br />
Creatures Great & Small<br />
Original paintings,<br />
drawings and prints.<br />
Lime Tree Gallery<br />
84 Hotwell Road<br />
Bristol BS8 4UB<br />
t: 0117 929 2527<br />
www.limetreegallery.com<br />
Tues – Sat 10 – 5pm<br />
Sunday 10 – 4pm<br />
December<br />
Christmas Exhibition<br />
Michael Clark, Vivienne<br />
Williams, Peter King,<br />
Philip Richardson<br />
Martin’s Gallery<br />
Imperial House<br />
3 Montpellier Parade<br />
Cheltenham GL50 1UA<br />
t: 01242 526044<br />
e: ian@martinsgallery.<br />
co.uk<br />
11am – 6pm<br />
Wed – Sat or by<br />
arrangement<br />
Closes 11 December<br />
Art <strong>of</strong> Vietnam<br />
A mixed exhibition<br />
illustrating <strong>the</strong> influence<br />
<strong>of</strong> French Impressionism<br />
and <strong>the</strong> Asian culture on<br />
this exciting emerging<br />
market.<br />
5 Feb – 5 March 2011<br />
Mixed ’11<br />
Eight artists <strong>of</strong> varying<br />
media and subjects<br />
including Victor Ambrus,<br />
Pierce Casey, Diana<br />
Mat<strong>the</strong>ws, Rory Morrell,<br />
Janet Nathan, Michael<br />
Norman, Anthony<br />
Slessor and Karl Taylor.<br />
Nails Gallery<br />
Lower Exchange Hall,<br />
Entrance to St Nick’s<br />
Market Corn Street,<br />
Bristol BS1 1LJ<br />
t: 0117 929 2083<br />
Mon – Sat 9.30am – 5pm<br />
New Work: from bestselling<br />
artists Tom<br />
White, Alexander Korzer-<br />
Robinson and Abigail<br />
McDougall. Also new<br />
work from Rich Murphy,<br />
Colin Vincent and<br />
Rebecca <strong>Howard</strong>.<br />
Nature in Art<br />
Wallsworth Hall<br />
A38, Twigworth<br />
Gloucester<br />
www.natureinart.org.uk<br />
Tues – Sun 10am – 5pm<br />
16 November –<br />
19 December<br />
British Contemporary<br />
Crafts: The Variety<br />
<strong>of</strong> Life<br />
All items are for sale<br />
22 January – 31 March<br />
2011<br />
Wildlife Photographer<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Year<br />
Pallant House Gallery<br />
9 North Pallant<br />
Chichester<br />
<strong>West</strong> Sussex PO19 1TJ<br />
t: 01243 774 557<br />
www.pallant.org.uk<br />
Until 10 January 2011<br />
Gods & Monsters: John<br />
Deakin’s Portraits <strong>of</strong><br />
British Artists<br />
Iconic portraits <strong>of</strong> British<br />
artists by legendary<br />
Vogue photographer<br />
John Deakin (1912 –<br />
1972)<br />
Until 6 March 2011<br />
Contemporary Eye:<br />
Crossovers<br />
Interventions from<br />
major private collections<br />
by international<br />
contemporary artists<br />
exploring traditional<br />
craft.<br />
Richard Green<br />
147 New Bond Street<br />
London W1S 2TS<br />
t 020 7493 3939<br />
www.richard-green.com<br />
e: paintings @richardgreen.com<br />
26 January –<br />
12 February 2011<br />
Ken <strong>Howard</strong> OBE<br />
RA RWA: An Artist’s<br />
Odyssey<br />
70 recent oil paintings.<br />
Royal Academy <strong>of</strong> Arts<br />
Burlington House<br />
Piccadilly<br />
London W1J 0BD<br />
t: 020 7300 8000<br />
www.royalacademy.org.uk<br />
Until 19 December<br />
Artists’ Laboratory 02:<br />
Stephen Farthing RA<br />
The Back Story<br />
Until 23 January 2011<br />
Pioneering Painters: The<br />
Glasgow Boys<br />
1880 – 1900<br />
22 January – 7 April<br />
2011<br />
Modern British Sculpture<br />
The first exhibition for<br />
30 years to examine<br />
British sculpture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
twentieth century.<br />
// Listings<br />
Sky Blue Framing<br />
& Gallery<br />
27 North View<br />
<strong>West</strong>bury Park<br />
Bristol BS6 7PT<br />
t: 0117 973 3995<br />
Mon – Fri 9.30 – 5.30<br />
Sat 9.30 – 4.30<br />
