Watts Magazine: Issue 34

magazine
Issue 34 | £1.99
Autumn/Winter 2018/19
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Watts Gallery Trust is deeply grateful to all its donors, Friends, Patrons and volunteers.
Special thanks to those who have provided particularly generous support.
Andrew Joy
Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation
The Anson Charitable Trust
Art Fund
Arts Council England
The Band Trust
Billmeir Charitable Trust
The Big Give
The Boltini Trust
The Borrows Charitable Trust
The Carole and Geoffrey Lawson Charitable
Foundation
Chris Morgan
Christopher Forbes
Clore Duffield Foundation
The John S Cohen Foundation
Community Foundation for Surrey
Compton Parish Council
Country Houses Foundation
Dame Sarah Goad, DCVO
David Pike
David Williamson Trust
The de Laszlo Foundation
The Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation
Dr Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable
Foundation
Exhibition Circle members
The EQ Foundation
The Finnis Scott Foundation
The Foyle Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
Geoff Herrington Foundation
The George John and Sheilah Livanos
Charitable Trust
Guildford Borough Council
The Hazelhurst Trust
The Henry Moore Foundation
Henry Smith Charity
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Ironmongers’ Foundation
The Isabel Goldsmith Patiño Foundation
J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust
James and Clare Kirkman
Jamie and Julia Korner
Jemima Pitman
John Beale
The John Ellerman Foundation
John and Kate Siebert
John Lewis, OBE
Jonathan and Jane Clarke
Jonathan and Sarah Bayliss
Lady Angela Nevill
The Mercers’ Company
The Michael Varah Memorial Fund
Miklos and Sally Salamon
The Paul Mellon Centre For Studies In
British Art
Peter Harrison Foundation
The Pilgrim Trust
Professor Rob Dickins, CBE
The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust
Richard Ormond, CBE
The Sackler Trust
Salomon Oppenheimer Philanthropic
Foundation
Sir Antony Gormley, OBE, RA
Sir David and Lady Verey
Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement
South East Museum Development Programme
The Stevenson Family’s Charitable Trust
Surrey County Council
Surrey Museum Partnership
The Tanner Trust
Tavolozza Foundation
Tim Lindholm & Lucy Gaylord
Tim Sanderson
University for the Creative Arts
ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund
Virginia Surtees
Wates Foundation
The Wolfson Foundation
And all those who wish to remain anonymous
Cover image: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Portrait of Christina Rossetti, 1866. Coloured chalks. Private collection. Edited and designed by Tom Cornelius.
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Issue 34
Autumn/Winter 2018/19
magazine
Director’s welcome
New to the team
Alistair Burtenshaw introduces Issue
34 and we hear from new Curatorial
Trainee, Abbie Latham
Watts On at a glance
Keep track of this season’s events,
performances, talks and more
Christina Rossetti: Vision & Verse
Guest curator Susan Owens on our
new exhibition
Watts On: Music
See what’s on offer as part of our
new musical programme
Day Courses
Learn a new skill or develop an old
passion
William De Morgan’s novels
De Morgan Foundation Curator,
Sarah Hardy, explores the famous
ceramicist’s literary background
An Evening with Carol Ann Duffy
The British Poet Laureate visits
us to speak on Rossetti and read
from her new collection, Sincerity
4
5
6-8
9-10
Fragments of a Sculptural Legacy 12-13
Curator Dr Cicely Robinson examines
G F Watts and 19th-century British sculpture
Art for All & Arts Award
Ruth Williams shares the
successes of the year’s community
programmes
11
14-15
16-17
17
Rossetti: A Contemporary
Response
Russell Jakubowski joins the
team as Artist in Residence
Christina Rossetti:
Poetry, Ecology, Faith
Emma Mason presents an
absorbing new study of the
renowned Victorian poet
The Tea Shop’s new menu
Elisabeth Butcher reviews
this season’s offerings
Riches of Lisbon and
Sintra
Join us for an exclusive
trip to Portugal’s capital
Artist’s Studio Museum
Network
Volunteer Ron Cork
discusses the rich variety
of the Network
In Print: Making
Impressions
Chris Orr RA examines
Watts Contemporary
Gallery’s new exhibition
Friends Trips to Highgate
Cemetery and Keats House
Aly Warner
Forthcoming Trips
What’s coming up for
Friends and Patrons
Term Courses
The winter term’s creative
courses
19
20
21
22-23
24
25-26
27
28
31
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Director’s Welcome
Alistair Burtenshaw, Director
Welcome to Issue 34 of the Watts
Magazine, which aims to explore the
art and ideas of our founding artists
in depth and showcase the work of
those creatives - past and present -
featured in our artistic programme
this season. It is also our invitation to
you to discover new opportunities,
participate and engage in the range of
artistic activity on offer here at Watts
Gallery – Artists’ Village.
This season’s exhibition, Christina
Rossetti: Vision and Verse, examines
Rossetti’s complex attitude to visual
art and the enduring appeal of her
verse to visual artists. As we explore
Rossetti’s enduring influence, two of
our country’s most acclaimed poets,
Carol Ann Duffy and Jo Shapcott, will
be joining us for talks and readings.
What’s more, our new Artist in
Residence, Russell Jakubowski, invites
you to join him at his open studio
on Wednesday
afternoons to
create art and
poetry in response
to the exhibition.
Elsewhere you
will find family
activities, our
Watts Academy
for 13 - 18 year
olds, craft-making,
music, literature, film and professional
practice. In our Contemporary Gallery,
In Print: Making Impressions celebrates
the art of printmaking, and is followed
by Inspired by Nature: Celia Lewis from
12 January: a show dedicated to the
remarkable Surrey artist.
From our Christmas Weekend to
the culmination of our season on
International Women’s Day, I do
hope you will join us here for a very
special winter.
New to the team
Abbie Latham, Curatorial Trainee
Hello – I’m Abbie, the
new Curatorial Trainee.
