Dear Fellow Art Lovers 

Here is our next newsletter thanks to Anna and our contributors including Ron Cann’s drawings of Jack Coulthard speaking at our recent AGM. The evening went well but we were disappointed that only a dozen people were present.

I include my report on last year and the names of your officers and committee. I am sometimes asked, ‘Is the Trust mainly for artists?’ I reply along these lines. We are a community of art lovers and artists, and there are probably more art lovers than practising artists who are members. We exist for all who want to see and help provide good quality art and have fun in the process. We hope to provide a forum for learning, enjoying and talking about art.

 To flourish we ask that everyone in SAGT plays their part in some way or other (so please check that you have paid your sub: Anna loves hearing from you!). Next a plug for two events: Jon England is talking in Obridge Barn about his art on Thursday 19 April at 7.30 and Ian Ainsworth-Smith is running a Study Day on Icons at Staplegrove Hall on Saturday 19 May. Please ring Pat Dixon on 01823 282761 to book for the latter. We hope for a good response to both events.

 With best wishes for 2012,        Jeremy

Exeter Museum and Art Gallery

Finding myself with an hour to spare whilst in Exeter recently I wandered into the newly re-opened Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery which had been closed to enable alterations to be carried out for (seemingly) most of this century.

 A quick look round suggested it has been subjected to a far less radical makeover than Taunton Museum.

At the time of my visit there was an enjoyable & informative exhibition entitled Into The Light: French and British Painting from Impressionism to the early 1920s, i.e. from about 1870 to 1920.

The French painters on display were for the most part ones you might expect – Boudin, Pissarro, Sisley, Monet, etc – ones whose influence was enthusiastically absorbed by a number of British based painters including Sickert & Whistler. Particularly important to them was the practice of painting ‘en plein air’.

The Cross Channel influence worked in return as well. For instance the desire for naturalism seen in paintings by Clausen was a factor.

A corner was devoted to the development or artist colonies such as Newlyn & St. Ives – Cornish counterparts of Port Aven & Concarneau in Brittany – featuring the work, for example, of Wilson Steer & Stanhope Forbes.

 Other British artists to be seen in the exhibition were Spencer Gore, Vanessa Bell & Laura Knight.  I was particularly impressed by the work of painters new to me – John Duncan Fergusson, Samuel John Peploe & Robert Polhill Bevan.

 It was an hour well spent.

The exhibition ends 11 March 2012 after which it will be at Compton Verney from 31 March to 10 June 2012.                                                                              John Foden

The First Artist’s Talk of 2012

 Fiona Godfrey treated members to a PowerPoint presentation of her work and influences on Thursday, 23 February in Obridge Barn, pausing for questions or comments. She is self-taught – as a child she was always drawing – having been advised not to go to art school. Instead she trained as a teacher, later gaining an MA with distinction in Art Education.

 When not working with Hampshire Primary teachers, she paints landscapes and figurative works usually in acrylics and ink on canvas, working at the interface where painting and drawing collide. Often these works develop from sketches. Landscapes such as ‘Quantock Hill Fort’ capture the experience of a walk rather than the actual scenery, her carefully placed minimalist marks are like signs on a map. These rhythmical re-creations of her journey leave spaces for the eye to travel through and so experience the journey retrospectively.

Her figurative works, often of children, draw on photos of her childhood. Her early life is providing a rich seam of material which is presented ambiguously, so leaving the viewer to decide what the picture is about. Again there is space for the eye to rest and reflect.

In the interval she passed her sketchbooks round for us to explore how she recalled material or selected it. To finish she showed works by artists who have influenced her: Van Eyck, Grunewald, Paula Rego, Dorothy Cross and Angela Charles among others. It was a most  enjoyable evening.          Jeremy Harvey

A Day at the BM

 Probably a week day at half term was not the best time to visit London, and when I entered the British Museum I was immediately swept into a sea of people!

After a preliminary walk round the downstairs galleries  I escaped the seething crowds and climbed to the top floor to an oasis of calm which was the BM print room, and an exhibition called ‘Landscapes, Heroes and Folktales, German Romantic Prints and Drawings’.

The exhibition covered a period during the early 1800’s when Germany was seeking a new identity after a turbulent period in its history. New political and cultural ideas were abroad, but many of the artists here looked back for their inspiration. A group called the ‘Nazarenes’ turned to religious symbolism in their work, while others drew on German myth and folktales stimulated by the romantic literature and poetry of the time such as Goethe, Schiller and The Nibelungeleid..

 Walking slowly round the room certain drawings immediately caught my eye. First a simple drawing by Eduard Jacob von Steinle (1810-1886) of a crouching woman, in graphite with a blue wash, holding a purse and a light to illuminate a coin on the ground. The simplicity of the figure and its representation were very touching. There was a wall of striking pastoral landscapes by Carl Willhelm Kolbe with highly detailed plants -he proclaimed that trees had made him an artist- in exotic settings. Some of the plants seemed rather bizarre, and I was not surprised to read further on that he had in fact made many of the plants up, for effect.  (Apparently he regretted this later!)   Some of the artists such as Ferdinand Olivier (1785-1841) and Tischbein (1751-1825) drew on the prehistory of Germany for their subjects such as a fascination with Neolithic burial mounds, prolific in Northern Germany at the time or sublime romantic landscapes which they believed gave access to the divine.

One artist I particularly warmed to was Philip Otto Runge (1777-1810). The theory and symbolism of colour were important to many of the Romantics as part of their belief that art was essentially about spiritual revelation. Runge spent much of his artistic life studying colour and in a display case was a beautiful sketchbook belonging to him in which he had drawn a ‘colour sphere, of construction of an understanding of all mixtures of colours’ together with a cross- section of the same sphere, both beautifully painted in watercolour.  Runge’s theories had little influence during his lifetime and he was largely forgotten until he was rediscovered by Paul Klee and the Bauhaus in 1924.

 The Hajj :Journey to the Heart of Islam.

It is difficult to do justice to this exhibition in a few paragraphs.   The Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam but the only one in which non-Muslims cannot take part, or witness, and it was therefore to foster a greater understanding of this journey that this exhibition was created. The exhibition explores the history of the Hajj from its beginnings to the present day. 

I had the impression that the exhibition itself was laid out in the form of a circular journey, with each room joined by a winding path. Historically there have been five main routes to Mecca, the Arabian, Ottoman, African and across the Indian Ocean. The history of each route was beautifully laid out with artefacts, photographs and paintings helping to describe the story of each route and the privations and dangers endured by the pilgrims as they made their journey.   On reaching Mecca, each pilgrim performs a series of rituals, all of which are described in detail, the first being the Tawaf’ or anti-clockwise walk round the central Ka’ba, which appears as a giant cube adorned with the kiswa, or robe which covers it. Examples of these robes were amongst the most beautiful exhibits in the exhibition, textiles woven in striking colours and decorated with intricate patterns and Arabic script. Other artefacts included several Qibla, or compasses, dating from 990AD, and a particularly beautiful Qur’an dating from the 8^th century written in an unusual sloping script. Contemporary artists’ perspectives on The Hajj were also included.

