ISSUE NO 12 SUMMER 2011 £1
WATTS & CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITURE Sandy Nairne WATTS AND THE TATE Mark Bills HOPE: A MASTERPIECE Nicholas Tromans and Catherine Hilary RESTORATION COMPLETED Perdita Hunt SUPPORTING LIMNERSLEASE Antony Gormley 1
15a Clifford Street, London, W1S 4JZ +44(0)20 7734 2302 mail@maasgallery.com www.maasgallery.com
George Frederick Watts (1817-‐1904), Study of a Woman.
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We also hold in stock a small selection of fine engravings after Watts in original Victorian frames, signed by the artist. Please contact the gallery for more details.
ISSUE NO 12
The Isabel Goldsmith Pati単o Gallery, 2011. Photograph by Anne Purkiss
COVER The newly restored Watts Gallery, 2011 Photograph by Anne Purkiss.
EDITORIAL Edited and designed by Andrew Churchill, Marketing Manager, Watts Gallery Printed by Selsey Press Layout by Peper Design Advertising - Emily Pierce 0207 300 5675
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EVENTS BOOKING LINE Tuesday to Saturday, 11-5pm 01483 813593 shop@wattsgallery.org.uk
VISITOR INFORMATION Watts Gallery, Down Lane Compton, Surrey GU3 1DQ Tel +44 (0)1483 810 235 info@wattsgallery.org.uk www.wattsgallery.org.uk
OPENING TIMES 3
THANK YOU
LATEST NEWS
Watts Gallery is deeply grateful to all its donors. These Benefactors have provided particularly generous support:
ISABEL GOLDSMITH CUTS RIBBON ON GALLERY
Isabel Goldsmith, the lead donor Heritage Lottery Fund and earlist major benefactor to The Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation the Watts Gallery Hope Appeal The Isabel Goldsmith Patiño Foundation has cut the ribbon on a gallery Garfield Weston Foundation funded by her foundation. Called the Isabel Goldsmith Patiño The George John & Sheilah Livanos Gallery, she wished her mother’s Charitable Trust maiden name to be included Richard Ormond CBE in the name of the gallery as Esmée Fairbairn Foundation a tribute to the memory of her Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary mother who passed away too soon. Settlement English Heritage Christopher Forbes J Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust The Ingram Trust The Foyle Foundation Professor Rob Dickins CBE The Linbury Trust Art Fund David Pike Guildford Borough Council The Robert Gavron Charitable Trust Hamish Dewar Ltd Surrey County Council Peter Harrison Foundation The John Ellerman Foundation The Finnis Scott Foundation The Restoration Fund The Wolfson Foundation The Mercers’ Company KPMG Foundation The Pilgrim Trust Surrey Hills LEADER Three Anonymous Donors
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We are extremely grateful to Isabel for the foresight she has shown in supporting Watts Gallery in its darkest days and, in doing so, encouraging others to offer their support. The Isabel Goldsmith Patiño Gallery is fittingly hung with many of Watts‘s most significant paintings.
PERDITA HUNT, DIRECTOR OF WATTS GALLERY, MADE A DEPUTY LIEUTENANT Watts Gallery’s Director Perdita Hunt has been made a Deputy Lieutenant. Deputy lieutenants are chosen by the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Mrs Sarah Goad, to assist her with her duties. The commissions are approved by Her Majesty The Queen. This honour is given to Perdita in recognition of her unstinting efforts to save Watts Gallery and revive Watts’s vision of art for all..
WATTS VISITOR CENTRE NOW OPEN Visitors to the re-opened Watts Gallery will have seen the Visitor Centre on the Estate. This is where you buy tickets for the Gallery or collect a Friends ticket if you are a member. Housed in the Old Pottery building it provides plenty of space for a fine range of books and gifts. The Watts Visitor Centre has been funded by John Beale and the Surrey Hills Leader partnership and we are very grateful to both for their support.
PHOTOGRAPHS ON SHOW AT HENRY MOORE INSTITUTE Photographer Anne Purkiss has been recording the restoration of Watts Gallery. She will now be displaying photographs she took of the restoration of the Sculpture Gallery in the library of the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds from 11 July to 24 August. Visit www. henry-moore.org to find out more.
HOPE APPEAL CLOSED THANKS TO SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL A significant and timely grant from Surrey County Council has helped reach the Hope Emergency Appeal target, launched after the failure of the original building contractors. Watts Gallery costs £2,000 a day to operate, so we still need your continuing support by joining as Patrons, Friends or donating. Thank you.
