Rex Preston Solo Exhibition
Rex Preston Rex Preston was born in Yardley, Birmingham in 1948, but lived in various places around the Midlands until his family settled in Derbyshire when he was 15. He trained at Newcastle under Lyme School of Art and then Derby College of Art. This early training in life drawing and perspective proved invaluable to him. After college, Rex initially worked as a print designer, but never stopped painting in whatever spare time was available and soon began to sell several of his paintings. At the age of 21 he resigned from his job to concentrate on painting full time; a decision he has never regretted. In his early years as an artist, he painted a variety of subjects, but his interest in the countryside naturally led him towards landscape painting. In the 1990s, despite being a highly successful painter of traditional landscapes, Rex started experimenting with breaking the landscape down into simple colour tones, trying to see just the colour and not the detail. These more abstract paintings used all the same skills as his traditional ones, but focused on mood and colour. He continued experimenting but did not make any conscious decisions about his developing style; it just evolved over the years. ‘I went as far away from traditional as I could, almost abstract, and then came back to a style that is between abstract and representational. Maybe the label is semiabstract or abstracted landscapes.’ Today Rex Preston is one of the country’s leading landscape artists with a national and international reputation. Red Rag Gallery is delighted to be hosting this third solo exhibition of Rex’s work in Bath.
“My enthusiasm for painting the Derbyshire landscape has never waned over fifty years. It provides an endless variety of subjects from rugged moorland to tranquil dales; from grit-stone edges to quiet woodland. I rarely venture out in the Peak District at any time of year without finding a subject to inspire me. Even familiar places vary completely with changing seasons, light effects and weather. Frequent trips to West Cornwall each year allow me to spend time painting the sea and cliff top flowers, but I am always drawn to Newlyn, with its busy harbour and mass of brightly coloured boats.” Rex Preston, April 2018.
Cover Image - View from Burbage Moor (detail) - 18 x 24 inches - £2350
Rex Preston Solo Exhibition 5 – 20 May 2018 All work is oil and for sale on receipt of this brochure. Open every day from 10 am.
August Afternoon, Towards Land’s End 10 x 10 inches - £950
Bluebells near Treen Cove 20 x 20 inches - £1950
4.
Sunlight and Shade, Miller’s Dale 12 x 12 inches - £995
Bluebells, Bramley Woods 16 x 16 inches - £1495
5.
Spring Woodland 12 x 12 inches - £1095
6.
Daffodils by the River Brathay 12 x 12 inches - £995
Autumn, Miller’s Dale 30 x 30 inches - £3500 7.
Reflected Light, Newlyn Harbour 12 x 12 inches - £1095 Bright Sunny Day, Newlyn 16 x 16 inches - £1495
8.
Sunny Autumn Day, Buttermere 8 x 24 inches - ÂŁ1495
9.
Late Afternoon Light, Totley Moor 20 x 20 inches - £1950 10.
Autumn Reflections, Miller’s Dale 20 x 24 inches - £2500 11.
Reflections in the River Wye, Chee Dale 12 x 12 inches - £995 Still Water, Bradford Dale 16 x 16 inches - £1495
12.
Spring, Treen Cove 8 x 24 inches - ÂŁ1495
13.
Red Campion, Gurnard’s Head 12 x 12 inches - £995 Porthmeor Cliffs, near Treen 16 x 16 inches - £1395
14.
Autumn Sunlight, Tideswell Dale 24 x 24 inches - £2650
Sunrise, River Brathay, near Elterwater 16 x 30 inches - ÂŁ2500
16.
Late Summer, Priest’s Cove 8 x 16 inches - £950 Marsh Marigolds, Bradford Dale 12 x 12 inches - £1095
17.
Autumn Leaves, Chee Dale 16 x 16 inches - £1450
18.
Spring in Chee Dale 16 x 16 inches - £1450
Burbage Moor, Peak District 14 x 40 inches - ÂŁ2650
19.
Footpath to Kinder 30 x 30 inches - ÂŁ3250
Low Tide, Newlyn Harbour 12 x 10 inches - £975
Sunlit Grasses, White Edge Moor 16 x 20 inches - £1750
21.
Soft Light, Cape Cornwall 12 x 12 inches - £995
22.
Newlyn Harbour 16 x 16 inches - £1450
Beeley Moor 8 x 8 inches - £650
November Afternoon, Chee Dale 8 x 8 inches - £650
23.
Evening Light, Curbar Edge 12 x 32 inches - £2150
24.
Monbretia, Carn Gloose 8 x 16 inches - ÂŁ950
Dawn Mist and Miss Amy, Newlyn 8 x 16 inches - ÂŁ950 25.
Cotton Grass, Burbage Moor 16 x 16 inches - £1450
26.
Sunny Afternoon, Priest’s Cove 12 x 12 inches - £995
Lathkill Dale 18 x 24 inches - ÂŁ2250 27.
Winter’s Afternoon, Stanage Edge Oil - 14 x 40 inches - £2950
Red Rag Gallery 24 Brock Street Bath BA1 2LN t: 01225 332223 e: redrag@bathartgallery.co.uk www.bathartgallery.co.uk