 Although non-Muslims were forbidden to perform the Hajj, it was not without foreign involvement.  A few intrepid foreigners managed to make their way to Mecca, including the great  explorer Richard Burton who in 1853 disguised himself as an Afghan doctor and subsequently wrote about his adventures, and Lady Francis Cobbold, (1867-1963) who was the first  British woman ever to perform the Hajj.  During the 19^th century pilgrims suffered on the sea crossings on overcrowded and un-seaworthy boats (it was the sinking of the pilgrim ship The Jeddah in 1880 that inspired Joseph Conrad to write Lord Jim). Later the building of the Hijaz railway which ran from Damascus to Medina shortened the journey time for many pilgrims although during the Second World War the railway became a target and several sections were blown up by the Bedouin with the help of T E Lawrence.

The exhibition ended with the personal and often very moving responses of some of the pilgrims who had performed the Hajj. Most described it as a life-changing experience.  This is a very detailed and beautifully laid out exhibition.  Each part of the journey is described with great care and there is a great deal to read!  The only part which is not described is the interior of the Ka’ba itself which remains a mystery.

At present the number of pilgrims performing the Hajj each year numbers about three million, but this number is expected to rise to around twenty million by 2030, a formidable challenge to those who help to organize it.                          Anna Mullett

SAGT Chairman’s Report 2011-2012

Greetings. I hope the following gives you a flavour of a busy and enjoyable year (from last March to the present) in which many people played a part including the members of the general public who support us and care about the visual arts.

Our membership increased from 60 to 83. But some subs for this year are outstanding. We sponsored and organised three fine exhibitions. We sent out five editions of our Newsletter (No’s 23 – 27) with contributions from Ron Cann (illustrations), Eric Clarke, Andy Davey, John Foden, Anna Mullett and me.  We provided three lectures, open to anyone, once again in March, June and October. We took 32 people by coach to Compton Verney. There were three evenings when an artist talked about his or her work. Our Committee met six times for business and also for a meal together. They decided to leave our subscription at £12. We applied for an Arts Council grant and were turned down. We currently have about £1300 to our name.

 THANK YOU to all who enabled the above to happen.

 In May we held our first exhibition in the Crescent Contemporary gallery. Gordon Faulds arranged an excellent hang of the small works selected from an open entry. He also designed a fine souvenir programme and amended our logo. The fortnight went well with us stewarding the 200 or so visitors who enjoyed the new gallery. Our second exhibition in September was in the Library where Pat Preater and Jane Stott showed figurative works, group scenes by Pat and largely portrait heads by Jane. The quality of the art and of the displaying of finished work and studies ensured that this too was a great success.

 The year began with some changes amongst those who volunteer to run things. Pat and Tom Preater assumed a jobshare as our Presidents, in their honorary role. Sandra Spalding and Wendy Head joined the Committee. Then Wendy had to step down for family reasons and Pat Dixon replaced her. And now Ron and Julia have decided to retire after five years on the Committee. Ron has been our Treasurer, a calm, cheerful and willing colleague while Julia has given him excellent support and contributed much not least in organising our June coach visit to Compton Verney to see the ‘Stanley Spencer and the English Garden’. We thank them very much for their belief in the Trust, energy, willingness and good company.

Our second Annual Lecture, backed by private sponsorship, was given on October 15 by Ian Ainsworth-Smith and was on ‘The Art of Byzantium’. It was well received and Ian is running a Study Day on Icons for us on 19 May. See our programme card and the special flier .

Our finances are healthy within our limited resources. We used a SCC grant to pay Polly Davis to bid for Arts Council money. We knew the competition was keen but felt we had to have a go. We will discuss fundraising at the next committee meeting. Meanwhile we are working in partnerships with Somerset Museum (in connection with an open exhibition they are running early in 2013) and with the Taunton Visual Arts Group which is helping to co-ordinate local provision. Anyone who would like to exhibit in the Hothouse Space in the Conference Centre, Somerset College is asked to let us know.

Anna Mullett works heroically behind the scenes for present and new members. She has edited the Newsletter and brought our website back into play and taken the Minutes when Tami has been away. This year we have sent out a printed programme card. A member invited me to see works from his art collection which he would like  to leave to the Trust, having first consulted his family. We welcome that way of assisting us in the creation of a permanent collection.

In conclusion, SAGT is becoming increasingly known and valued for what it offers and for what it is trying to achieve.                                                      Jeremy Harvey

Decisions made at our AGM, the Library Meeting Room, Thursday 22 March, 2012:

 Patrons: Jack Coulthard and the Marquis of Bath

Officers elected:

President: Pat and Tom Preater

Chairman: Jeremy Harvey; Membership Secretary: Anna Mullett;

Treasurer:Sandra Spalding.

Committee Members Elected:

Tami Boden-Ellis, Pat Dixon, and Max Hebditch

 After our interval Jack Coulthard talked about two of his paintings. Please see Damien Parsons’ summary of what Jack said below.

 About the story:  Jack Coulthard at our AGM

On 22 March we had the AGM in Taunton Library. After the official business, our patron Jack Coulthard spoke about two of his paintings, in an enthralling way, with many profound observations said with a light touch. I know from his SCAT classes that he has this gift of teaching, with charm & humour.

The two paintings were displayed on easels and together relate complex narratives, though picture A, At Least They Could Behave As If They Were Civilised, was completed 17 years ago and picture B, Civilised?, the day before his talk. They are quite large horizontal scenes, in strong colours in acrylic paint, showing horizontal strips, the upper and lower of walls with arches, and the central strips frieze-like rows of figures on floors. The figures are beautifully painted and in all sorts of actions, strange & amusing, containing uniformed women and mythical people; lively inventions.

Jack described what was going on. ‘The women are in the Salvation Army, and are in trouble. We also see Pan and his family, the Minotaur (who becomes a bull), Punch, the Fox (outcast, leader of the outcasts), Silenus (drunk but teller of the truth). Picture A is hell, B heaven. Good people walk on gold. In A the floor is of black & white tiles, broken up in places. In B an angel bestows a kiss. The victims get their own back.