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drella drella art art studio... studio.. Drella beautiful in Godalming a great DrellaGallery Galleryand andStudio Studionestled nestledininathe bottomvalley of a beautiful valley offers in Godalming space learning draw and and is available asavailable a venue as occasionally offers for a great spacehow for to learning how paint to draw and paint and is a venue for occasionally for showing the work of both establishedartists. and emerging artists. showing the work of both established and emerging With a well equipped, light With a well equipped, light airy studio beautiful gardens, it is a wonderful place airy studio and beautiful gardens, it is aand wonderful place to retreat, to learn something to escape to learn something new or to pursue your passion. Teresa Satterthwaite is new or to pursue your passion. Teresa Satterthwaite is an experienced tutor and hopes an experienced tutor and hopes to guide and inspire those who visit. See the website to guide and inspire those who visit. Nervous novices welcome. Group or individual for all details of forthcoming one day workshops, day courses and evening courses tuition is available. See our web-site for all details of forthcoming one day workshops, www.drellagallery.co.uk week-day courses and evening courses at www.drellagallery.co.uk For more details contact Teresa Satterthwaite. Telephone No. 01483 429336 m. more 07900details 887021, teresa@drellagallery.co.uk, Website: drellagallery.co.uk For contact Teresa Satterthwaite/Shan Foster Tel: 01483 429336 Mob: 07900 887021, E-mail: teresa@drellagallery.co.uk
“Congratulations “Congratulationstotoeveryone everyoneinvolved involvedininthe the Hope HopeProject Projectonona ajob jobbrilliantly brilliantlywell welldone!” done!” 6
LATEST NEWS TRH THE PRINCE OF WALES AND DUCHESS OF CORNWALL VISIT WATTS GALLERY TRH The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited Compton on Thursday 26 May to re-open Watts Gallery after its major restoration, to visit Watts’s house and studio, Limnerslease and to visit the Watts Cemetery Chapel and graveyard. The Royal visitors were welcomed by Alexander Creswell, the international acclaimed artist who is currently working in Watts’s Great Studio, Richard Conway owner of Great Studio and Mr and Mrs Gordon Rautenbach, owners of Limnerslease. At Watts Gallery HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall met benefactors, volunteers, adopters, Trustees, staff, neighbours, builders, craftsmen, artists, and supporters. HRH The Duchess of Cornwall was presented with a key by Indra Tason, who was the last to close the Gallery for restoration in October 2008. HRH The Prince of Wales was presented with a bouquet of flowers by children of Watts Gallery staff, and finally the Royal guests unveiled a corner stone, to match the corner stone laid by Watts in 1903 on the Curator’s house, which celebrates the re-opening of Watts Gallery. Their Royal Highnesses completed their tour of the artists’ village by visiting the Compton
Cemetery Chapel where Dr Desna Greenhow, a volunteer researcher, Jonathon Machie and Marion Williams chair and member of the Cemetery Committee, showed them around. Commenting on their visit, The Prince of Wales said that he would like to return on another occasion when he could view the paintings without so many people standing in front of them! His Royal Highness also thanked everyone present for their wonderful support.
PREVIEWS ATTENDED BY 1500 PEOPLE More than 1500 people attended the first three preview days for Friends of Watts Gallery and volunteers. This was the opportunity for guests to see the restored Gallery before anyone else, honouring our commitment to the Friends to be the first to see the Gallery. It was emotional with many visitors moved to tears by the transformation of the Gallery. 7
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BEFORE AND AFTER: THE HOPE PROJECT, 2005-2011 Perdita Hunt, Director of Watts Gallery - Photographs by Anne Purkiss
In 2004, a Grade II* Arts and Crafts building which housed the collection of one of the most important English painters of the 19th Century, G.F. Watts OM RA (1817-1904), was described as ‘a hidden gem of our national heritage’. At that time, Watts Gallery was listed by English Heritage as ‘at risk’. Rain was pouring through the roof, the collection was under threat, there were galleries inaccessible to visitors and there was little space for parking. This collection of photographs reflects the journey that many people have taken to save Watts Gallery, the only purpose-built art gallery for a single professional artist that exists in the UK. By conserving Watts’s collection of paintings, drawings and sculpture, and by establishing Compton as a centre for exploring Victorian art, social history and craft, the project has sought to ensure the future of Watts Gallery for another hundred years.
Top Left The restored Graham Robertson and Weston Galleries, 2011 Bottom Left The Graham Robertson and Weston Galleries prior to restoration, 2008 Below The exterior of Watts Gallery after the restoration, 2011. Photographs by Anne Purkiss
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Today, Watts Gallery has been returned to its former glory, restored as Watts originally saw it; rich red wallpaper, high green ceramic hanging rail, paintings in lustrous Watts frames. The Hope Project has brought better access to all galleries and provided new spaces to be able to show 80 per cent of the collection, landscaped the Watts Gallery Estate to welcome more visitors, and met national standards in order to display Watts’s masterpieces from national collections such as Tate and the National Portrait Gallery. Without the generosity of benefactors, donors, trusts and foundations, Heritage Lottery Fund, Friends, Patrons, Adopters, the local community, the craftsmen, conservators, architects, builders, gardeners, painters, carpenters, researchers, project managers, neighbours, staff, Trustees, the incredible band of volunteers and so many more, the rescue and resurgence of Watts Gallery and Watts’s reputation could not have happened. Watts Gallery Trust is immensely grateful to every single person who has given time, money, skills, support, advocacy, influence, advice and encouragement to deliver the Hope Project. Together you have enabled Watts’s star to rise and provided ‘art for all’ as the founders intended. Thank you. 10
Top The restored Livanos Galley, 2011 Above The entrance hall prior to restoration, 2008 Photographs by Anne Purkiss
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14 -18 September 2011 Royal College of Art Kensington Gore London SW7 2EU for information tel: 020 8742 1611 e: info@britishartfair.co.uk w: www.britishartfair.co.uk 11
BRINGING G.F. WATTS BACK TO LIFE THE RE-HANG OF WATTS GALLERY Mark Bills, Curator of Watts Gallery
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When the Watts Gallery re-opened in 1906 after it had been closed for extensive additions to allow more space for showing the work of G.F. Watts, the press was ecstatic with praise. It saw within this modest rural gallery, the work of a giant, presented in a manner which he would have wished. The Studio magazine wrote: ‘Besides the charm of its environment, the gallery is well lighted, the pictures are well arranged, and the collection contained within its walls is thoroughly representative of the late painter’s life-work … A more serious atmosphere than is generally found in a picture-gallery’. The opening of 1906, when Watts’s reputation was at its greatest, has been both our inspiration and the bar which we set ourselves. We looked to its colour schemes, lighting and sensitive hanging in order that we might create again that extraordinary atmosphere described over and again in journals in 1906. The art critics in the first years of the twentieth century wrote that if you wished to see the sum of Watts’s achievements you must make the journey to Millbank to see his great allegories, to Trafalgar Square 13