I joined in August
after completing a
six-month internship
with the Rothschild
Foundation, both at
Waddesdon Manor and Spencer House,
London. Before this I studied History of
Art at University College London and
have a master’s degree in Nineteenth
Century Studies from Kings College
London.
At present I am working on a variety
of projects, including researching and
identifying works for the forthcoming
exhibitions on John Frederick Lewis
and William Orpen. I am also curating
a new display in the Mary Watts Studio,
Fire and Earth, which will explore the
materials and technological advances of
the Compton Pottery. In the forthcoming
months I will be starting a collections
research project investigating G F
Watts’s depictions of landscapes.
My first few months at Watts Gallery -
Artists’ Village have been fantastic and
I feel very privileged to have been given
the opportunity to work as part of this
unique and valuable organisation.
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Watts on: At a glance
November - February 2018/19
November
Until Sun 17 March Christina Rossetti: Vision & Verse
Watts Gallery | Friends free Highlights of the many visual
images inspired by Rossetti’s words.
Until Wed 13 March Russell Jakubowski: Open Studio | Free
with admission | Friends free Visit the studio of our Artist in
Residence.
Sat 24 & Sun 25 Christmas Weekend | Adults £13 | Kids
go free Enjoy the Artists’ Village filled with the sounds and
scents of the season.
Exhibitions
Contemporary Art
Creative Courses
& Study Days
Families
Talks
Events
Watts Academy
Community
Sun 25 Nov - Tues 30 April Fire and Earth: The Compton
Pottery | Watts Studios | Friends free Explore the
technological advances of the Compton Pottery.
Fri 30 Watts Screen: Mary Shelley | 6.30pm | £11.50
Friends £10.35 Enjoy this period drama in the dramatic
setting of our historic galleries.
december
Fri 7 An Evening with Carol Ann Duffy | 7 - 8pm | £30
Friends £27 Duffy reads from her latest collection, Sincerity.
Sat 15 Christina Rossetti in Song | 7-8pm | £15
Friends £13.50 Join singer, Amanda Pitt, for this special
evening performance.
January
Mon 7 Revival and Survival | 11am - 1pm | £170
Friends £153 A five week course on the Pre-Raphaelite circle
and the Gothic Age.
Sat 12 Jan - Sun 24 Feb
Inspired by Nature: Celia
Lewis
Watts Contemporary
Gallery | Free admission
Original prints and
paintings by Surrey artist,
Celia Lewis.
Wed 16 Poetry Readings with Jo Shapcott | 7 - 8pm | £15
Friends £13.50 Hear Shapcott read from Of Mutability and
her new collection.
Sat 19 Volunteer Open Day | 11am - 12pm | Old Kiln | Free
Find out about the range of volunteer roles on offer.
FEbruary
Fri 1 In Conversation: Kit de Waal and Alistair Burtenshaw
7 - 8pm | £15 | Friends £13.50 Hear de Waal discuss her novel
The Trick to Time (2018).
Sat 2 Christina Rossetti A Level Study Session | 2 - 5pm
£15 | Friends £13.50 Join us for an in-depth look at Christina
Rossetti’s poetry.
Fri 8 Museums & Artists | 11am - 4pm | £10 Receive advice
on developing creative partnerships in the arts.
Tues 19 - Sun 24
February Half Term
Discover playful poetry
and fairytale characters
this February Half Term
week.
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 5
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Christina rossetti: Vision & Verse
Dr Susan Owens, Guest curator
This winter you might hear poetry
drifting from the Watts Gallery, the
words telling the haunting tale of two
sisters, enchanted fruit, temptation,
danger and salvation. It is a brilliant
new recording of ‘Goblin Market’,
specially commissioned by the
Watts Gallery, and it will be playing
throughout the course of this winter’s
exhibition, Christina Rossetti: Vision
and Verse.
Today Christina
Rossetti (1830-1894) is
among the best loved
of Victorian poets. Her
clarity and directness
still have the power to
surprise us, and her
poems, from the joyful
‘A Birthday’ to the
poignant ‘Remember
me’, have become part
of our shared culture. If
I don’t get to sing ‘In the
Bleak Midwinter’ at Christmas-time –
words by Rossetti, music by Gustav
Holst – I feel disappointed. Earth as
hard as iron, water like a stone; these
vivid images are, for me, part of the
Christmas tradition.
Rossetti’s striking poetic imagery has
attracted artists from the moment she
began to publish her work. In fact, visual
art was a vital part of her creative life
– which is why we wanted to create
this exhibition. For the show we have
borrowed from public and private
collections to bring together the art that
surrounded Christina Rossetti: portraits,
illustrations to her poetry and pictures
inspired by her words, along with early
editions of her books and examples of
her own intriguing drawings.
Born in London on 5 December 1830,
Christina Georgina Rossetti grew up in
a lively and intellectual Anglo-Italian
household. As a young woman she
was the subject of portraits by her
elder brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
who was to become one of the most
influential artists of the Victorian
period. The exhibition includes a
group of drawings and an oil painting
of her between the ages
of sixteen and twentyone,
as well as powerful
coloured chalk portraits
he made of her as a
mature poet.
Rossetti studied art
herself: at the age of
twenty she enrolled
at the North London
School of Drawing.
Although her formal
training was short-lived,
she continued to draw
throughout her life. For the exhibition,
we have been able to borrow a portrait
she drew of her mother, Frances,
alongside three animal studies – of
a fox, a squirrel and a wombat that
caught her eye at the London zoo.
When her brothers founded the
radical art movement known as the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB)
in 1848, Rossetti was
deeply involved. She
wrote poetry for
their magazine and
acted as a model for
their pictures. When
her poems began
Arthur Hughes, The
to be published in Mower, RA 1865
commercial journals, (554), oil on canvas.
they were illustrated Private collection.
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John Brett, Portrait of Christina
Rossetti, 1857. Oil on panel.
Private collection.