 ‘It takes a long time to paint these pictures. It’s boring until it’s right. I don’t work on only one painting at a time. Sometimes you work outside your range. You have to wait. Henry Moore said, “It will come right in the end.”’ Jack went on to say, ‘I do page after page of very small drawings. I’m a slow learner. Only picture B had a “programme”, because it follows the story in picture A. I draw & draw, alter & alter, to find which is right. (Not the way I was taught to work.) I used to make figures in plasticine to copy, but the quick of my fingernails went sceptic so I did fewer.

 ‘These pictures are ‘illustrations’, ‘literary’. It’s about the story. In the winter my studio is too cold (picture B was made in the living room) so I write stories for teenagers (for parents you have to be so serious).

‘I got picture B right after finding it too showing-off and ‘masculine’, by painting it as if I was a woman. Making upper & lower strips green, it was cheerful, compared to the black strips in A.

‘In the past everyone knew the stories & didn’t need to consult books. Before Impressionism, paintings showed imagined scenes; the Impressionists showed where you are now.’

Among intriguing points Jack made, both in his talk and answering questions, was that ‘memory runs time backwards, while we live it forwards. The nature of all art is memory.’                                                                                 Damien Parsons

P.S. In a follow up conversation I phoned Jack to learn the titles of the two paintings; and he apologised for not answering ‘Which modern artists do you like?’ Answer: Banksy. Jack then laughed when I told him that Ron had been sketching him while he talked, and I asked him what sort of hat was he wearing. He did not know its generic name but said that it came from South Russia and was worn both there and elsewhere by non-Islamic peoples. He added that the little mirrors on the side and on the top were there to deflect evil! Finally we want our readers and Jack’s admirers to know that the following website shows many of the 850 paintings he has made www.jackcoulthard.co.uk/imagesoutsidereality                 J.H.

 Our membership increased from 60 to 83 (some subs are outstanding). We sponsored and organised three fine exhibitions. We sent out five editions of our Newsletter (No.s 23 – 27) with contributions from Ron Cann (illustrations), Eric Clarke, Andy Davey, John Foden, Anna Mullett and me.  We provided three lectures, open to anyone, once again in March, June and October. We took 32 people by coach to Compton Verney. There were three evenings when an artist talked about his or her work. Our Committee met five times for business and also for a meal together. They decided to leave our subscription at £12. We applied for an Arts Council grant and were turned down. We currently have about £1300 to our name.

THANK YOU to all who enabled the above to happen.

 In May we held our first exhibition in the Crescent Contemporary gallery. Gordon Faulds arranged an excellent hang of the small works selected from an open entry. He also designed a fine souvenir programme and amended our logo. The fortnight went well with us stewarding the 200 or so visitors who enjoyed the new gallery. Our second exhibition in September was in the Library where Pat Preater and Jane Stott showed figurative works, group scenes by Pat and largely portrait heads by Jane. The quality of the art and of the displaying of finished work and studies ensured that this too was a great success.

 The year began with some changes amongst those who volunteer to run things. Pat and Tom Preater assumed a jobshare as our Presidents, in their honorary role. Sandra Spalding and Wendy Head joined the Committee. Then Wendy had to step down for family reasons and Pat Dixon replaced her. And now Ron and Julia have decided to retire after five years on the Committee. Ron has been our Treasurer, a calm, cheerful and willing colleague while Julia has given him excellent support and contributed much not least in organising our June coach visit to Compton Verney to see the ‘Stanley Spencer and the English Garden’. We thank them very much for their belief in the Trust, energy, willingness and good company.

Our second Annual Lecture, backed by private sponsorship, was given on October 15 by Ian Ainsworth-Smith and was on ‘The Art of Byzantium’. It was well received and Ian is running a Study Day on Icons for us on 19 May.

Our finances are healthy within our limited resources. We used a SCC grant to pay Polly Davis to bid for Arts Council money. We knew the competition was keen but felt we had to have a go. We will discuss fundraising at the next committee meeting. Meanwhile we are working in partnerships with Somerset Museum (in connection with an open exhibition they are running early next year) and with the Taunton Visual Arts Group which is helping to co-ordinate local provision. Anyone who would like to exhibit in the Hothouse Space in the Conference Centre, Somerset College is asked to let us know.

 Anna Mullett works heroically behind the scenes for present and new members. She has edited the Newsletter and brought our website back into play and taken the Minutes when Tami has been away. This year we have sent out a printed programme card. A member has shown me works from his art collection which he would like to like to leave to the Trust, having first consulted his family. We welcome that way of assisting us in the creation of a permanent collection.

In conclusion, SAGT is becoming increasingly known and valued for what it offers and for what it is trying to achieve.                                                                   Jeremy Harvey

Dear Readers,                                                              January 2012

Here is our programme for 2012 with something arranged for the next eleven months. In addition there may be a Harry Frier exhibition in Taunton during the Cultural Olympiad, which we are helping to bring about.

The first 2012 invitation to our members is to spend Tuesday, 24 January in London looking at art. We had hoped to meet at the National Gallery (NG) to see the Leonardo exhibition but, as you will know, tickets are not available unless you have either booked long ago or are able to queue early on the day. Nonetheless I shall make for the NG, once I’ve reached Hammersmith via the Berry’s 8.0 am coach, and see what chance there is of getting in. If unsuccessful, I shall enjoy other works there or visit the Courtauld Collection.

 The actual Leonardo paintings may elude us that day but there have been good TV programmes about the exhibition; there is the catalogue with its reproductions and detailed information; and among substantial press coverage there is T.J.Clark’s response to the two versions of the Virgin of the Rocks in the middle room, one from the Louvre and the other the NG’s (London Review of Books, 5 January, 2012).  His is a brilliant piece of close and fascinating observation.

 In contrast it is not difficult to gain entrance to the art exhibitions at Compton Verney, which is eight miles from Stratford. (Do check when it re-opens in the Spring, and avoid Mondays.) Julia Cann arranged a very successful visit there last June to see the Stanley Spencer Landscapes. In late November I went with friends to see their Quentin Blake As Large As Life exhibition. My friends were very excited at the prospect. They love Quentin Blake’s work. I was not so expectant or even sure that it should be there but kept my feelings private.

 To my surprise and delight we were shown a series of large graphic works drawn and coloured in the studio, then printed on transparent acetate and framed for display, showing people up to all sorts of things: from trying out circus skills to mother’s swimming with babies. The first commissioned for an older adult mental health ward in Harrow and the second for a new French maternity unit in Angers.

The very first room we went into depicted scenes from Our friends in the circus and before I knew it I was laughing out loud at the agility and balance of an old grey-bearded man on a scooter, his multi-coloured cloak flying behind him as he poked his klaxon and towed a skate board with his parrot riding on it, a small flowering twig in its mouth. What joie de vivre! There was an absence of background or setting – just the man and his bird companion winging his way from right to left. The colours emphasised the clothes and equipment, the expressions and gestures did the rest.

