Roy and Jason would like to invite you to the preview party of
an exhibition of work by
Edward Beale Wednesday 27th April 2011 6.30 to 8.30pm RSVP all works are for sale.
Left. Red Carnations in a green jug (Detail). Oil. 17 5 10 inches Front cover. Back of Lambeth Walk Buildings (Detail). Oil on panel, 24 5 36 inches
9 Cork Street, Mayfair, London W1S 3LL Tel. 020 7494 2021 Fax. 020 7691 9755 Roy m. 077 7164 8512 Jason m. 079 7478 6616 info@petleys.co.uk www.petleys.co.uk
1. Woodspring Priory with sheep. Oil on panel, 8 5 24 inches
2. Distant view of Uphill Church. Oil on panel, 10 5 24 inches
3. Track through woodland near Llauro. Oil on panel, 24 5 30 inches
4. Lambeth streets from roof top. Oil, 24 5 48 inches
5. Palace of Westminster, Evening. Oil on panel, 10 5 12 inches
6. Sunset over the Thames. Oil on panel, 12 5 14 inches
7. Approaching storm at Mas Magrama. Oil on panel, 21 5 24 inches
8. Brean Down from Canada Coombe. Oil on panel, 9 5 24 inches
9. Moon rising over fields near St. Aulaye. Oil on panel, 12 5 28 inches
10. The road to Spain across the Pyrenees. Oil on panel, 24 5 35 inches
11. Segovia in evening light. Oil on panel, 24 5 36 inches
12. Early morning on the Thames. Gouache, 16.5 5 23.8 inches
13. Two Cranes at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Oil on panel, 16 5 20 inches 14. Towards Stornoway from the Pentlands road. Oil on panel, 24 5 48 inches
15. Evening mist over the Pyrenees. Oil on panel, 8 5 12 inches
16. Orchard in the evening near the Pyrenees. Oil on panel, 8 5 11 inches
17. Cork oaks on the road to Oms. Oil on panel, 24 5 34 inches
18. Back of Lambeth Walk Buildings. Oil on panel, 24 5 36 inches
19. Carnations and green apples. Oil on panel, 24 5 18 inches
20. Yellow flower in miniature vase against blue. Oil on panel, 12 5 14 inches
21. Segovia Cathedral in plains of Castile. Oil on panel, 24 5 48 inches
22. Sunset with two birds in flight. Oil on panel, 10 5 12 inches
23. Dutch Ship being unloaded. Oil on panel, 9 514 inches
24. Flowers in a miniature vase against blue with yellow stripe. Oil on panel, 12 5 10 inches
25. Cooking apples with white orchid against green. Oil on panel, 30 5 18 inches
26. Sunny afternoon at Trinity Buoy Wharf. Oil on panel, 12 5 14 inches
27. Canary Wharf from Orchard Wharf. Oil on panel, 10 5 12 inches
28. Flowers in red vase with yellow background. Oil on panel, 24 5 20 inches
29. Carnations against grey. Oil on panel, 24 5 19 inches
28. Reclining nude. Chalk drawing, 16 5 22 inches
Edward Beale Interview with Claire Edwards
ma (phil)
With a new exhibition of landscapes and still life paintings in the Spring Edward Beale talks about his sources of inspiration and the way he works. I like to suggest the surface and form of objects rather than painting them naturalistically. I aim for the sensuous quality in flowers and fruit and enjoy trying to paint them well. I am inspired by the freshness of nature. Trying to suggest in paint its sensations – the things you can’t see such as smell and sound is always exciting. New landscapes such as the plains of Castile filled with ripening crops of corn are inspiring. It was good to be able to get close to these vast quiet places. I enjoy the contrasts between different places and also love to paint in the foothills of the Pyrenees and the softer landscape of the Dordogne. I like large expanses of countryside. You don’t always get what you think you’re going to get which helps create spontaneity. You have to try and find a way of dealing with things in the context of the painting. Often the locations where I work have come up through chance but I am intrigued to see what I can do in those places where painters like Soutine and van Gogh worked. If you give any place a chance it will become interesting. I don’t mean looking for picturesque qualities I mean trying to see more clearly so as to achieve something authentic about the reality of the place. The painting must work on its own terms. In a new place I always look for something that interests me enough to want to paint it and I will start as soon as possible. It’s like kicking out the boat. I don’t feel the need to spend much time absorbing the atmosphere; I just like to get down to work as soon as I can. Getting in front of the subject enables me to work in a fast and free way – wet to wet. I can start on a painting at any time of day, but I like the strong colours of late afternoon. I must feel there is enough daylight left to make progress and will adjust the size of the surface so that I can achieve something while a painting is still wet. Before I begin I work out in my mind’s eye the angles and the elements I want to include. I work from dark to light and balance the tones between. As marks go on I work with more and more definition to clarify and define each element. I have found that loose broadly worked paint can convey all the qualities of a subject. I usually make a cursory drawing in paint and then I block in. I like to get the surface covered quickly so that I can start to see the potential of the composition. By that I mean the layout of the painting or combination of colours.
At this stage it is a rather fast and fluid approach in which the painting can change and evolve with big areas altered if necessary. Something which at one moment seems significant can later, as the painting progresses, seem either less important or so irrelevant that it can be removed. It is necessary to balance the unique occurrences that I want to keep with vital changes. There is no system to guarantee the outcome although my approach is very matter of fact. It needs something to seem special to make me feel it is complete. Knowing when to finish is intuitive. I know that I should stop. There may be certain marks or colours that together will carry the painting. The painting can seem very far from being pulled together and yet just a few marks can do what I’ve been trying to do for hours. Those few marks seem to be the key to the rest of the painting. It can be a hard struggle or a fast occurrence. Deciding that something interesting has been achieved in a painting may happen straight away or may take some time. Occasionally it takes other people’s opinions for me to see a painting in a different way. But I have learnt to stand by my judgement. I like traditional subjects. I think today tackling them is quite a challenge as they are seen to be quite humble. If painted well they can be just as significant as any other subject as painters such as Cezanne and van Gogh knew. If I were to give advice to a young person wanting to paint I would say just go out or set up something and forget anything else and just try and paint it well. That was the advice I was given and it is advice that I have followed ever since. I was inspired to paint by being excited by the work of van Gogh. I was fascinated by how he seemed to make the world seem alive almost wriggling around on the canvas. I felt empathy for his work because it seemed to echo what I felt. Each new one I saw was a revelation. I’d buy a book because it happened to have one that I hadn’t seen before. At this time I was also introduced to the work of London painters such as Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Lucien Freud and Francis Bacon. Other influences were Chaim Soutine and of course the old masters such as Velasquez and Rembrandt. Over the years I have been impressed by other painters but these names remain important. I would like to think that other people find something to appreciate in my work but I would carry on anyway. As long as I live and breathe and think and feel and can be excited by the world, then painting will be important to me. February 2011
Photography by Hugh Kelly. Printed by Willow Print Services.
Leek with Britany Onions. Oil on panel, 16 5 20 inches
9 Cork Street, Mayfair, London W1S 3LL Tel. 020 7494 2021 Fax. 020 7691 9755 Roy m. 077 7164 8512 Jason m. 079 7478 6616 info@petleys.co.uk www.petleys.co.uk