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 7
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Thomas Matthews Rooke after a design by Edward Burne-Jones, Memorial to Christina Rossetti, oil on five panels, 1897-98.
On loan to All Saints Church, Margaret Street, London. Photograph by Andrew G. Prior
by members of the PRB and their
associates, such as John Everett Millais.
Later artists of the Victorian avantgarde
who were inspired by Rossetti’s
enigmatic words and vivid imagery
included the pioneering photographer
Julia Margaret Cameron.
Central to the exhibition is Rossetti’s
first commercially published book,
Goblin Market and Other Poems
(1862). Gabriel designed the book,
producing an innovative cover design
and evocative images as a setting
for his sister’s verse. ‘Goblin Market’
became a classic and was published in
countless editions, with illustrations by
artists including Laurence Housman,
Florence Harrison and Arthur
Rackham. It still inspires artists today:
in the exhibition you will see recent
wood-engravings by Hilary Paynter.
Rossetti also published a book of
nursery-rhymes for children, Sing-
Song, made up of lullabies, countingsongs,
ingenious plays on words and
gentle moral lessons. Every poem was
illustrated by Arthur Hughes, an artist
associated with the PRB and one of
her favourite artists. A selection of
his charming original drawings for her
verses are on display.
Gabriel’s portraits were not always
serious: one drawing in the display
shows his sister in the throes of a
tantrum, breaking up the furniture
and dancing in fury after reading a
review of ‘Goblin Market’. Researching
this exhibition certainly made me see
Christina Rossetti in a new light – we
hope you too will find many surprises
among some old favourites.
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Watts On: Music
Discover upcoming events and performances
Recital: Christina Rossetti
in Song
Saturday 15 December | 7 - 8pm |
£15 | Friends £13.50 | Pre-booking
required
From opera to contemporary music,
Christina Rossetti has continued to
inspire composers. Join singer Amanda
Pitt and pianist, Gavin Roberts, for this
special performance of works including
Love Came Down at Christmas and In
the Bleak Midwinter. The evening will
include readings of poetry by Rossetti
and her contemporaries.
Featuring Amanda
Pitt and Gavin
Roberts
Amanda Pitt performs
a wide range of
repertoire from opera to
contemporary music. She
has sung at many of the
major London venues and
around the world, giving
several world premieres.
Gavin Roberts enjoys a
varied career as a piano
accompanist. He has
partnered singers in
recital at Wigmore Hall,
the Barbican and the
Royal Festival Hall, and
is Artistic Director of the
recital series Song in the
City, for whom he has
devised more than 100
recital programmes.
Amanda Pitt
Gavin has appeared
regularly on BBC Radio
broadcasts as a soloist
and accompanist,
often giving premiere
performances of new
works. He has played on
numerous recordings
for the BBC, ASV, Guild
and Priory Records. His
most recent project
is a CD recording of
London-themed song
commissions for Song
in the City.
Gavin Roberts
Part of our events programme for Christina Rossetti:
Vision & Verse. See our website to book your place or
contact the Visitor Centre on 01483 813593.
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 9
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Watts On: music
Discover forthcoming events and performances
New Opera: Her Father’s Voice
Friday 8 March | 7 - 8pm | Paid bar available from 6.45pm | £15
Friends £13.50 | Pre-booking required
On the 400th anniversary of the composer Barbara Strozzi’s birth, be
transported to a palazzo in Venice, where Strozzi’s father – an opera librettist
– is holding his meetings. Gain an insight into what life was like for an
independent female musician, living in a cosmopolitan city alive with art and
intellectual debate, at a time when opera was becoming popular and women
were commonly confined to lives of prayer or servitude.
In this debut performance, Wise Child Theatre and Fieri Consort present an
immersive theatre experience, exploring the early years of the life of Barbara
Strozzi, a 17th-century Venetian woman who became one of the most prolific
composers of her time.
Part of
International
Women’s Day,
8 March 2019
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DAy Courses
Learn a new skill or develop an old passion
Bookbinding
Saturday 15 December | 11am – 4pm
£75 | Friends £67.50
Pre-booking required
Led by Marysa de Veer
Master the craft of bookbinding
and paint your own paste papers,
drawing on the textures and
patterns of Christina Rossetti’s
world.
Lino Printing
Saturday 26 January | 10am - 1pm
and 2 - 5pm | £45 | Friends £40.50
Pre-booking required
Led by Celia Lewis
Design, colour mix and print an
original artwork for framing, inspired
by Lewis’s drawings of fruit bowls,
jellies and more. See Lewis’s work in
Watts Contemporary Gallery.
Poetry Landscapes
Saturday 19 January | 11am - 4pm
£75 | Friends £67.50
Pre-booking required
Led by Tamar Yoseloff in association
with The Poetry Society
Bring along a poem in progress
to this workshop with expert poet
and tutor Tamar Yoseloff, before
spending the afternoon drafting
new poems inspired by the works of
Christina Rossetti and reading them
in the exhibition.
Includes free entry to Christina
Rossetti: Vision and Verse.
All materials and
equipment are provided,
as well as refreshments.
Taste Rossetti
Saturday 2 February | 1 – 3pm
£75 | Friends £67.50
Pre-booking required
Led by Emma Kay, Museum of
Kitchenalia
Delve into the history of the Victorian
kitchen and explore its tools and
techniques. Delight in making
authentic sweet treats and delicate
fancies. The workshop will be
followed by a High Tea prepared by
our Tea Shop.
Calligraphy
Saturday 9 March | 1 - 4pm
£75 | Friends £67.50
Pre-booking required
Led by Leanda Xavian
Calligraphy means ‘the art of
beautiful writing’. Learn how to
use a dip pen and nibs to create an
elegant, modern writing style before
inscribing your own name in ink.