It wasn’t just me laughing at Blake’s generous imagination and overflowing sense of fun. Most people were having the same reaction! Laughing at art. Enjoying being amused by an artist. What was going on? My prejudices and the conventions about art that I had absorbed were being whirled round and then cast off. And it was clear from the catalogue that Blake’s pictures did make a difference to the attitudes and well-being of the children and adults, patients and staff, who had to use the places which had his works in their walls.

 Why shouldn’t an artist amuse and entertain us? Children love Quentin Blake’s work and are fascinated by his illustrations, for instance in Roald Dahl’s books. But adults are amused and entertained too by such work. At this point in my reflections I read that the National Gallery had invited him to exhibit when he was Children’s Laureate. So he is a ‘serious’ artist in the NG’s eyes. I counselled myself to be more open in my attitudes to certain kinds of art and not to let others dictate my taste. I also thought it would be fun to draw with more fluency and panache á la Blake and not worry about rigid accuracy.

 After lunch as we were strolling through the lovely grounds back to the car, I realised I was a Quentin Blake fan. In a paperbag were postcards of scenes he had created, to be sent to each grandchild, whom I wished could have been there. And, lest I am being ageist, I felt I had to share this breakthrough with fellow adults in the next Newsletter!

 A very happy New Year to you , Jeremy

Programme for 2012

January Tuesday, 24^th Informal Visit to NG or other art collections; by 31^st all subscriptions to be in, please: still £12.

February Thursday, 23^rd Artist’s Talk: Fiona Godfrey 7.30 pm in The Barn, Obridge House, TA2 7QA; cost £4. It helps if you say you are coming (tel. 01823 276421).

 March  Monday, 12^th  Lecture on Manet by  Jeremy Harvey, 7.0 pm, the Conference Centre, Somerset College, cost £5. All are welcome. Bring a friend.

 Thursday 22^nd AGM 7.15 – 9.15 Taunton Library Meeting Room. Speaker Jack Coulthard our Patron who will introduce new work. No charge.

April Thursday, 19^th  Artist’s Talk: Jon England 7.30pm, The Barn, Obridge House. (Arrangements as for 23 rd February.)

 May Saturday, 19^th  Icons Study Day run by Ian Ainsworth-Smith, 10.30 – 3.30, Staplegrove Hall. Spaces 24.  Cost: £15. Names to Pat Dixon please on tel: 01823 282761, or email dixonpatricia@btinternet.com.

June Monday, 11^th Lecture on Harry Frier by Jeremy Harvey, 7.0 pm the Conference Centre, Somerset College, cost £5.

 July Thursday, 12^th Drawing Workshop run by Julian Fraser. 7.30-9.0 pm, The Barn, Obridge House, TA2 7QA, cost £6. Open to members and their friends. It will help greatly to know that you wish to come (01823 276421).

 August  Thursday, 2^nd Artist’s Talk by Toni Davey, 7.30 pm, The Barn, Obridge House, TA2 7QA. Arrangements as for other Artist’s Talks above.

Thursday, 9^th Visit to Barrington Court to see Anthony Gormley’s ‘ Field for the British Isles’. Meet at the gardens at 2.30pm. Names please to Sandra Spalding on tel. 01823 633068 or email spalding@jimsandra.fsnet.co.uk.

September 15^th -30^th SAW: artists’studios open to the public. We can advertise members’ shows in our next Newsletter, if given the details.

October  (dates to be announced) Quartz Festival, Queen’s College.

Saturday, 13^th Third Annual SAGT Lecture on David Hockney by Peter Webb, friend and biographer, the Conference Centre, Somerset College, 11.00 – 1.00 pm. Tickets cost £6 and will be available from Sam Macintyre (01823 252934) or from the Committee.

 November  Thursday, 15^th Artist’s Talk by Tim Martin,  7.30 pm, The Barn, Obridge House, cost £4.

 December Thursday 13^th Social Event.

Greetings. In this number we look back on the last five months and tell you about some events of the coming year.

Our second sponsored exhibition of 2011 – Paintings by Pat Preater and Jane Stott – was held in Taunton Library from 19 September – 1 October. Many of you came to see it, and the written comments you, and others, left were extremely complimentary. The enclosed reflections (see below) were prompted by the interesting juxtaposition of Jane’s portraits and with Pat’s groups of people.

 More recently, on 10 November Andy Davey from Minehead gave a fascinating illustrated talk in Crescent Contemporary on his paintings since 2009 which combine figurative and abstract ideas, often based on his wide knowledge of artists and art history. For next year we have so far not been able to find or afford a suitable venue for an art exhibition though one or two of us expect to be involved in the curating of exhibitions for 2013 – yes, there often has to be that amount of planning ahead! However we are sure that there will be plenty of good art to see, not least in studios near and far during SAW in September.  

We have, however, invited several artists to talk about their work during 2012. Fiona Godfrey from Langport will give the first of this new series on Thursday, 23 February in The Barn, Obridge House, TA2 7QA. We are delighted that Jack Coulthard will be introducing three of his latest large paintings at our AGM in the Library Meeting Room at 7.15 on Thursday, 22 March.

We had hoped to invite members to meet at the National Gallery on Tuesday, 24 January to see the ‘Leonardo’ exhibition but as you probably know all advanced tickets have been sold. However, some of us are still taking the Berrys coach or other transport and going to London that day. Some of us want to queue for tickets available on the day for the ‘Leonardo’ and/or go to see the Hockney works at the R.A. There is also a large and stimulating Gerhard Richter exhibition at Tate Modern for those especially interested in modern European art.

Our third annual SAGT lecturer is to be Dr. Peter Webb and he will be talking about David Hockney on Saturday, 13 October. He is a friend of the artist and also his biographer. In view of this lecture I hope to see the R.A.’s large exhibition of Hockney’s work, if not on the 24 January then some time after.

The full programme for 2012 will be given in our next newsletter which will go out at the end of next month: it will have something for every month from January until November along with a reminder that subscriptions, which are remaining at £12, are due by the end of January.

With best wishes, Jeremy

Pat Preater and Jane Stott’s Paintings 

The recent show (19 September – 1 October, 2011) in Taunton Library of paintings by Pat Preater and Jane Stott, local artists and friends who paint together on a Friday morning, was a rare treat. Beautifully hung, the exhibition was staged on the main wall, on three blue stands which were placed opposite it, and in three glass cabinets, which included smaller works, sketches, notebooks, and the artists’ personal statements. Moving the stands away from the big central window enabled light to flood in and tempted those outside to come in.