to see his portraits and to Compton to see the full breadth of his art. In 2008, when the Gallery closed for only the second time in its history, it may have seemed that the odd man out in that great trilogy of galleries was the Watts Gallery. Unlike the national institutions, who share the munificent gifts of the artist, the Watts Gallery had paintings in desperate need of conservation, a building that had more in common with a colander that an art gallery, and a hang which responded to the difficulties of a decaying building and its inadequate lighting. The paintings of Watts were not shown at their best and their context spoke of a time when the artist was seen as largely problematic; critical acclaim had given way to critical hostility and eventually critical indifference. The joy of re-hanging the Watts Gallery was that the lighting had been so sensitively approached with the main purpose, as it aimed originally, to show the paintings at their best. The wall surfaces and colours too make such an enormous difference. G.F. Watts very clearly understood that the rich crimson he chose for his room at the Tate and Watts Gallery would make his paintings sing. They do. The positioning of the pictures was driven by the overall aesthetic effect, that special atmosphere, tied with the need to excite new visitors with Watts’s vision. Holding works that span over 70 years, varied styles and subject matter could be far better approached as a whole than the piecemeal way in which we were forced to adopt before closure. Like the redecoration, the hanging looked to the past in how it evolved. The original green-glazed hanging rail with its picture hooks and chain was revitalised and re-used and in the Graham Robertson Gallery, a rich Wattsian and quintessentially Victorian hang, pictures are displayed cheek by jowl. Each space has a slightly different feel from the other, a theme and style of hang is subtly different in each space and it is my hope that visitors will feel this. The sensitive conservation of the paintings allows the full force of Watts as a painter to be revealed. The building and the artworks always aimed to join in harmony, one was built for the other, so that it is the pictures that visitors will see afresh. Watts Gallery’s success will be determined by the visitors. Will we be as popular and significant as we were in 1906? I offer two press responses divided by over a hundred years and hope that they look to a successful future: ‘The walls of one part of it are coloured red and of the other green, with an effect of quiet richness which enhances the rich colour of the pictures.’ The Tribune 1906 ‘The original galleries, which first opened to the public in 1904, have been returned to their former glory, their walls ruby red and emerald green, their tiled dado rails, previously hidden beneath thick paint, shiny as new…transcendent and amazing’. The Observer 2011 14
From Top The exterior of Watts Gallery, 2011 The Exhibitions Gallery, 2011 The Richard Jefferies Gallery, 2011 The Isabel Goldsmith Patiño Gallery, 2011 Photographs by Anne Purkiss
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G. F. WATTS, CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITURE AND THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery
‘The national prosperity of a nation is not an abiding possession, the deeds of the people are’. These resolute words came at the end of a letter to The Times written by Watts in 1887 arguing for what later became the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice in Postman’s Park. The sentiment had previously informed his submission to the Palace of Westminster competition of 1843 and his declaration in the 1850s that he would, as Veronica Franklin Gould puts it, ‘paint for the nation a collection of portraits to record remarkable figures of the era’. Watts more widely announced in the 1860s this extensive sequence as a ‘Hall of Fame’, with a head and shoulders format very distinct from his commissions, and a range of subjects from the Duke of Argyll (1859-60) and Algernon Swinburne (1867) to Thomas Carlyle (1868) and many more. Collections of portraits of ‘worthies’ were well known, but in the midnineteenth century Carlyle’s writings in praise of heroism had been influential both on Watts and also in the creation of the National Portrait Gallery. Parliament voted funds in 1856 and the Chandos Portrait of Shakespeare, offered to the nation by Lord Ellesmere, exemplified that portraits should be considered ‘authentic’: taken from life rather than from the imagination. The fact that the founding portrait pictured a self-made man – rather than an aristocrat or monarch - would not have been lost on Watts. But whereas the Trustees deliberated about portraits of those who were deceased (an exception being made for reigning monarchs) fearing that political or other biases about living sitters would sway them too much, Watts was free to choose his own subjects. Barbara Bryant has emphasised how much he wanted to connect with the sitter, and the artist himself noted that while studying the sitter’s ‘physical minutiae ... to assist myself I converse with him, note his turn of thought, his disposition and I try to find out ... his character and so forth; and ... I set myself to place them on the canvas, and so reproduce not only his face, but his character and nature’.
The Graham Robertson Gallery at Watts Gallery showing the current display of Watts’s portraits. Photograph by Anne Purkiss
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The year before the National Portrait Gallery moved to its first proper home, Watts gifted his Hall of Fame portraits to the Gallery and six months after opening in 1896 he was appointed a Trustee. Thus he completed the link between portraiture and his admiration for the greatest men and women. Works by Watts were transferred over a period of time – arriving ten years after the demise of the sitter. Today, a number are on display in London and most of the others at one of the Gallery’s partner venues, Bodelwyddan Castle in North Wales. 100 years after Watts, the Gallery itself took up the idea of contemporary portrait commissions. In 1969, under Roy Strong’s directorship, the Trustees re-considered the restriction of considering only portraits of those already dead, the next logical step being to commission portraits of important contemporary figures. The first commissioned portrait followed in 1980 with Bryan Organ’s striking but enigmatic portrait of the Prince of Wales. More than 150 portraits have since been commissioned covering many areas of achievement, most recently ranging from Diarmuid Kelly’s delightful portrait of Dame Anne Owers, an exceptional Inspector of Prisons, to Jonny Yeo’s painting of Sir Michael Parkinson. Choosing which four or five new subjects is one of the hardest decisions for the Trustees each year. It is the curators and Director who then seek to make the best match between artist and sitter. The Gallery happily aspires to Watts’s own aim that ‘the mesmeric influence possessed by individuals must be possessed by artistic productions. Without this quality they will be cold, and not breathing, and will not live always’.