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 11
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Fragments of a Sculptural Legacy
Dr Cicely Robinson, Brice Curator
G F Watts (1817–1904) is best known
as a painter - as the ‘portraitist to the
Nation’ and as the creator of largescale
symbolist pictures. However,
from the 1860s until his death in 1904,
he began to dedicate substantial
amounts of time to working on
sculpture.
Inspired by the fascinating, if
fragmentary, collection that we hold
at Watts Gallery, I am re-examining
the 40+ years that Watts spent
engaging with and making sculpture.
This September I was lucky enough
to take up a Curatorial Scholarship at
the Yale Centre for British Art. Within
the architectural oasis of the Louis I.
Kahn Building, I had the opportunity
to immerse myself in the world of
nineteenth-century British sculpture –
an area of British art where G F Watts
makes very little appearance.
Ultimately, this work will culminate in
a redisplay of the Sculpture Gallery
at Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village.
Specifically built to house and display
Watts’s sculpture collection, this space
still contains a fascinating assortment
of anatomical models, écorché and
preparatory studies – all of which was
saved from the artist’s London and
Surrey studios following his death.
The two full-scale gesso models of
Watts’s most monumental projects,
Physical Energy and Lord Tennyson,
still dominate this space today. I have
been exploring the ways in which these
fragmentary remains record an evolving
and increasingly experimental practice.
Mary Watts makes regular reference to G
F making wax figures to aide his painting.
She describes the benefits that he found
in the ‘change for eye and hand’ moving
from a painting to ‘[…] modelling, using
either clay or wax’. We hold an extensive
collection of these three-dimensional
studies. They vary significantly in size
and level of finish; from small-scale
models used for dense multi-figure
Photographer unknown, Draped
Sculpture, date unknown,
photograph, Watts Gallery Trust
G F Watts, Study for ’Love and
Life’, plaster, c. 1882-4, Watts
Gallery Trust
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compositions to larger
more developed works,
studies for more pareddown
compositions such
as Love and Life.
The collection also
contains a number of
rather unusual head
studies, executed in a
three-quarter format.
With a focus on extreme
emotion, with these
works Watts is not just
using sculpture to finalise
form or composition, but
as a means to articulate
expression.
Watts was
experimenting with
material moving
between two and three
dimensions
As photography in
the archive collection
demonstrates, Watts
would also use his
maquettes to study
drapery. Swathing the
figure in wet canvas,
sometimes covered with wet plaster to
give greater weight, Watts was able to
create his desired effect. This process
of working between two and three
dimensions, the ‘change for eye and
hand’ that Mary observes, allowed him
to create the dynamic and sculptural
drapery effects that his later paintings
are often famed for.
material moving between two and
three dimensions.
In 1901 Marion Spielmann described
Watts as a ‘painter-sculptor’. As this
research progresses, I will use the
fragmentary contents of our sculpture
collection and archive to explore what
this really means.
© Paul Taplin, Sculpture Gallery, 2015
Watts did not just use sculpture to
inform his painting. Works like Clytie
and the Genius of Greek Poetry, carried
out in multiple mediums, demonstrate
how Watts was experimenting with
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 13
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Art for all & arts award
Ruth Williams, Community Youth Support Coordinator
With the support of The Watts
Gallery Trust and The Henry Smith
Charity, the Art for All Youth Support
project delivered 12 days of Art for All
workshops in 2018 in HMP YOI Feltham
and over 30 workshops in the Artists’
Village for young people in the local
community.
All Art for All participants are invited
to exhibit their work in the annual
Art for All Exhibition in June and the
majority choose to work towards a
Bronze Arts Award.
Following a very successful Bronze
Arts Award moderation in May, the
Art for All Youth Support participants,
including HMP YOI Feltham, achieved
a 100% pass rate with over 45 young
people achieving their Bronze Arts
Award.
The participants’ portfolios of artwork,
their individual interpretation and
creative response to the Watts Gallery
collection, impressed the moderator.
As a result, Trinity College, London
have recommended Watts Gallery
Trust be recognised for Best Practice
in delivering Arts Awards in Secure
Settings.
We were thrilled to receive such
a great response from Trinity
College. Currently there are very few
organisations delivering Bronze Arts
Awards in the Visual Arts in secure
settings; finding similar projects
or case studies to help gauge our
practice was impossible.
The Art Room in HMP YOI Feltham
has been permanently closed and
the Watts Gallery learning team
deliver workshops in carpeted class
rooms with no sinks or running water,
transport all art materials in and out
of the prison and devise and plan
inspiring workshop sessions with
Art for
All
exhibition
2018
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a very restricted materials
list (materials in prisons are
restricted for security reasons).
These restrictions are a
constant challenge. With this
experience in mind, I was
honoured to be invited to
represent the Watts Gallery
Trust Art for All programme
as a guest speaker at a Trinity
College public webinar. The
focus of the webinar was to
offer advice and ‘top tips’ on
delivering Arts Award to young
people at risk of offending and
in secure settings.
It has been a hugely rewarding
experience to help young
people achieve beyond their
expectations and to have
been part of the Watts Gallery
Trust and National Criminal
Justice Arts Alliance Seminar
on Museums in Criminal
Justice. The recognition of
the Watts Gallery Trust’s work
and recommendation as an
organisation offering best
practice has been a great wrap
to the 2017/18 Community
Youth Support programme.
The Art for All 2018/19
programme is now underway,
with the first of the workshops
in HMP YOI Feltham starting
at the end of November. We
all look forward to celebrating
the work of all the Art for All
participants at the annual
Exhibition from 14 - 30 June
2019 and would like to offer you
a warm welcome to share in the
participants’ success.
Save the date!
One donation,
double the impact
#GivingTuesday
THE BIG GIVE
Christmas Challenge 2018
From midday 27 November
to midday Tuesday 4 December
Art transforms lives.
G F and Mary Watts believed that art
could overcome inequality and change
lives. Inspired by their vision, Watts
Gallery Trust offers vulnerable and
socially isolated people the chance to
explore, make, exhibit and sell art.