It was decided to mix Pat’s figurative paintings of two or more people with Jane’s portrait and one landscape. This worked well and gave variety and interest to one’s walk round. The larger paintings of groups of people also balanced well with the single study of a head. The hang left space for the works to be studied individually and yet for connections to be quickly apparent. In so far as paintings can have a soul or feelings, the paintings seemed to breathe happily in their setting and with their company!

 The comments in the book provided by SAGT who sponsored the exhibition make it clear that others enjoyed their time of looking. They included: ‘Stunning: really lifted my spirits’; ‘Some wonderful portraits. Makes me want to paint;’ & ‘X Factor definitely’. Two people enthusiastically felt that such high quality art showed that Taunton needed a major art gallery. Others remarked on the joy that the works had given them.

These more detailed observations reflect conversations with the artists and a personal response. ‘Pre-occupation’, which was hung to the far right of the main wall, catches the essence of Pat’s style, skills and interests. Set in a garden by a house, it features an old woman, a younger woman, and a child playing with water. Each of the three is turned away from the others, preoccupied, absorbed in his or her business, unaware of the others. The eldest person in the foreground is knitting and enjoying the day and just being there. Behind her is a mother preoccupied with gardening, something she delights in; and her son near the house is watching water from a butt overflowing out of a watering can. He too is in heaven, playing with an enticing element. Watch out, you adults! Mischief’s afoot.

This action is happening in a little patio bounded by a light wooden trellis, a low curved wall and a gate. A thin zig-zag space leads the eye through the trio to the middle distance and the house behind. The colours range from a light blue, yellow, red, pink, and green with and a dark blue in the right foreground. They enrich and describe both the setting and the absorbed thoughts of those present. It is a restful scene touched with mystery and surprise, skilfully constructed, and inviting reflection.

Each of Pat’s other paintings has people preoccupied: in ‘Night Out’ or a January fall of snow; having coffee and conversation (‘Coffee House’); playing ‘Cards’ on a ferry with a singer behind their table; taking things seated and easy (‘Rest Awhile’); crossing the road in a scrum of children and adults (‘School’s Out’). ‘Barnoon’, a downhill view of a steep cobbled street in St.Ives, has two people toiling up the hill but it is more abstract and paler-coloured.

Pat is a painter confident to engage on bigger, newer and more challenging subjects. She is still a figurative artist, interested in people and relationships. But in her larger canvases she has created the space to tackle harder tasks and so moved from showing a few people in a room or street to depicting many. She concentrates on their relationship to the task undertaken and to each other. Hers are not group portraits. They are happenings as she finds them in everyday life: people engaged in their tasks, unaware that they have since been ‘captured’ in oils in a pictorial setting. Often Pat has used a sketch or the memory and some notes of an occasion to re-construct in her imagination the scene she has treasured.

Her colours are brighter and bolder, joyful, life-affirming. They are subtly blended and merge, overlap and mix in a most satisfying way. However, in ‘Pre-occupation’ they are largely blocked and separated out. Her share in this joint venture with Jane is not only to show several people in a picture on a larger scale, usually in oils, but also to add a narrative which the viewer is left happy to investigate.

Jane Stott’s paintings contribute their share of happiness while also acting as a foil in a calm, pared down way. She has exhibited only occasionally, and never on this scale. So here she has really plunged in at the deep end. And thank goodness she took the risk because her work is more than capable of standing up to public scrutiny. This was borne out by several people remarking that they knew or recognised some of her sitters.

She showed not just a selection of portrait heads of distinction and individuality but also a multi-racial dimension, for instance in ‘Green Dress’ and ‘Queen of the Desert’, which is still rare in our local art. She is also willing to tackle a smile, attempting which many portraits have foundered! There are two of the latter: of Hannah, a young person in blue, the light full on her face, who has a setting-out-on-life look, worry free; and Stella, older, restrained, yet smiling calmly and bravely, the lilac drizzle of background wisteria echoed by the lilac in her dress/blouse. It is in her selection of what to include that Jane scores. The simplicity of Hannah’s depiction, the blending of lilac for and into Stella. Anything not needed is omitted, and the focus adjusted to give us a side view (Hannah) or the full face (Stella).

A trio of portraits of cousins lent from a private collection hung on the middle blue stand show the expectancy of youth and the contrasting personality of each: Shersien is very relaxed and open, Jessica a touch hesitant and a little reserved, Rhiannon more guarded and unsure of her place. The paintings make a strong sense both of kinship and difference. They are one of the highlights of the show.

Jane is as much at home painting nudes as heads as ‘Reclining Figure’ and ‘Life Study’ testify, the former is seen from the back in a shimmering haze, the latter propped up and facing to our left. Also hung near the big window onto Paul Street is a striking three-quarter length portrait of Hazel, seen from her left, which combines dignity with palpable strength of character.

Jane enjoys experimenting and several stages of her work were evident. She often uses mixed media: such as oil and pastel or watercolour and pastel. On the other hand her landscape ‘Contentment’ with Court House in the middle background is a pastel reminiscent of Samuel Palmer. She can favour a close up, such as with ‘Inclined Blue’, but she may also create studies based on one colour, such as ‘Study in Red’, ‘Red Figure’, and ‘Red Light’. In all this she is faithful to her subjects, seeking to be true to them, ready to take risks and keen to satisfy her sitter as well as herself.

This very splendid exhibition gave us not only finished art of a high standard but also accompanying evidence in the glass display cases of the building blocks of art making: beginning with the need to look attentively at one’s subject; then quick sketches, notebook jottings, and drawings – both artists are fine draughtswomen; and after that, and if necessary, preliminary studies. Then comes the readiness to try out one’s ideas in a full scale picture; followed by adding or removing; later there’s a return to make further changes, maybe little adjustments; and finally deciding (or knowing) when to stop. The fact that the paintings were not for sale may have helped visitors to relax and enjoy themselves all the more.

                                                                                                                 Jeremy Harvey  

We are grateful to Ron Cann for the illustrations  in this Newsletter.

We wish you all a very happy Christmas

September 2011

Dear Readers,

Greetings. Our website is up-to-date once more, thanks to Anna Mullett who has trained herself in its ways. With luck she will soon have found a way of putting our new logo up. We would welcome new examples of your work, if you have art already on show, and new members letting us show their work. To explore our website just type in www.somersetartgallerytrust.org

In this number we have contributions from Eric Clarke and John Foden and two drawings by Ron Cann,* our first ever illustrations, based on our visit to Compton Verney on 30 June. Our warm thanks to all three.

Our day at Compton Verney went very well, thanks to Julia Cann’s meticulous preparation and forethought in ringing round the day before, and to all who supported it. The exhibition is still on until early October, if you are going to be in the Stratford-upon-Avon/Warwick area.