Starting on 20 November<br />
The Big Christmas<br />
Mixed Exhibition<br />
featuring some <strong>of</strong> our<br />
and your favourite<br />
artists. New limited<br />
edition prints from<br />
Quentin Blake (Roald<br />
Dahl collection), John<br />
Knapp-Fisher, Mary<br />
Fedden, David Brayne<br />
RWS and gallery owner<br />
Mike Ogden; along with<br />
new silk screen prints<br />
from <strong>the</strong> ever popular<br />
Susie Brooks, Jane<br />
Ormes and a sprinkling<br />
<strong>of</strong> new artists.<br />
Sladers Yard<br />
<strong>West</strong> Bay, Bridport<br />
Dorset DT6 4EL<br />
t: 0138 459 511<br />
wwwsladersyard.co.uk<br />
Weds – Sat 10am – 5pm<br />
Sun 12 noon 5pm<br />
To 9 January 2011<br />
Sea Light<br />
Paintings: Alex Lowery,<br />
Stephen <strong>Jacobson</strong><br />
RWA, Rufus Knight-<br />
Webb, Jeremy Scrine<br />
– Furniture: Petter<br />
Southall – Sculpture:<br />
Caroline Sharp –<br />
Automata: Ian McKay –<br />
Glass: Lindean Mill.<br />
Somerset Guild <strong>of</strong><br />
Craftsmen<br />
The Courthouse Gallery<br />
Market Place<br />
Somerton TA11 7LX<br />
t: 01458 274 653<br />
www.somersetguild.<br />
co.uk<br />
Open six days a week<br />
10am – 5pm<br />
Admission free<br />
13 November – 8 January<br />
Reflections <strong>of</strong> Nature<br />
The wealth <strong>of</strong> Somerset<br />
country life is brought<br />
alive through a<br />
wonderfully diverse<br />
array <strong>of</strong> craft.<br />
Tate Modern<br />
Bankside<br />
London SE1 9TG<br />
t: 020 7887 8888<br />
www.tate.org.uk<br />
Until 16 January 2011<br />
Gauguin<br />
Until 3 January<br />
Turner Prize 2010<br />
Until 2 May<br />
The Unilever Series:<br />
Ai Weiwei<br />
Tate Liverpool<br />
Albert Dock, Liverpool<br />
L3 4BB<br />
t: 0151 702 7400<br />
Until 1 April 2012<br />
DLA Piper Series:<br />
This is Sculpture<br />
Tate Britain<br />
Millbank<br />
London SW1P 4RG<br />
t: 020 7887 8888<br />
Until 16 January 2011<br />
Eadweard Muybridge<br />
Until 16 January 2011<br />
Rachel Whiteread<br />
Drawings<br />
Until 3 January 2011<br />
Turner Prize 2010<br />
Tate St Ives<br />
Porthmeor Beach<br />
St Ives<br />
Cornwall<br />
TR26 1TG<br />
Until 8 January 2011<br />
Peter Lanyon<br />
Until 23 January<br />
Tenmoku: Leach/Hamada/<br />
Marshall<br />
V&A<br />
Cromwell Road<br />
London SW7 2RL<br />
www.vam.ac.uk<br />
Open 10am – 5.45pm<br />
Fri 10am – 10pm<br />
Until 16 Jan 2011<br />
The Art <strong>of</strong> Noh<br />
Free admission<br />
Until 3 April 2011<br />
Richard Slee: From<br />
Utility to Futility<br />
Free admission.<br />
art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
47
48 art<br />
Winter 2010<br />
Which painting would you like<br />
to own?<br />
I co-curated an exhibition<br />
at <strong>the</strong> Tate called Gothic<br />
Nightmares; Henry Fuseli’s<br />
The Nightmare was <strong>the</strong><br />
centrepiece – a painting <strong>of</strong><br />
a lady lying on a bed with a<br />
squab sitting on her chest and<br />
a horse’s head coming through<br />
<strong>the</strong> curtains. I’d like to own<br />
The Nightmare; it would<br />
remind me <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> darker side<br />
<strong>of</strong> life.<br />
What music are you listening<br />
to at present?<br />
When I’m working and<br />
thinking I prefer <strong>the</strong> soothing<br />
sounds <strong>of</strong> Mozart and chamber<br />
music. When on <strong>the</strong> road,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re’s nothing like driving up<br />
<strong>the</strong> M4 with Mozart’s Requiem<br />
at full whack.<br />
Who do you think is <strong>the</strong> most<br />
