KELLY CLARKSON - ListedMagazine.com

NEW FOR SOUTHAMPTON: THE ITCHEN
GALLERY AND COFFEE SHOP
On St Mary’s Street in Southampton
you’ll fi nd the brand new Itchen Gallery
and Coffee Shop. Run by Zimbabwean
artist, John, the gallery works in
conjunction with the West Itchen
Community Trust and sells affordable
works by new and up-and-coming
artists. The fi rst exhibition is landscapes
from around the world. Visit the gallery
at 66 St Mary’s Street, Southampton.
HOPE FM IS LOOKING FOR ARTISTS
Hope FM, a growing community radio
station, runs a two-hour arts-based
live radio show, Sunday Supplement,
between 10am and midday every
Sunday morning. It’s transmitted to the
Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch
areas and is also available online.
Simon Thomson, the presenter of the
show, is looking for guests from all
genres of the arts community such as
artists, poets, potters and authors. You
will have the opportunity to talk about
your work, advertise where you are
exhibiting or performing and join in with
the show. Call 01202 621574 or email
hopefm@eluk.co.uk to get in contact
with Simon Thomson.
Got art news? Please email
emma@mushroommarketing.co.uk or
bonnie@listedmagazine.com
Emma Ansell is a keen follower of
all things artistic as well as being a
classical fl autist and pianist. Emma
is also founder of marketing and PR
agency for growing organisations:
Mushroom Marketing. www.
mushroommarketing.co.uk.
THE STORY
BEHIND THE PAINTING
This oil painting has been referred
to by a number of different titles,
including ‘The Shipwreck - After a
Typhoon’, ‘Approaching Storm’, ‘After
the Storm’, ‘Shipwreck at Sunrise’ or
‘The Sky Which Notices All Makes
No Disclosure’. The last title is written
on the back of the painting in pencil,
probably by the artist, John Brett.
Confusion surrounded the true title of
the painting until 2003, when Charles
Brett, grandson of John Brett, visited
the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery &
Museum. He immediately recognised
the painting as the ‘missing’ Brett
painting, ‘Christmas Morning, 1866’.
A regular exhibitor at the Royal
Academy, Brett’s (1830-1902) early
work was strongly infl uenced by the
Pre-Raphaelite movement and he was
well acquainted with members of the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
In fact, Brett is deemed to be the
‘John’ in Christina Rossetti’s 1860 poem
‘No thank You, John’. William Rossetti
identifi ed his sister’s suitor as “the
marine painter John Brett, who... had
appeared to be somewhat smitten by
Christina”
Under the guidance of John Ruskin,
Brett began to paint coastal scenes of
England, Scotland and Wales. Ruskin
believed that artists should depict
earth, water and air, as these elements
were the manifestation of God’s
creation.
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By the 1890’s, Brett had become
successful and somewhat eccentric.
He bought one of London’s fi rst
centrally heated houses and
discouraged his seven children from
wearing clothes indoors.
Research has revealed that the
spectacular sunrise which features
in the painting was witnessed by
Brett from the coast of Holyhead on
Christmas Day, 1866. The shipwreck
is probably based on an actual event,
the wreck of the steamship ‘London’
in January 1866. The boat was sailing
to Australia but got into diffi culty in
the Bay of Biscay, shortly after leaving
Plymouth Harbour. Out of 86 crew and
153 passengers, only 16 crew members
and three second-class passengers
survived. All the survivors were men,
the women and children lost with the
ship.
The painting has recently returned
to The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and
Museum following extensive treatment
by a specialist conservator.
You can fi nd out more of the story
behind Brett’s Christmas Morning
1866 at a special Gallery Talk by
Dr. Christiana Payne on Saturday 1
March at 2.30pm at the Russell-Cotes
Art Gallery & Museum, Russell-
Cotes Road, East Cliff, Bournemouth
BH1 3AA, tel: 01202 451858, email:
r-c.enquiries@bournemouth.gov.uk.
FREE ADMISSION
art & books
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