Somerset Art Works (SAW) is about to happen and I am sure you will want to support that. Anna has posted on our website the names of our members whom she knows are showing work, Anna and I would welcome any responses to SAW and related exhibitions to be included in our next Newsletter. They can be brief (e.g. two paragraphs) or as long as you like.

An important date for your diary is our next annual lecture ‘The Art of Byzantium’ at the Conference Centre, Somerset College on Saturday 15^th October at 11.00am -1.00pm.  The lecture will be given by Canon Ian Ainsworth-Smith who is an expert in this field. Tickets cost £6.00 and can be bought from the college (telephone 01823 252 934) or from committee members. Cheques to be made out to Somerset College. Tickets can also be bought at the door on the day, but there may be a queue! Friends and family are welcome.

 Still advertising things you can do: the Friends of Taunton Museum (which opens on 29 September) have invited us to take spare seats in their coach to Bath to see the new extension to the Holborne Museum and to enjoy some time in Bath on Saturday, 8 October. The coach leaves from Castle Green at 9.0 am and costs £9. There is also a Gainsborough exhibition on. Ring Felicity Hebditch on 01823 251856, if you are interested.

We applied for an Arts Council grant to cover proposed costs for next year and to aid our development. Some six weeks later we heard that we had been unsuccessful along with the other 45% of art bodies’ requests that the Council turns down. Your committee will shortly be drawing up a programme for 2012 and taking account of this.

 Enjoy an Autumn of art viewing and making. With best wishes,  

Jeremy Harvey

Yorkshire Art

Recently I journeyed north to visit the much admired Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the new Barbara Hepworth gallery known as the Hepworth Wakefield.

 The sculpture Park is not for the fainthearted. Be prepared for an attractive broad valley of over 500 acres, more than a mile from one side to the other and some hundreds of feet to descend and climb again. Clement weather is essential and at least one whole day, preferably more. Entry is free, though you pay £4 to park your car and are invited to make a donation.

In addition to long term exhibits (More, Hepworth, Frink, Goldsworthy etc) there are temporary ones. At the time of my visit there was a summer-long display of the work of Spanish artist Jaume Plensa – very varied, some very large and some appealing to the ears as well as the eyes.

Nearby, in Wakefield, a gallery devoted to the work of locally born sculptor Barbara Hepworth opened recently. Designed by David Chipperfield Architects, the grey concrete building may not be appeal to everyone externally but internally it works well. The architecture is restrained, depending entirely on the exploitation of space and light. Occupying the whole of the upper floor ten well-lit galleries of varying volumes lead naturally from one to another. At the moment these galleries mainly explore the artistic development of Hepworth, the influences upon her and the context of her work in this country and Europe as a whole.

There is a selection of work from the Wakefield art collection, started in 1923 and built up by a series of pioneering directors with a strong commitment to contemporary art. The interaction of the Hepworth story and the Wakefield collection worked seamlessly. The difference of atmosphere from one gallery to the next was refreshing. Occasionally there are views onto the river and to the outside world which are invigorating and in no way distracting.

This was one of the best gallery experiences of my life. Entry is free (donation invited), and there is a moderately priced car park across the river. Only a couple of hundred miles or so to get there!                                              

                                                                                         John Foden                                                                                             

Stanley Spencer

We all possess two sides to our nature, which we may term the outer man and the inner man. In the twentieth century a Dr. Sperry, in America, was able to carry out a series of tests on patients whose corpus callosum – the band of nerves and connecting tissues which connects the two sides of the brain – had been divided in an attempt to alleviate a particular medical condition. They were split-brained people. As a result of these tests Dr. Sperry concluded that the two sides of our brain functioned in very different fashions. The left brain appeared to function in a verbal mode whilst the right brain ‘thought’ in a non-verbal manner. Further Dr. Sperry believed that our educational system and Science in general discriminated against the information provided through our right brain.

 People believing in the essential spiritual nature of man have for centuries been aware of our dual nature, without necessarily identifying it with certain areas of our brain. The artist Stanley Spencer seems to have been someone for whom our dual nature was well recognised. He even developed two very different styles of painting. For his ‘landscapes’ as he called them, he had a very literal style, depicting every tiny detail of the plants and buildings he saw before his eyes. However for his more ‘visionary’ pictures he had a very different style: it was almost as though his left brain took control when he painted ‘landscapes’, whilst his right brain took over when he was commenting upon man’s spiritual nature. In the unfinished picture, ‘Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta’, most of the onlookers are not listening to Christ, instead they are chatting with neighbours or preparing to take tea. It is as though Stanley is reminding us that we, too, may not be listening to our spiritual nature, but are allowing trivialities to distract us.

Stanley’s agent, Dudley Tooth, who was responsible for finding a market for Stanley’s pictures, urged him to paint landscapes, “As these sell!”  A very worldly way of looking at art. Stanley did respond although he may have desired to paint another ‘visionary’ painting. But he painted his landscapes with great care. Cookham was very important to him.

During the 1914-1918 War Stanley enlisted and it is of intense interest that he was able to find a way of coping with a very different lifestyle. He wrote (to Richard Carline):

“When I first enlisted…after about three weeks I began to feel I was dying of starvation, spiritual starvation, and this feeling intensified my feeling for spiritual life. ‘I must find it. Where is it? I used to find it in painting pictures. Where is it now?’ And then suddenly I began to see and catch hold of little particles of this life in the scrubbing of a floor or the making of a bed and so, gradually, everything began to reveal to me. Everything I had to do became a key to my conception of spiritual life. Just cutting up bread and butter in the kitchen in the ward revealed to me as much of the spiritual life I had longed to attain to, as if I had sat down and had half an hour’s talk with God. [These experiences were used in his murals in Burghclere Chapel.] I felt with everything I did an inspiration to do it. Of course I was often depressed…And so it came about, at last, that tea-urns, bathrooms, beds etc all became sort of symbols of my spiritual thoughts until at last I felt I could reveal the whole process of my soul by stating clearly those impressions of my surroundings. So at last things became sacred to me by association, had a relation of difference just as the movements in a sonata have to each other and I began to be observant of these differences.

During the War I lived not as an artist but as a quickening spirit.”

I expect Stanley was regarded as a rather odd fish by many people. He certainly did some really stupid things in his life, not unconnected with his second marriage. Eventually I suppose many just accepted him as unconventional, possibly fairly harmless but eccentric, with strange ideas and an odd lifestyle. But as this extract from his writing shows he was someone for whom the spiritual life was not just an interesting idea but something to be lived. He was obviously very individualistic and one cannot really imagine him being firmly attached to any religious group. But his paintings show someone for whom the life of the Spirit was very real and very important. His visionary paintings often remind us we too may allow ourselves not to listen, not to be aware. Surrounded by wonder we don’t recognise.