over-rated artist, living or dead?<br />
Keith Haring. I find this whole<br />
elevation <strong>of</strong> graffiti to art<br />
gallery status very peculiar;<br />
I don’t get it at all. Graffiti is<br />
not necessarily art, indeed it<br />
very seldom is.<br />
Who would you most enjoy<br />
sitting next to on a long haul<br />
flight?<br />
The 18th century philosopher<br />
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who<br />
invented modern art education.<br />
His book, Emile, is all about<br />
learning by performing, using<br />
your hands and <strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong><br />
a practical education. I’d love<br />
to chat through with him how<br />
we could introduce that idea<br />
back into education today. That<br />
would be a journey well spent.<br />
Which has been your most<br />
satisfying job?<br />
Rector <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal College <strong>of</strong><br />
Art. I believe so much in what<br />
it stands for. This is <strong>the</strong> sexiest<br />
job in higher education by a<br />
long way. I had no time for my<br />
own work so I like to think<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RCA as my own work<br />
<strong>of</strong> art. So for me it was just<br />
as creative as producing art<br />
works.<br />
Which play about art have<br />
you most enjoyed?<br />
Red by John Logan. About<br />
Rothko, it did this very rare<br />
thing <strong>of</strong> convincingly putting<br />
over someone at work on a<br />
painting; normally you don’t<br />
believe a word <strong>of</strong> it, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
can’t do <strong>the</strong> hand movements<br />
properly, but <strong>the</strong>y actually had<br />
him treating a canvas prior<br />
to doing one <strong>of</strong> his great red<br />
paintings, and I believed it.<br />
Media studies – are <strong>the</strong>y worth<br />
<strong>the</strong> paper…?<br />
The philosopher Umberto Eco<br />
once said to me: “You can do<br />
Back<br />
Chat<br />
Richard Storey<br />
Sir Christopher Frayling<br />
born 1946<br />
a PhD on Mickey Mouse –<br />
<strong>the</strong>re’s nothing intrinsically<br />
trivial about that sort <strong>of</strong><br />
subject matter, it’s how you<br />
approach it”. You can do<br />
Media Studies in a good or<br />
a bad way. Degrees train<br />
you to use your eyes, how to<br />
marshall an argument, about<br />
<strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> sources, developing<br />
a way <strong>of</strong> thinking about <strong>the</strong><br />
culture that’s around you.<br />
People tend to say that <strong>the</strong><br />
media are trivial; I really don’t<br />
believe that. It’s become <strong>the</strong><br />
Sociology <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 21st century:<br />
if you want to bash <strong>University</strong><br />
education – bash Media<br />
Studies. I hate <strong>the</strong> dumbing<br />
down which says <strong>the</strong>re are<br />
some art forms up here and<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs down <strong>the</strong>re.<br />
Most over-rated art critic?<br />
Wild horses wouldn’t<br />
encourage me to say Brian<br />
Sewell – but I’m going to.<br />
A selection <strong>of</strong> books by<br />
Christopher Frayling:<br />
Henry Cole and <strong>the</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong><br />
Horrors: The Curious Origins<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> V&A (2010)<br />
The Royal College <strong>of</strong> Art:<br />
One Hundred Years <strong>of</strong> Art<br />
and Design (1987)