The Friends of Watts Gallery are to visit Bodelwyddan Castle as part of a Watts in Wales tour. 12-15 September. See the events brochure, visit our website or call 01483 810235 for more information.
Top G.F. Watts, Florence Nightingale, 1868, oil on canvas, Watts Gallery Collection Above G.F. Watts, Richard Burton, 1879-80, oil on canvas, Watts Gallery Collection.
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© Fred Holmes
Summer Events 2011
WorkshoPs/Activities
Advanced booking (01932 868113) & additional charges apply
Creative Drawing Workshop Friday 24th June 10.30am-1pm
Lectures (Adults only) Painshill ‘Discover Gardens’ Lecture series
‘All Tied Up’ Floristry Workshop Saturday 2nd July 9.30am-3.30pm
Advanced booking (01932 868113) & additional charges apply
Theme: Pleasure in the Garden Thursday 16th June 10.30am-12.30pm Theme: Garden Design in the 20th Century Thursday 21st July 10.30am-12.30pm Theme: Garden and Arts Thursday 18th August 10.30am-12.30pm
‘All Wired Up’ Floristry Workshop Saturday 6th August 9.30am-3.30pm Summer Explorers’ Camp Monday 1st August – Friday 19th August 9am-4.30pm (weekdays only)
events
Summer Music by Herd of Sax Sunday 5th June 2.30pm-4.30pm
Theme: Painshill Celebration – the Grotto Thursday 15th September 10.30am-12.30pm
New France Old England Re-enactment Camp Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th July 10.30am-5pm
Free Lunchtime tALks (Adults only)
Morris Men Sunday 14th August 2pm-5pm
(Admission charges apply for entry to the landscape gardens) Unknown Gems of London Thursday 2nd June 1pm-1.30pm The River Mole Thursday 7th July 1pm-1.30pm Plants, Flowers and Trees in Heraldry Thursday 4th August 1pm-1.30pm The Peer, the Painter and the Poet Thursday 1st September 1pm-1.30pm
Georgian Celebration Day Sunday 25th September 10.30am-6pm
sPeciAL DAys
Fathers’ Day Free Entry Sunday 19th June 10.30am-6pm Free Entry for UK Heritage Open Days Friday 9th & Saturday 10th September Painshill Park Trust 30th Anniversary Wednesday 28th September 10.30am-6pm Visit Painshill for 35p
Painshill Park trust Ltd Portsmouth road cobham surrey kt11 1Je Bookings: 01932 868113 www.painshill.co.uk reg. charity no 284944
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Watts Gallery
Leighton House Museum
PURCELL MILLER TRITTON Architects | Creative Conservation | Masterplanning Conservation Architects to the recent projects at Leighton House Museum and Watts Gallery
www.purcellmillertritton.com
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GEORGE AITCHISON LEIGHTON ’ S ARCHITECT REVEALED 6 May – 31 July 2011 10am – 5.30pm daily, closed Tuesdays
Leighton House Museum 12 Holland Park Road London w14 8lz www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums museums@rbkc.gov.uk 020 7602 3316
Leighton House Museum
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George Aitchison (1825–1910), Detail of the west elevation of the Arab Hall, c.1877 RIBA Library, Drawings and Archives Collection
PAINTING FOR THE NATION: G.F. WATTS AT THE TATE Mark Bills, Curator of Watts Gallery
It is the greatest illustration of G.F. Watts’s significance to the nation’s art that he had a permanent space devoted to his paintings for over forty-years at the National Gallery of British Art (now Tate). The current exhibition in the Exhibition Gallery celebrates this connection and shows some of his great masterpieces held at the Tate.
‘All my pictures in the Tate Gallery are symbolical and for all time … I want to make people think.’
When the Tate Gallery first opened in 1897 it contained four significant collections of British art: the Chantrey Bequest; the Vernon Collection; the collection of Henry Tate (1819–99) who had funded the gallery; and the gift by G.F. Watts of eighteen of his own paintings. The paintings by Watts began their life in two octagonal galleries, but by 1900 were all hung together in one room, Gallery VII and the impact of the room was widely commented on.
G.F. Watts
Seeing a large body of Watts’s paintings together in one large room was something that visitors had had the opportunity to experience in his retrospective exhibitions at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1880–81 and the New Gallery in 1896–7, as well as his Little Holland House Gallery throughout most of the 1880s and 1890s. But the display in the Tate room differed from these exhibitions of Watts in its concentrated nature (showing only allegorical works) and the spacious, even hanging. Its existence for over forty years also imbued it with a kind of permanence, reassuring in a changing world. As Phythian, a keen Watts supporter, wrote: ‘There is an Egyptian solemnity in the very appearance of the pictures in the Watts room at the Millbank Gallery. It is like passing from the
The Exhibitions Gallery at Watts Gallery showing the exhibition Painting for the Nation: G.F. Watts at the Tate. Photograph by Anne Purkiss
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busy street into the quiet of a temple when we leave the miscellaneous contents of the other rooms and enter this one. So slow are the changes that come about in human thought that Watts has only deepened the meaning of some of the oldest forms of civilised art. But he has deepened their meaning; and he has varied the emphasis.’ A striking observation was that the appeal of the Watts room was certainly not limited to an educated art audience. Indeed, many writers referring to the gallery seemed keen to point out the ‘lower’ class audience that was to be found there. Watts’s art was able to reach all of society as G.K. Chesterton observed, Watts’s art aimed to be timeless and that ‘it might strike the same message’ to the ‘soul’ of a future audience ‘that it strikes upon clerks and navvies’. Painting for the Nation brings together much of what was shown in Gallery VII of the Tate. One of the most haunting images in the exhibition is The Minotaur which is explored further here.