Stanley doesn’t conveniently fit into any of the groups into which critics love to place an artist. He didn’t particularly please traditionalists or modernists. He was unique, a one-off artist, and for those who will allow his paintings to speak to them, an important part of our artistic heritage. Thank you Stanley.

                                                                                                                 Eric Clarke 

 Her style is figurative but she is increasingly interested in semi abstraction.

 She graduated in June 2009 with a BA Hons Degree in Fine Art and subsequently won first prize in a major painting competition in Wales.

She will be opening her house and studio to the public as part of The 10 Parishes Festival from 10th to 18th September 2011.

Visitors welcome at all times to her studio, to see what she is doing, to chat or to discuss commissions.

 Her address is;  The Old Tapestry, 35, Waterloo Road, Wellington, Somerset,

TA 21 8HY.  Telephone: 01823 652715. Mobile: 07773002197

web site:  www.wendyhead.co.uk

In the past year we have averaged a membership of about 60, sent out five newsletters (nos. 18 – 22) in which different people have contributed reviews or articles; run and sponsored exhibitions in Taunton Library and one in the Conference Centre, Somerset College (SC). We have also offered our members three lectures at SC, arranged a visit to the John Leach gallery to look at some Picasso prints, and visited Sue Luxton during SAW and been given a talk by her. We learned too from Rachel Hartland and Nigel Done about their work and approach to it.

 There were two new Library exhibitions sponsored by us:  Ann Le Bas and Hilary Adair’s paintings, etchings and prints (15 March – 3 April) and Jack Coulthard’s much enjoyed Autumn exhibition (19 October – 3 November). We also heard a memorable talk by Frances Spalding on Bloomsbury and its Debt to Cambridge at Somerset College (15 October) in the first of our annual lecture series.

 The Marquis of Bath has agreed to be a Patron, which we welcome, while hoping that he may see ways of helping us. Sadly our President, Robin Bush, died in June. We hope that members at the AGM will elect Tom and Pat Preater, both distinguished artists and supporters of our cause, to be Presidents in a job share. Your committee met eight times and have again given excellent service. Both our officers and current committee members (see overleaf) are willing to serve again this year, if elected.

 Our finance is looking modestly healthy: we have £813; and recently received our first ever grant: £1340 from Somerset County Council to be spent on events based at Crescent Comtemporary and other projects. We thank SCC and its officers for their faith in us. Our thanks also both to Rachel and David Hartland and Ron and Julia Cann who ran events which raised some £175. Along with thousands of others we have campaigned against future art funding cuts.

Our wider links include hosting an art exhibition in the Conference Centre, SC : Toni and Andy Davey’s challenging works are currently on display there. SAW have invited us to write about ourselves in their 2011 programme/brochure, and Somerset Museum staff wish us to help them with planning their art exhibitions. Their new exhibition space looks promising.

Our logo and website www.somersetartgallerytrust.org were adapted for us by Ralph Saunders while a student at SC. We hope to include more newsletters and art work by members. We have updated our publicity flier, thanks to Margaret Staker, and invite members to help distribute them.

The future looks promising with our second members’ exhibition due to take place in Crescent Contemporary (11-25 May), a space that we hope art lovers and Somerset artists will come to identify both with SAGT and good art. Patience will be continue to be needed before we have our own gallery but by working together and enlisting more help we will be able – eventually – to achieve our goal.

                                                                                             Jeremy Harvey

 Dear Readers,

Greetings to you. You’ll find in this edition an article about the pull of films and one about James Stirling’s architecture, new topics for us but very welcome. Also a light-hearted poem about spell checkers: my spell checker, as I copied this poem out, let everything pass – clearly not interested in the sense – except for one (split) word! There is also a short tribute to the Large family’s recent exhibition in Watchet.

 Our thanks to Eric Clarke, John Foden, and Andy Davey for their pieces. Incidentally we do try to reach a wider audience of art lovers but it is currently hard to have reviews or announcements about exhibitions included in the County Gazette. Were we to pay them, things would be different! Necessity is encouraging us to ‘publish’ our own articles of interest about art matters.

 With our SCC grant we rented Crescent Contemporary, the new downstairs gallery in 19, The Crescent, Taunton opposite County Hall, on two occasions. First for an evening with Audrey Reddy who spoke of her debt to Jack Coulthard’s teaching and showed us examples of her work. She is currently exhibiting at the Lutyens Gallery, Hestercombe until 10 July. Secondly in May when we rented Crescent Contemporary for two weeks and showed 31 small works made by 19 of our members. Including the lively Private View there were some 200 visitors and five works were sold. The money raised from our 20% commission on these sales will go towards buying a work for our Permanent Collection. We gained some new members and had visitors from as far afield as Finland and Spain. The general consensus was that Crescent Contemporary is a lovely exhibition space, that there was an interesting and varied selection of work, very well hung and labelled. There were cheers for a new gallery in Taunton. We were wished good luck, and there were requests for more exhibitions of this quality.

Our thanks to all who sent in work; to Pat Preater, Ron Cann, Liz Earley and Gordon Faulds who made the selection, assisted by me; to everyone who stewarded and welcomed our visitors; and above all to Liz and Gordon for inviting us and making the whole thing possible, and for being so hospitable. Gordon designed our poster, invitation and programme. (Souvenir copies of the programme are available from me.)

Whether we can rent the gallery for an exhibition next year depends largely on our raising the necessary money. With part of our current grant we are employing Polly Davis, a former Arts officer for SCC, to do some fundraising and networking for us.

 Please make a note of the following forthcoming events: during SAW, but independently, Pat Preater and Jane Stott will be showing figurative works in Taunton Library (19 September – 1 October); and our second annual SAGT lecture will be on Saturday, 15 October at 11.0 in the Conference Centre, Somerset College. Ian Ainsworth-Smith will speak on ‘The Art of Byzantium’. He is an expert in this field who lectures on cruises. He has retired to Milverton after being a Canon of Southwark Cathedral.

 At our AGM in March, also in Crescent Contemporary, Pat and Tom Preater were elected as joint Presidents and Wendy Head and Sandra Spalding were elected onto your Committee. We wish these four well and thank them for the experience and enthusiasm they bring.

I have completed my research on Stanley Spencer’s Letters to his Niece (Daphne Spencer) which were written during the last ten years of his life. If you are interested, go to a friend’s website: www.babyspider.co.uk/jeremy/ and right click on my name and allow time for the resulting download.

Happy viewing and making of art. With best wishes,

 Jeremy

The following is a review by Andy Davey of the recent Members Exhibition.