The result can be life changing.
‘I based my work of art on the future because
its about changing your life around so you don’t
fall down the same hole [...] at the end of every
chapter there’s a new beginning and there’s plenty
of time to turn your life around if you keep faithful
and believe in yourself.’
Jordashe from HMP/YOI Feltham
Help us to continue to offer
Art for All and support the
Big Give Christmas Challenge
Visit wattsgallery.org.uk or
call 01483 813597 to donate
Participant, Fail or Success, 2014
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William De Morgan’s novels
Sarah Hardy, Curator, De Morgan Foundation
Upon his death in
1917, William De
Morgan was best
remembered in
his obituaries as
‘a literary marvel’,
‘famous novelist’
and ‘well-known
author’, with
only few, passing
references to his
work as a ceramic
designer. Why?
Well, according
to De Morgan’s
once-business
partner Reginald
Blunt in his A
Wonderful Village (1908), ‘good
fiction survives more housemaids
than good pottery’; yet there are
important reasons that 100 years
after De Morgan’s death, he is seldom
celebrated as an author and best
remembered instead for his beautiful
ceramics, wondrous lustre glazes and
intricate pattern designs.
De Morgan’s ceramic career came to an
end in 1907, after a decade-long battle
to keep his beloved business afloat. It
was no great secret that De Morgan
& Co had suffered financially over
the years at the hand of a managing
director who was far more intent on
invention than accounting. De Morgan
once commented, ‘I know a great
many quarters that would believe in
De Morgan and Co if De Morgan could
be kept in a sort of aesthetic pound
and not allowed to meddle with the
ledgers’. He often turned to his artist
wife, Evelyn, to keep his company in
production from sales of her paintings.
De Morgan was
inspired by Iznik,
Persian and
Medieval motifs
and patterns
to create crisp
and clear
arrangements of
flora, fauna and
landscape which
look opulent and
modern, and ooze
Arts and Crafts
sophistication
to the modern
connoisseur. By
the end of the
19th century,
however, the design-conscious
middle-class consumer wanted only
the crisp, clear lines and bright reds
and oranges of Art Nouveau. By the
time De Morgan could create truly
beautiful ceramics and was credited
with the reinvention of gleaming,
iridescent lustre glazing in Europe, his
pots were out of fashion: ‘now that I
can make them, nobody wants them’,
he once sadly commented.
After 30 years of struggling to meet
orders and keep up with dying Arts
and Crafts appetite, De Morgan lost
his battle and the business folded in
1907. This caused De Morgan a good
amount of grief, which did not go
unnoticed by his wife who suggested
he should turn to writing in order to
release his creative spirit and alleviate
his sadness.
De Morgan did turn from pottery to
prose and soon found his way with it.
He published his first novel, Joseph
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Vance, in 1906 and it was an instant
hit for him and his publisher, William
Heinmann, in the UK and the USA.
The De Morgan Foundation archive
contains a charming photograph of
De Morgan and Heinmann posing
as ringmaster and circus audience,
demonstrating the good fortune they
had found in William’s writing and the
friendship they forged because of it.
In total, De Morgan published seven
best-selling novels that were greatly
received by the public and two which
were finished by Evelyn De Morgan
and published posthumously. Whilst
it seems incredible to our imagination
the name William De Morgan might
be remembered as anything but a
designer, it is incredibly important to
remember his novels and the fame
he found through them in his own
lifetime, as it is now his books which
are considered outdated and old
fashioned, whilst the ceramics still
shine on.
William Heinmann pictured with
Evelen (far left) and William De
Morgan (left) © The De Morgan
Foundation
Opposite: Evelyn De Morgan, Portrait
of William De Morgan, 1909 © The De
Morgan Foundation
an evening with
carol ann duffy
Friday 7 December | 7 - 8pm
£30 | Friends £27
Pre-booking required
Carol Ann Duffy DBE FRSL was
appointed the first female Poet
Laureate in 1999. Duffy has written
for both children and adults, receiving
many awards for her work, including
the Signal Prize for Children’s Verse,
the Whitbread Poetry Award and the
E.M. Forster Prize in America.
Rossetti before
reading from her
latest collection,
Sincerity.
Ticket includes
a glass of white
wine and 10%
off the Christina
Rossetti: Poetry
in Art exhibition
book (Yale
University
Press).
This event will include a book signing.
In this special evening event Duffy
will reflect on the writings of Christina
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 17
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The Utmost
for the Highest
It is only with your
support that we can continue to
offer our award-winning learning and
outreach programme, stage critically
acclaimed exhibitions, and maintain
a collection and estate of historic
national importance.
Help us to enrich and
transform lives
by joining one of our membership
schemes - and if you’re already
a member, why not consider
upgrading?
Utmost Friend £100
Patron £500
Gold Patron £1,000
Exhibition Circle £5,000
Membership benefits include
unlimited access to the Artists’
Village and an exclusive programme
of events, exhibition private views,
dinners and behind-the-scenes art
tours in both the UK and abroad.
Gift memberships are also available. For more information, please contact:
Sarah James, Head of Development:
01483 813597 | development@wattsgallery.org.uk
Charity no 313612
18 | Watts Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018/19
G F Watts, Progress, c1902-1904, Watts Gallery Trust
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Rossetti: A Contemporary REsponse
Russell Jakubowski, Artist in Residence
Russell Jakubowski, All Ears, 2017
G F Watts, Progress, c1902-1904, Watts Gallery Trust
As a sculptor, my
creativity is primarily
expressed through
making. When I reflect
on the things I have
made I can clearly
see and understand a
narrative which fuelled
and propelled each piece
into the physical world.
But it is difficult to know
if that narrative can be
properly translated into
a form of words and I ask
myself - Does language
underpin thought?
Or, is it thought that
underpins language? I
suggest this depends
on circumstance.
Poetry is composed by
the writer, a coalescing
fluid of words and ideas.