THE MINOTAUR BY G.F. WATTS The half-man, half-bull figure of the Minotaur stands on Cretan battlements looking out to sea towards his next victim being sent from Athens. ‘From sheer delight in cruelty’, he crushes a little bird in his left hand. In Greek mythology the Minotaur lived in a labyrinth on Crete and was sent youths from Athens to feast on as an annual sacrifice. Watts chose the subject for its rich symbolic possibilities, and his biographers record that he painted the work after ‘reading Mr Stead’s gruesome articles in the Pall Mall Gazette on “The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon”’. The articles were an exposé of child prostitution rife in the London of 1885, and the painting was the artist’s reaction to this unsettling revelation. This haunting and unusual response has, like most of Watts’s allegorical works, a more universal meaning, even if elicited by a specific problem. As Watts’s neighbour and admirer, the artist and biographer Mrs Emilie Barrington, reflected: ‘Conscience, a strong will, and a never-flagging ambition were the helpmates to his industry, and overcame all tendency to indolence; but other influences were needed before the depths of his genius were stirred. The painting was clearly meant by Watts to have a wider meaning, and the brutish image of the zoomorphic figure is uncomfortable, reflecting as it does on the idea of the beast within mankind. In contrast, innocence is depicted as a small bird destroyed by the hand of the Minotaur. According to Barrington, as ‘the result of intense indignation’, Watts was stirred to paint the whole of the painting alla prima (in one session) in three hours between five and eight in the morning with some additional painting later. It is a melancholic painting where the half man gives way to the half beast who crushes an innocent bird in his brutal hand.
Left G.F. Watts, The Minotaur, 1885 Top G.F. Watts, Death Crowning Innocence, 1886-7Above G.F. Watts, Self-Portrait, 1863-4 All © Tate, London 2011
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HOPE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A VICTORIAN ICON Nick Tromans, Author of Hope, The Life & Times of a Victorian Icon Soon after its creation George Frederic Watts’s image of Hope was shown at the 1887 Royal Jubilee Exhibition in Manchester celebrating fifty years of the reign of Queen Victoria. Watts was himself now something of a national institution, and an entire wall of one gallery at Manchester was given over to his works. Hope was made the centrepiece of this display, and it was felt by commentators on the event that this was the picture’s rightful place, for it constituted ‘the very key-note of his teachings’ or ‘the spring of all his teaching’. Although it had made its first public appearance only the previous year, Hope was already established as Watts’s most famous creation, an image that seemed more than just a work of art. With its suffering solitary figure and its simple yet ambiguous allegory, it appeared more like a religious icon, encouraging its viewer both to analysis and emotion. When, by the 1930s, the art of the Victorians had come to appear absurdly sentimental and theatrical, Hope seemed an extreme case of this failing. As James Manson, Director of the Tate Gallery, put it: ‘Its title “Hope” is, as it were, a courtesy title. It might be called, with equal propriety, many other things. It is a sort of pretension in which the spectator plays a necessary part.’ It was indeed the case that ‘the spectator plays a necessary part’ in Hope, and the extraordinary appeal of Watts’s painting, in its heyday in the decades around 1900 but also afterwards, lay in its apparent invitation to the viewer to interpret it according to their own personal experience and predicament. Its meaning shifted as the image – in the form of one of the several painted versions or one of the many thousands of reproductions that were produced – found itself in different circumstances. Hope, The Life & Times of a Victorian Icon tells the story not just of Watts’s Victorian masterpiece itself but also of the many personal, political and religious responses to what Agatha Christie described in one of her Poirot mysteries as an image of a ‘blind girl sitting on an orange and called, I don’t know why, Hope’.
Hope, The Life & Times of a Victorian Icon £10, hardback Available from the Visitor Centre or by visiting www.wattsgallery.org.uk Nick Tromans will be giving a talk on Hope followed by a book signing. Tuesday 20 September, 6-7.30pm, £10 (£8 for Friends) Visit www.wattsgallery.org.uk or call 01483 813 593
Left G.F. Watts, Hope, 1885-6 Private Colllection
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HOPE: WORLD ICON A MASTERPIECE AT WATTS GALLERY Catherine Hilary, Curatorial Fellow at Watts Gallery
Left Cartoon by Phil Disley, With apologies to G.F. Watts, The Guardian, 14 February 2011
It is both very exciting and pertinent that the first exhibition in the Showcase Gallery, following the recent restoration project, centres around Watts’s most iconic painting, Hope. The prime version (oil on canvas, 1885- 6, Private Collection) has kindly been lent to Watts Gallery for the duration of the exhibition. It is the focal point and its prime location in the Gallery highlights it and gives it the gravity it deserves. The Showcase Gallery has an intimacy which allows viewers to focus on a particular picture on display as well as quietly study everything else which stems from it. Hope: World Icon explores the revered legacy of this image of a blind-folded young woman sitting upon a globe stooping awkwardly over an archaic lyre and straining 26
to listen to the faint sound she makes from plucking the last remaining string. Included are small preparatory drawings that Watts made using pencil and a larger one in red chalk, drawn from the Watts Gallery Collection.
and was referred to recently in The Guardian where it was used to represent the uprisings against Mubarak’s regime. The display shows that Hope has been the inspiration for music, poetry, drama, and film.
