Annual Review 2007-2008 - The Royal Commonwealth Society

Throughout November and December
2007, Australian painter and printer Anita
Klein exhibited twenty vibrant, large-scale
acrylic works. These works represented
the pick of Klein’s three-month Artist-in-
Residency in Bundanon, Australia. The
exhibition presented a truly unique
collection of works, since the artist’s usual
medium is oils.
In the Members’ Lounge, Chinwe
Chukwuogo-Roy, a world-renowned
portrait painter, graced the walls with a
maritime theme, adding a unique touch to
the room’s already stylish surroundings. The
paintings reflect the delicate fluidity of
Chukwuogo-Roy’s brushwork and subtle
use of colours and simultaneously display
her artistic growth. She is the first of several
high profile painters who have been
chosen to exhibit in the Members’ Lounge
area of the Club. Her exhibition will be
followed by the works of Sandy Mallet.
Other exhibitions in the main gallery
during the course of the year included the
works of portrait painter Roger P Thomas
with a collection of commissioned
portraits of sportsmen and musicians and
‘Colours of Eden’, an exhibition by Pro-Art
sponsored by Seychelles Tourism Board
and Air Seychelles, and opened by HE Mr
Claude Morel, High Commissioner for
Seychelles. March saw the successful
staging of ‘Four One, One: The Significant
Minority’, a comedy by Ebony A White,
followed by an open discussion. The cast
included Adeyemi Ajibade and Anthony
Ofoegbu and the production was directed
by Luke Dixon.
The RCS continued its Community
Outreach Programme by supporting a
variety of visual and performing arts
initiatives. During Black History Month,
the Senior Project Manager, Gwendolyn
White, gave a well-received talk to
community groups in Westminster on the
works of the Commonwealth.
Sales of artworks have continued to
grow, with the works of Anita Klein and
the three Indian Miniaturists all
commanding good prices. With each
exhibition running for four to seven
weeks, members, guests and art
collectors all have sufficient time to enjoy
and study the works and to make any
purchases they should wish. The
exhibitions over the last year have
attracted visitors from across the UK.
Ms Althea Gee, now in her seventh
year as a volunteer with the Cultural
Affairs programme, successfully grouped
and hung all exhibitions, ably assisted by
Mohammed Khassal, the Commonwealth
Club’s Maintenance Engineer.
Anita Klein – Night Sky at Bundanon
An Australian Returns
Anita Klein – Australian Paintings, 30 October – 21 December 2007
The works of renowned painter and printmaker Anita Klein, inspired by the beauty of
the environment which the artist left as a child, combine vivacious forms, animal life
and the beauty of the kaleidoscopic foliage of the Australian environment.
In her paintings, Klein places the female form at the centre of nature. The woman
featured, a self-portrait of the artist, is at one with all other living woodland creatures.
We see her reclining beneath the stars in ‘Night Sky at Bundanon’, conversing with the
wombat or fraternising with the kangaroo. The nude female almost mirrors the
wombat posture as she comfortably squats, thickset with feet that resemble paws
(Meeting a Wombat).
Klein’s woman is natural and free in her skin like the creatures she watches or
converses with. The use of smooth long brush strokes and vibrant colours which match
the skin tones to the landscape make the nude bodies inconspicuous. In her painting,
‘The Snake’, Klein’s woman is also subjected to temptation, the watching snake,
entwined around a branch, lending the image a provocative symbolism. The over the
shoulder glance is for us, the viewers, as well as for the snake and these compositions
seem to represent the artistic expression of a twenty-first century Garden of Eden.
Anita Klein’s work attracts a large following. Her paintings and prints are exhibited in
major galleries throughout the United Kingdom, including the Royal Academy of Arts.
Anita Klein - Meeting a Wombat
www.rcsint.org
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