It is then written or
printed, becoming solid
and stationary. And
then it is read or spoken
aloud, at which point it
is interpreted and is a
time based activity.
In a way, then, the book,
file or manuscript is
the work in its dormant
phase; it will do nothing
on it’s own. But it is
vital, because without
this there would be little
interaction, illumination
or joy from the work.
And, outside of our
unreliable memories,
there would be nowhere
for poets and writers to
store their ideas.
The idea of giving
physical form to poetry
excites me. I freely
admit to being inspired
and driven by words in
a song and to working
to the rhythms of music.
As Artist in Residence
at Watts Gallery I have a
wonderful opportunity
to work with the poetry
of Christina Rossetti.
I hope to create new
frames of reference for
selected passages of
her writing. Combining
the meaning, rhyme
and (inferred) cadence
of her work with new
three-dimensional
rhythms and contexts in
sculptural form.
These will be on display
in the grounds of Watts
Gallery - Artists’ Village
from November 2018 to
March 2019. Please visit
me in the studio space,
it will be a pleasure to
discuss and share my
ideas with you.
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Emma Mason: Christina Rossetti
Poetry, Ecology, Faith
Saturday 26 January | 7 - 8pm
£12.50 | Friends £11.25 | Pre-booking required
In association with Guildford Book Festival
Emma Mason presents an absorbing
new study of Christina Rossetti,
focusing on her spiritual life and her
connection with the natural world.
A committed supporter of animal
welfare, and a keen observer of
the diversity of creation, Rossetti
considered it her Christian duty to
maintain it in a state of equilibrium and
equality. Drawing on poetry, diaries,
letters and devotional commentaries,
the author offers a fresh narrative of
the life and work of Rossetti in which
her theology and ecology are deemed
inseparable.
Julian Trevelyan:
The Artist and his World
Supporters
BOHUN GALLERY
The Doric Charitable Trust
The John Coates Charitable Trust
The John Young Charitable Settlement
Trevelyan Supporters’ Circle
Julian Trevelyan, The Potteries, 1938, oil on canvas, Swindon Museum © The Julian Trevelyan Estate
06 Oct 2018 –
10 Feb 2019
pallant.org.uk
20 | Watts Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018/19
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The tea shop’s new menu
Review by Elisabeth Butcher, Patron & Volunteer Guide
Chef’s Warm
Winter Salad.
Below: Vegan
Smokey
Three Bean
Chilli
As usual, a very warm welcome
greeted us when we arrived at the
Tea Shop to sample the new autumn/
winter menu.
Although very busy with families
enjoying lunch during the half-term
activities, we were quickly found a
side table; the table service was then
prompt and attentive.
The new menu offered a wide range
of choices including two vegan and
three vegetarian dishes in addition to
the usual wide variety of main meals,
snacks, cakes and drinks.
and pomegranates. The quiche was
accompanied by a lovely selection of
salads. Both meals were delicious and,
although replete, we couldn’t resist
completing our lunch with a slice of
lemon drizzle cake with our coffee.
As a frequent visitor to the Tea Shop,
the efficient service, warm ambience
and high quality food was no surprise
and the regular large numbers of
customers bear testimony to its well
deserved success.
I chose the Warm Winter Salad and
my friend, the Homemade Quiche.
Our seasonally colourful and well
presented meals were served
quickly, with my salad combining a
good balance of salad leaves, root
vegetables, feta cheese, toasted seeds
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 21
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Riches of Lisbon & Sintra
Wednesday 13 - Sunday 17 November 2019
This is a very special private tour of
Lisbon designed for the Patrons and
Friends of Watts Gallery Trust in autumn
2019. Lisbon boasts phenomenal
cultural wealth, from the magnificent art
and architecture of the Discovery era to
the beautiful tile filled churches of the
18th century. Today, it is one of Europe’s
most vibrant capital cities. We will
enjoy private access to the city’s most
important museums, large and small,
and also a day trip to see the splendours
of Sintra and seaside Cascais.
We will follow in the footsteps of Lord
Byron and his friend John Hobhouse
who sailed from Falmouth to Lisbon
in 1809, having missed their boat to
Malta. Along with other British visitors
on their Grand Tour, they spent several
days astonished at the sites of the city
and the palace of Sintra.
We will be based in the 4-star Portobay
Marquês Hotel in the heart of Lisbon,
which lies on a quiet street parallel
to Lisbon’s main avenue, Avenida
da Liberdade. It has an excellent
restaurant, two bars and a rooftop
terrace with a plunge pool. The district
is chic with top restaurants and shops.
Lecturer Helena is from Lisbon and
has been accompanying and teaching
groups for almost 30 years, with a
specialism in architectural heritage
and Portugese art.
Highlights of the trip will include:
Private evening visit with drinks to
the Medeiros e Almeida Museum. This
is Lisbon’s most spectacular small
museum. The superb collection of
paintings, furniture, porcelain, clocks,
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tiles and sculpture was put together
by Antonio Mederios e Almeida from
the 1940s onwards and he left it to the
nation in the 1970s. It is the ‘Wallace
Collection’ of Lisbon.
Day trip to Sintra to see the Royal
Palace followed by a private lunch
in an 18th-century private palazetto.
This was the royal hunting area of
the Portugese kings and the Royal
Palace is famous for its lavish interiors.
Arabesque courtyards, stunning
gemoetic tiles, among the oldest in
Portugal, and many grand ceiling
frescoes are among the highlights. En
route to Lisbon via the Atlantic Ocean,
we shall stop at artist Paula Rego’s
‘House of Stories’ museum in Cascais.
Further treasures will be uncovered at the
Museo Arte e Antiga with works ranging
from great Renaissance paintings and
Discovery era gold to Afro-Portugese,
Indo-Portuguese and Japanese art. Our
studio musum visits may include the
Vieira da Silva Museum, the fascinating
tile museum and a special visit to the
Atelier-Museuo Julio-Pomar.