Hope: World Icon highlights the many replicas of Hope which were made on a massive scale to satisfy its audience; private, religious and political. Photographs by Frederick Hollyer (1838-1933) and Emery Walker (1851-1933) are juxtaposed with prints of Hope in books, on stamps, and on cigarette cards. The exhibition shows how the image has become famous across the globe. It has been construed as political satire in newspapers, including its recent use in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign
Watts was constantly motivated by universal ideas and concepts such as love and death, and hope and despair. Watts’s interpretation of Hope followed long-standing traditions and depictions in Greek mythology and Christianity. Yet Watts re-invented the established form and painted with such sensitivity that it has and still does touch people in a new, fresh and contemporary way.
Degas and the Ballet Picturing Movement 17 September – 11 December
BOOK NOW 0844 209 0051 www.royalacademy.org.uk
Sponsored by Edgar Degas, The Red Ballet Skirts (detail), c. 1895–1900. Pastel on tracing paper, 813 x 622 mm. Lent by Culture and Sport Glasgow on behalf of Glasgow City Council. Gifted by Sir William and Lady Constance Burrell to the City of Glasgow, 1944. Photo © Culture and Sport Glasgow (Museums)
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LITTORAL
Chalk Hill Summer Show June 16th – July 3rd 2011
Private View - Thursday June 16th 7–9pm. Please contact the gallery for an invite. For further information visit www.chalkhill.co.uk or call 01483 440638
chalk hill
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contemporary art 23 Chantry View Road, Guildford, GU1 3XW. E: annabel@chalk-hill.co.uk
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INTRODUCING THE LIMNERSLEASE PROJECT - SAVING WATTS’S HOME AND STUDIO FOR THE NATION Limnerslease, Compton, was the country residence of the eminent Victorian artist G.F. Watts OM RA (18171904). The name was inspired by the Latin for artist and the old English word for harvest. Commissioned from the Arts & Crafts architect Ernest George and nestling in a hollow of the Surrey hills, south of Guildford, on The Pilgrim’s Way, Limnerslease will be unique in enabling the public to see the only artist house and studio from the 19th Century complete with the original artist’s furniture. Offering the Watts Gallery, a hostel for apprentice potters, a pottery and a chapel, Compton is remarkable in telling the story of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Watts Gallery Trustees have been presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save Limnerslease for the nation. Having been in private hands since Mary Watts died in 1938, the house and studio are now for sale by the two current owners. The Trust is seeking to save Limnerslease from further damage and loss of its heritage, and secure it for public benefit. Limnerslease will become a place of ideas, retreat and innovation for contemporary artists. It will be a centre for exploring Victorian art, social history and craft and an interpretation centre for the Arts & Crafts Movement. Over the next few pages Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage and Mark Bills, Curator of Watts Gallery, enthuse about the legacy left to us all by George Frederic Watts and Mary Watts in Compton. On the final page of this magazine contemporary artist Antony Gormley tells us why he has donated a major scultpure to the Limnerslease appeal.
If you would like to know more about the plans to save Limnerslease, Watts’s home and studio, for the nation please contact: Perdita Hunt, Director director@wattsgallery.org.uk 01483 810582
Left Mary Watts reading to G.F. Watts in the living room of Limnserslease. Watts Gallery Archive.
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LIMNERSLEASE: ‘A PARTNERSHIP OF LIKE-MINDS’ Mark Bills, Curator of Watts Gallery When George and Mary Watts built Limnerslease, their Surrey home, between 1890 and 1891 they created not only an autumnal and winter retreat where they could escape the weather and the ‘strife of tongues’ of their London home, but also an Arts & Crafts project that was to transform the village of Compton. Surrey gave both George and Mary a new lease of life, freedom for George to work in peace and freedom for Mary to develop her art beyond the walls of a gallery and create together with her husband, a home and centre for arts and crafts. What began as a retreat and half-yearly studio became, in the first years of the twentieth century, a more permanent base, that included, besides their great house and home, Limnerslease, designed by Sir Ernest George, the Watts Gallery to permanently display Watts’s painting, the Compton Pottery with accompanying accommodation for potters in the gallery and village, and the extraordinary Cemetery Chapel. Undoubtedly the Compton project was always regarded as a partnership of ‘like minds,’ but it was also widely considered of unequal prestige and talents. The developments in Compton clearly followed an Arts & Crafts ethos, but they were also created as a living memorial to George Frederic Watts, whom many considered the age’s greatest painter. Indeed, for the first decade after G.F. Watts’s death in 1904, it was a much visited place, where everything was viewed within the great man’s shadow. “And now let us contemplate the beauty of this village that is immortalised as the country home of our poet-painter,” wrote a journalist who had visited in an article entitled, ‘The Shrine of George Frederick (sic) Watts, RA.’ Subsequently Mary’s role has been lessened, not only because of the shadow cast by George, but because of her own very self-conscious role as devoted acolyte and her own self-effacing attitude, “Some future day,” a journalist wrote after visiting Limnerslease, “I hope to be able to tell you more about the part which Mrs. Watts is taking in it (she will not allow me, for all my asking, to do so now).” One thing that is undeniably clear in experiencing the remarkably rich legacy that the Wattses left in Compton, is that it is indelibly imbued with the spirit of the two very distinct individuals who created it.
Left A period postcard of Limnerslease Watts Gallery Archive.