 Taunton now has a splendid venue to show contemporary visual art, elegant and beautifully proportioned ground floor rooms at 19 The Crescent.

Crescent Contemporary is hosting until 25 May an exhibition of the work of members of the Somerset Arts Gallery Trust. Not least of the Trust’s avowed ambitions is to enhance the county’s and particularly Taunton’s cultural and creative life. The opening hours are 10.0 – 5.0 p.m.  The work rich in its variety is beautifully hung with special consideration given to spacing and the balance of form and colour. All the work is small and affordable. There are still-lifes rich with surface texture, landscapes with unique viewpoints, drawings, paintings and sculpture sourced from the figure, and work that is to a greater or lesser degree abstract. Perceptions are challenged.

It is Crescent Contemporary’s intention to present shows which reference up to date themes and ideas and this current exhibition though modest in scale and easy on the eye most certainly confirms their philosophy.                                                                                                  Andrew Davey

Art as Film

During the ’39 –’45 war everything, except such negative emotions as fear and anxiety, was scarce. I can only put this forward as an excuse for the habit a friend and I developed of visiting a local cinema to see the dross of the American film industry. Probably this habit was aided by the convenience of a friendly bus which conveyed us to and fro this cinema. Unfortunately though this exercise left me with a strong belief that the cinema was one of the lower forms of entertainment. Not one to be pursued.

 Fortunately during subsequent National Service I was instructed one day to accompany a small body of men into the showing of an ABCA (Army Bureau of Current Affairs) film called “Desert Victory”. Possibly a cynic would classify such a film as “Government Propaganda”, designed to encourage young soldiers to believe that the British Army had, all alone, won the war. They would be wrong. This was an excellent film in its own right. There is a sequence in it where, just before an advance is made by the British Army, there are a number of long shots of gun barrels silhouetted against the sky pointing upwards, in silence. I well remember the civilian Glaswegian, who was operating the projector, leaning towards me and whispering, “Ah alus turn the sound up here”, and, when the resulting command of “Fire” was followed by a deafening roar of gunshot, I watched the front row of the audience rise six inches out of their seats. Obviously good cinema could be a conveyor of strong emotions, as well as sentimentality and was worth investigating.

 After the show the same Glaswegian, whom I remember with great affection, casually asked me if I was interested in the cinema. Immediately being converted to a life-long aficionado I eagerly agreed, and was encouraged to attend the local cinema film club that very evening. There followed a delightful respite from the mundane duties of a lance-corporal by weekly visits to view some of the great cinema classics. Perhaps others will remember with me the pleasure of the visual impact of some of the early Russian films like “Battleship Potemkin” or the great skill of the director of the “Blue Angel” in conveying the passage of time with such subtlety and economy when he showed the professor shuffling Marlene Dietrich’s ‘postcards’ with distaste, saying he would sooner die than sell them; then the loss of focus, followed by the same professor going round some seedy cabaret bar selling the postcards. No words needed, no explanations, but one knew exactly what had occurred.

One of the great strengths of the cinema is the ability to condense time so that we can know all that has happened in an instant.

Thank heaven for that interlude in Army life and the wonderful experiences cinema can provide. That it can be art I have no doubt. Of course there have been some disappointments, as with all the arts. But we can be thankful that despite the lack of facilities for showing visual art, Taunton is able to have a film society and to show world class films as an art form.                                                                                                                     Eric Clarke

I have a spell ling chequer

It came with my pea see

It plane lee marques fore my revue

Miss takes eye can knot sea

 Eye strike a quay and then a word

And weight four it two say

Weather eye am wrong oar write

It shows me strait a weigh

 As soon as a mis-ache is maid

It nose be for to long

Sow I can put the error rite

Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it

I am sure your pleased too no

Its letter perfect fore ewe to reed

My chequer tolled me sew.

(contributed by Eric Clarke whose friend Peter Gibbard found this)

James Stirling: reminiscences

 Seemingly a lifetime ago in Cheltenham, around 1960, James Stirling gave a talk to the Gloucestershire RIBA branch of which, as a young architect, I was a member.

Much of Stirling’s oeuvre was still to come. As yet there was no sign of the Post Modern work which followed the split from his then partner in the firm of Stirling & Gowan.

As I recall it a lot of the talk was devoted to his time as a student at Liverpool University, in the country’s leading school of architecture, where he was very influenced by the sturdy, but refined, Victorian and Edwardian nearby dockland buildings.

One of the most significant post-war 20^th century modern buildings was in the design stages at about the time of his talk. This was the Leicester University Engineering Building which was very sculptural and exciting in its forms. If ever a building merited the term ‘iconic’ this was one.

In the same way as is evident in the much later Bilbao Guggenheim Museum by Frank Gehry there are visual references to earlier buildings and art styles, among them the hard brick architecture of the Liverpool docks & the Constructivist and Futurist movements of the early 1900’s.

 At this time, perhaps reflecting more the interests of his partner, Gowan, there were modest blocks of flats at Ham Common in London, very different in feeling but extremely influential.

 Thereafter, for Stirling, things seemed to go downhill. The (in)famous History Library at Cambridge and the Florey Building housing students by the river at Oxford led to the break up of the Stirling & Gowan partnership apparently due to Stirling’s uncompromising attitudes – particularly as regards the use of early post-war technology which sometimes failed to perform satisfactorily.

What followed seems to me such an extraordinary volte-face. Stirling became immersed in the design of Post Modern buildings, full of rhetoric, in Germany and the United States.

The current exhibition at Tate Britain entitled JAMES STIRLING: NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVE tells the story of his output and the changes of course that were embodied in it. Interestingly it was Stirling’s extension to Tate Britain in the 70’s that set him on his Post Modern path in this country.

If the exhibition fails to engage your interest there is the permanent collection of Turner’s paintings & notebooks housed in the Stirling extension to make your journey to Tate Britain worth while.

Concurrently with the Stirling exhibition there is the interesting WATERCOLOUR exhibition.                                                                                                     John Foden

Large and Large and Large:

“paintings…about a subject but never of it…abstract in the true sense of the word.”

                                                                      Roger

 “…the basis of the composition is a figurative element…within an otherwise non-representational ground.”

                                                                       Emily

 “…a conversation between the three dimensional form and the two-dimensional picture plane.”

                                                                        Lucy

Each of these quotations is taken from statements in the catalogue accompanying an exhibition held recently at the Lynda Cotton Gallery in Watchet of the work of three members of one family – well known West Somerset painter, Roger Large, and his two daughters, Emily and Lucy.

It struck me (again) what a great wealth of artistic talent there is to be found in Somerset; some good galleries, too. This was an exhibition  of high  quality.                                                                                         John  Foden