The finale of the trip will be a private
evening visit at the Gulbenkian
Museum: the outstanding art museum
of Portugal and one of the finest art
collections in Europe.
Price: £2,435 per person (single supplement
£225). This includes TAP Air Portugal
Economy flights from Heathrow, all entry fees
to visits on the itinerary and city transport by
private coach. Two three-course dinners and
two two-course lunches are also included, as
well as all tips and taxes.
Priority booking for Patrons now open. Friends
booking opens 14 January 2019. Deadline for
bookings is 1 April 2019.
To book or for further enquiries, please
contact Johanna Goyard on 0207 449 9707 or
email: Johanna@arttoursltd.com.
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 23
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Artist’s studio museum network
Ron Cork, Volunteer
The Artist’s Studio Museum Network
(ASMN) was set up by Watts Gallery
- Artists’ Village with the aim of
broadening awareness of the special,
charismatic spaces across Europe
where artists once lived and worked.
There is a comprehensive and
informative website including
information about all the over-125
Studio Museums in the network (which
includes 12 in London, 6 in Moscow
and many, many more in between).
Zornmuseet, Sweden
If you are on holiday in the UK or
elsewhere in Europe this year, take
a look to see if you are close to one.
They are invariably fascinating to
visit (just like the Artists’ Village) and
visiting them presents an excellent
opportunity to act as an ambassador
for Watts.
London; Museo Joaquín Sorollo in
Madrid; Julia Margaret Cameron at
Dimbola Lodge on the Isle of Wight;
and Antoine Bourdelle in Paris.
This May I visited the home and studio
of Anders Zorn (Sweden’s master
painter), in Mora, Sweden. Zorn (1860-
1920), who lived and worked there with
his wife Emma Lamm, travelled widely,
working in Paris, New York and St Ives,
Cornwall. Zorn became particularly well
known for his portraiture - his sitters
included King
Oscar II of Sweden
and Theodore
Roosevelt - but
his work also
included sculpture
and etching. Zorn
House, where
the couple lived
and displayed
their considerable
collection of art, is
today situated next
to the Zornmuseet,
which displays
the world’s largest
collection of Zorn’s
paintings.
When you’re next in the gallery, ask
me about the Artist’s Studio Museums
Network and let me know where you
have been.
I’ve visited a number, including
Leighton House: Frederick Leighton’s
home and studio, with its magnificent
Arab inspired garden in Kensington,
24 | Watts Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018/19
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In Print: MAking Impressions
Professor Chris Orr RA
In Print: Making Impressions
investigates the variety of printmaking
methods used by artists to express
and play with ideas. I became an artist
because I relished books when I was
young. I still have my first picture book,
In the Farmyard, much abused and,
one of my earliest drawings scribbled
inside the back cover. I went on to all
the old favourites, from Rupert Bear
to Arthur Ransome, then graduated to
Dickens and the whole canon of English
Literature, which has an underlying
illustrative current. I consumed words
and I stared at the illustrations. The
words conjured up pictures and the
illustrations turned into words.
Our ancestors from the earliest times
told stories and sang songs around
the fire to entertain, celebrate and to
inform. Nowadays we have news from
everywhere (and central heating) but
we still especially prize the efforts
of artists to pin down the enigmatic
nature of things. We use them as the
soothsayers and the entertainers.
The spread of stories that became
possible with printing set the world
on a new course. Gutenburg’s
development of moveable type allowed
dissemination of ideas on a massive
scale. Printed words and images
crossed boundaries and continents to
link mankind, accelerating in recent
times with the digital revolution, and
the artist is always there, hovering like
the ghost at the feast.
Reproduction is the utilitarian use of
printing to transmit information. A
reproduction of a painting is useful,
but secondary to the real experience
of seeing the work of art. Good original
printmaking is however the real thing.
Chris Orr, detail from Zoomania, Lithograph, 2018
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It is the work of art.
The artist who makes prints works
between contradictory concepts (I
love a good contradiction): originality
and the multiple. Prints are usually
repeatable, but to qualify as an
original it must be made either fully
collaboratively, or by the artist’s own
hand. So an edition of prints consists
of a number of identical originals! The
printing processes that give the most
authenticity tend to be more labour
intensive and rooted in the heavier
technologies, hence the common use of
etching, lithography, wood engraving
and silk screen, which give the best
opportunity for direct expression.
Prints have special value but they are
affordable. It is still possible to buy a
Rembrandt, partly because there were
no limited editions; the copy you buy
for a song may be the umpteenth copy
taken from the copper plate worn
down by successive printings. Still a
Rembrandt of course, but a fainter
echo. I always advise people not to
buy prints for financial investment.
The secondary market can be fickle,
and I think the real reward must be in
the investment of pleasure that a print
can bring. I am lucky enough to have
sold my distinctively narrative work
throughout my professional career
which began in 1967 and in many
cases still hangs
on walls, not of the
purchasers, but
their children who
come to the studio
demanding more!
Prints have
another value,
in education. In
school, printmaking
in the art room provides a vital training
ground for a marriage of art and
technology. Hand, eye and heart are
involved in the printing process. Prints
have always been used to introduce
students to a wider world. There was a
wonderful set of prints published after
the last war by eminent artists, ‘School
Prints’, designed for this purpose. The
idea has recently been revived by the
Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield.
I will argue that many practising
artists produce their most impressive
work within print mediums.
Picasso may have been a genius at
everything, but I think that it is in his
prints, where the process demanded
a concentrated self discipline and
economical exactitude, that he is
most brilliant. There is no doubt in my
mind that printmaking is alive and well
today. The roll call of contemporary
artists using print is impressive, from
Tracey Emin to Anthony Gormley,
and thousands of others including
myself who see the enormous value
of applying ourselves and our talents
to making an impression.
Where can I see more prints? At Watts
Contemporary Gallery of course, in
it’s annual print show and at the Royal
Academy Summer Exhibition (which
always has dedicated print rooms)
and not least at the London Original
Print Fair held in
the spring at the
Royal Academy.