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LIMNERSLEASE: A SLICE OF ENGLISH ECCENTRICITY Simon Thurley, Chief Executive, English Heritage Until recently I knew Compton for its extraordinary parish church with its unique double-story chancel and Norman balustrade. But since being introduced to the home, studio, gallery and chapel of G.F. Watts I have realised that Compton is important for another reason too. Here, in the Surrey countryside is a unique collection of buildings, now a memorial, to one of the most famous and successful men of his age: a painter who was a legend in his own time, a man who prefigured the modern cult of celebrity artists like Damien Hirst and Marc Quinn. People have been rude about the achievements of G.F. Watts and his wife Mary Seton Watts at Compton. Ian Nairn writing in the Pevsner volume for Surrey called their house big and dull and the interior of the chapel ‘one of the most soporific rooms in England’ due to the ‘intolerable torpor and weariness of the motifs’. This judgement would not be held by many today for both the charm and interest of the house and studio and the originality of the Art Nouveau chapel are now widely recognised. The fact is that Compton is an extraordinarily English place. It was created not by big name London architects, but by little known practitioners and amateurs, much of it overseen by Watts’s wife. Over the years, since Mrs Watts’s death nature has begun to reclaim it. Trees have grown up; moss has invaded Mrs Watt’s terracotta gravestones and visitors can now feel they are discovering a place lost in nature. But at the same time the whole ensemble is profoundly un-English. I can’t think of anywhere else in England with a mortuary chapel as at Compton. Such things do exist, but in countries like Russia. So in an English context not only is this building one of extraordinary charm and strong emotion, it is possibly unique. Built in Watts’s lifetime, by his wife, it must have been a constant reminder of his mortality. Yet the pharaohs, as they built their pyramids, and Tudor noblemen, as they had their alabaster effigies carved, looked on at their final resting place with interest and perhaps even a little expectation. Perhaps this memento mori was likewise admired by the great man. Whatever he thought of it, this ‘catafalque’, built as the final resting place of a dead Victorian celebrity, takes its place in the history of the architecture of the afterlife. The Watts Gallery Trust that now cares for the gallery has preserved this unique complex largely for its original purpose. So these are no dry monuments. The gallery is a living place with a living programme devoted to the memory of Watts, yes, but also to preserving, deep in the Surrey countryside, a slice of English eccentricity for the enjoyment of future generations.
Left A private tour of Limnerslease led by Curator, Mark Bills. The ceiling is designed by Mary Watts..
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THE TALE OF A GREEN DRESS RE-UNITED WITH ITS PORTRAIT Stephanie Dennison, Fundraising Manager
The green velvet dress worn by the sitter in G.F. Watts’s Virginia Dalrymple, 1871-72, and displayed next to the painting, is considered one of the highlights of the restored Watts Gallery. HRH The Duchess of Cornwall showed great interest in the twin exhibits in the Richard Jefferies Gallery when she visited. Historian Jane Knox says it is not unusual that a garment worn 140 years ago still exists but the fact that it was worn for a portrait is very exciting. ‘About 12 years ago when I was first shown the dress, it was in a tin trunk, creased and looking quite neglected,’ recalls Jane. ‘I wondered if people understood what a treasure it was. The dress itself is late Victorian, although elements of its design reflect clothing fashionable in the late medieval period. Some years ago I had helped to prevent a dress from being cut up for cushion covers, so I did wonder what might happen to this garment. I am particularly delighted to see it on show now.’ In Victorian Visionary, Barbara Bryant writes about the dress and describes Virginia Dalrymple (1850-1922) as a member of the lively 34
bohemian circle at Little Holland House who frequently sat for Watts. Her pose draws attention to the thick, green velvet of her day. This walking-dress is made up of a gored skirt and bodice with decorative bow ties on the neckline, sleeves and at the bottom. Black silk bows embellish the front of the bodice and lead down to a larger black silk tie around the waist. The dress has received conservation work by Zenzie Tinker. Both the dress and the portrait have recently been ‘Adopted’. We are grateful to NPU Consultants, Denise Topolski and a group from Compton (Jane Turner, Rosalind Lawson, Richard Jefferies, Compton Village Hall, Compton Village Association, Compton Parish Council and Compton Parochial Church Council) for their generous support. If you or your group would like to Adopt a Watts, please contact Stephanie Dennison, Fundraising Manager: fundraising@wattsgallery. org.uk. Adoptions are for five years and there many still available. Paintings are from £1500, drawings from £300. The Richard Jefferies Gallery at Watts Gallery Photograph by Anne Purkiss
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ART FOR ALL AND THE FOYLE ART FOR ALL LEARNING STUDIO Helen Hienkens-Lewis, Head of Learning
The “Gallery Without Walls” learning and outreach programme during the restoration of Watts Gallery reached nearly 9,000 people locally, from families to adult learners, young people, women prisoners, the homeless, reformed drug and alcohol users, as well as adults with mental health problems. All of our practical workshops and talks have been hosted at local venues. As we have now returned to the restored building, it is amazing that we not only have a beautifully restored gallery and collection, but also the new Foyle Art for All Learning Studio, a designated workshop area for groups. The Foyle Art for All Learning Studio is equipped with a kiln, which is the first time there has been a kiln on site since the Compton Pottery closed. This is now enabling the Gallery to run pottery workshops, including press moulding, slab building and throwing on our two potters’ wheels. The whole of Loseley Fields Primary School, our closest primary school, has been visiting us during June and all the children from reception to year six have been making pottery tiles, plant tags and wind chimes for their school garden, all to be fired in the new kiln. As well as accommodating school visits, at the Foyle Art for All Learning Studio we will offer workshops for adults, including life drawing, painting and pottery, an art club for young people, family workshops in the school holidays and pottery birthday parties for children. See our current events programme for further details of workshops and party bookings for the Foyle Art For All Learning Studio.
Left Myra MacDonnell at work in the Foyle Art for All Learning Studio. Photograph by Anne Purkiss Above Nathalie Roset helps a young potter at the wheel. Photograph by Helen Hienkens-Lewis
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Transforming
Watts Gallery
Blenheim House Construction’s involvement in the restoration of Watts Gallery has now reached its conclusion.
Before
We are proud to have been part of such a prestigious project, and having seen the works of GF Watts displayed throughout the Gallery we are sure all who visit will be delighted with the restoration. For more information on the types of work we carry out, and to view our complete portfolio of projects, please visit our website www.bhcltd.co.uk After
BLENHEIM HOUSE CONSTRUCTION LTD
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THE OLD BANK HOUSE 11-13 LONDON STREET CHERTSEY SURREY KT16 8AP
TEL: 01932 578700 FAX: 01932 578701 EMAIL: bhc@bhcltd.co.uk WEB: www.bhcltd.co.uk
THE HOPE WALL: A COMMUNITY PROJECT COMES HOME TO WATTS GALLERY Amy Barnes, Hope Wall Writer in Residence
The Hope Wall community workshops in 2010 enabled individuals of all ages and abilities to produce clay tiles and texts that capture memories of the past and their hopes for the future. Those who attended the workshops were invited to create a terracotta clay tile; the terracotta clay, similar to the material used by Mary Watts and her team of community workers, is pressed into a plaster mould with a double trellis pattern. When this process is complete, the creator added their own individual “sprigs” or decorations to personalise their tile, before marking their name on the back.
“Press moulding is a simple technique that goes a long way back in history before the wheel making”, says Myra McDonnell, potter and project leader. This historic but simple technique is accessible to everyone, and gives them the chance to create something long-lasting that will become part of the history of Watts Gallery. There was also an opportunity for people to share their memories of the Gallery, Chapel, Compton and their hopes for the future. With the help of the writers in residence, participants produced short pieces of creative writing. Postcards were also circulated to the surrounding areas inviting members of the community to voice their recollections.
Helen Hienkens-Lewis, Head of Learning, writes: “This has been an exciting community project, bringing together people of all ages in our local community. Six plaques have been created, located on the exterior walls of the sculpture gallery and artist in residence studio. The stories and memories of Watts Gallery and the Compton Pottery are very moving and well worth a look when you are visiting Watts Gallery.”
Above The Hope Wall with a herbaceous border planted by Watts Gallery volunteers. Photograph by Kerris Kaya.
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THE WATTS BENCH UNVEILED AT WATTS GALLERY AND CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW Stephanie Dennison, Fundraising Manager
The new Watts bench, inspired by a design by Mary Seton Watts, was a finalist in the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011 Product of the Year Award. Designed by Simon Burvill, the beautifully handcrafted benches were prominently displayed in the Gaze Burvill stand. ‘We were the only bench shortlisted in the midst of very wide variety of products,’ Simon said. ‘It was our 18th Chelsea, our busiest and best. We were touched by how many people came forward to admire it and for the television coverage by Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen.’ Seven Watts benches have been sponsored and are in position on the Gallery estate. We are grateful to these generous donors, and welcome more benches donations. A three-seater is £1400, a four-seater is £1800, a seat within a bench is £500. If you would like to help, please contact Stephanie Dennison, Fundraising Manager, fundraising@wattsgallery.org.uk or call 01483 813581.
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Left A Watts bench at Watts Gallery with the Hope Wall, Sculpture Gallery and planting carried out by our volunteers in the background. Photograph by Kerris Kaya Above The terracotta bench by Mary Watts that formed part of the inspiration for the new bench Photograph by Anne Purkiss.
J OHN R OBERTSON FINE PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS
T: 07860 571799 E: john_bourne@hotmail.com
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EDENBRIDGE GALLERIES
1 The Square, Church Street, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 5BD www.edenbridgegalleries.com T: 01732 864163 /865988 E: info@edenbridgegalleries.com
Alfred A Thomson RA “Milly” Oil on Canvas 30” x 25” Exh. Royal Academy, Summer Show 1974
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Guildford Museum . Guildford House Gallery . Guildhall Guildford Castle . Medieval Undercroft . Wanborough Barn For more information on any of the heritage attractions, exhibitions, events, facilities or opening times contact Guildford Borough Council Heritage Service on 01483 444751 or visit the website. www.guildford.gov.uk 41
LIMNERSLEASE: ‘A PLACE OF INSPIRATION’ Antony Gormley, artist
wassomething a visionaryfrom whoChristies on the Gormley auction? Gormley -G.F. CanWatts we get in arts potentialcatalogue to Could thebelieved intro from the auction serve as an introduction to the transform lives and the power Limnserslease project? of the-artist a singular Tate exhibition Mark,ascan you put a brief summary together and then perhaps a independent that can selected work from thevoice exhibiton fromspeak the catalogue? for all. I am happy- to be ableintro to from the Hope booklet and a photo Hope Restoration Project Perdita's support the revitalisation of his story. home and studio as and a place Hope - The preface by Mark thenofthe Introduction from the book makes a inspiration. good introduction.
An artists Village - Simon Thurley's intro from the book and then the first part of Mark's opening essay. Forward Campaign for gallery - I have the extended text Steph wrote for the events leaflet. Learning - showcasing the Foyle Art for All Learning Studio - photos and story Hope Wall - plaques - photo and some of the captions Collections - A brief showcase of the new displays with photos, key works and intros to the main rooms. I can use the Guidebook for much of this without giving away the whole book!. Isabel Goldsmith - a text from her on the naming of her Gallery - could she be asked to write something for early next week?! Antony Gormley (b. 1950) Another Time XIII cast iron 75¼ x 21¾ x 13¾in. (191 x 55 x 35cm.) Executed in 2010, this work is number one from an edition of five plus one artist’s proof.
This work was generously given by Antony Gormley to the Watts Gallery Trust for auction to raise funds to save the house and studio of G F Watts OM RA (1817-1904) for the nation. It was auctioned at the Christies Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale in June. CHRISTIE’S 8 King Street, St. James’s London SW1Y 6QT Tel: +44 (0)20 7389 2221 42
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Visit us at www.millineryworks.co.uk The Arts & Crafts Movement - a selling exhibition June 2011
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