In Print: Making
Impressions runs until
6 January 2019
Learn more about
Chris Orr’s work at
chrisorr-ra.com
26 | Watts Magazine | Autumn/ Winter 2018
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Patrons and Friends trip to
highgate cemetery and Keats House
Aly Warner, Volunteer Patrons Coordinator
Friends
and
Patrons at
Highgate
Cemetery
In a bid to learn more about Christina
Rossetti before the forthcoming
exhibition, on a sunny autumn day,
Friends and Patrons were given a
private tour of the fascinating West
Cemetery at Highgate, London.
One of the earliest privately run garden
cemeteries in England, Highgate was
opened in 1839 and is the final resting
place for many celebrated Victorians,
among them Christina Rossetti and
Lizzie Siddal, artist muse and model
for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Set among sinuous, climbing paths
and ivy-clad leaning monuments,
the grave is hard to find without a
guide; as were the many other heroic
characters commemorated in the large,
atmospheric cemetery. Men such as
‘menagerist’ George Wombwell, whose
grave is marked by a statue of his
famous lion exhibit, scientist Michael
Faraday and Victorian bare-knuckle
prize fighter, Thomas Sayers. More
recent graves include those of novelists
Radclyffe Hall and Douglas Adams, as
well as artist Patrick Caulfield.
A walk through the extraordinary
Egyptian Avenue leads to the beautiful,
ancient Cedar of Lebanon tree where
the most expensive burial plots can be
found, as well as the eerie Catacombs.
A memorable visit.
After lunch at the historic Flask pub we
made the short journey to Grade I listed
Keats House in Hampstead, where the
young poet (who inspired Christina
Rossetti) lived, next door to his great
love, Fanny Brawne. Recently restored,
it includes many original features
and touching artefacts associated
with the poet, such as his annotated
copies of ‘Paradise Lost’ and Fanny’s
engagement ring.
Join us on forthcoming trips to Charleston, West
Horsley Place and the Foundling Museum by
becoming a Friend or Patron of Watts Gallery Trust.
For more information, contact Sarah James on
01483 813597 or development@wattsgallery.org.uk
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 27
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FORTHcoming Friends trips
The Foundling Museum, Brunswick Square
10.45am | Wednesday 9 January 2019 | £10
Join us for a private one-hour tour
of the Foundling Museum where
your guide will bring the history of
the Foundling Hospital to life, from
its origins in the 18th century to
the present day, at this important
London institution. Learn about
the Museum’s many treasured
objects and discover the stories
behind our displays.
The Foundling Hospital was the
UK’s first children’s charity and
first public art gallery. The Museum
aims to inspire everyone to make
a positive contribution to society,
by celebrating the power of
individuals and the arts to change
lives. Among the artists who
supported the Foundling Hospital
were artist William Hogarth, and
composer George Frederic Handel.
Marking 100 years of female
suffrage, the current exhibition
Ladies of Quality & Distinction
highlights the hidden stories
of women in the history of the
Foundling Hospital. Discover
portraits and stories of the 21
duchesses who in 1735, risking
society’s disapproval, signed a
petition to the King calling for the
establishment of the institution.
Displayed together for the first
time, these paintings temporarily
replace portraits of male governors
that hang in the Museum’s
Picture Gallery. Downstairs in
Andrea Soldi, Duchess of Manchester, 1738
Whitfield Fine Art
the exhibition gallery, the lives of the
remarkable women who supported the
day-to-day running of the institution are
brought to life.
We will meet at the Museum at 10:45am for an
11am tour.
A table for lunch has been reserved at a local
restaurant at 1pm for those who wish to stay,
payable on the day.
Pre-booking required. To reserve your place
please visit our website or contact the Visitor
Centre on 01483 813593.
28 | Watts Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018/19
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Monday 3 December
Watts Gallery | 6.30pm - 8.30pm | Free
A thank you to our Friends and Volunteers
for your invaluable support. Please join us for a
glass of fizz, a chorus of carols and the chance to win
an early Christmas present in our raffle.
Enjoy a
double
discount of
20% in the
Shop
Friends &
Volunteers
Christmas Party
Please reserve a ticket by emailing friends@wattsgallery.org.uk or calling
Rachael Gurney, Friends Administrator, on 01483 901809.
Book online at wattsgallery.org.uk | 29
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Mary Watts established the tradition of Thursday evening courses at the Artists’
Village, which continue to take place in our historic galleries and purpose-built
studios. Work with artists, hone your skills, learn new techniques and make
works of art to take home. Suitable for beginners and improvers.
Winter Term: Thursdays, 17 January – 14 February & 28 February – 28
March | £300 | Friends £270
Spring Term: Thursdays, 11 April – 9 May | £300 | Friends £270
TERM Courses
Winter Term: Thursdays, 17 January –
14 February & 28 February – 28 March
£300 | Friends £270
Spring Term: Thursdays, 11 April – 9
May | £300 | Friends £270
Pottery
6.30 - 8.30pm
Led by Joshua Schoeman
Drawing
6.30 - 8.30pm
Led by Jane Allison
These classes are ideal for those
wishing to develop their skills in
drawing and creating works on paper,
using our permanent collection as
inspiration. The course also includes
opportunities to draw from life.
Experiment with hand building, wheel
throwing and surface decoration
techniques in our specialist Foyle
Pottery Studio. Build your confidence
in working with clay and learn more
about ceramic history with our expert
tutor.
Materials and tea/coffee included. Spaces
are limited and must be pre-booked. See our
website or contact the Visitor Centre on
01483 813593.
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Dutch
Masterpieces
from
National Trust
Houses
Prized
Possessions
26th January – 24th March 2019
An exhibition, Petworth, West Sussex
Booking: 0344 249 1895
nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth
Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-portrait, 1635 ©National Trust
Registered charity no. 205846
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