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Patrick Hughes (b.1939) is acknowledged as being one of the major artists of contemporary British art.
He has been linked with the British Surrealists and Pop Art. However, in that very British way Patrick Hughes has followed his own particular artistic path.
He has been producing his reverse perspectives since 1970, calling them ‘reverspectives’. Speaking about his reverspectives Hughes is quoted as saying “When the principles of perspectives are reversed and solidified in sculpted paintings [and mixed media] something extraordinary happens; the mind is deceived into believing the impossible, that a static painting can move of its own accord.”
Born in Birmingham in October 1939 Patrick Hughes claims inspiration from his childhood whilst staying at his grandmother’s house. Growing up during the Second World War he would shelter from the bombing with his mother in a cupboard under the stairs. The reverse perspective afforded from seeing the stairs from below, and the infinite perspective formed by standing between two mirrors at his grandmother’s house speak into his reverspectives.
Today Patrick Hughes lives and works in London. His works are represented in many international collections including the British Library and the Tate Gallery.
The playful and visually arresting mixed media 3D multiple, ‘Poppish’, you see here was sold at Toovey’s for £2250. It initially appears to be a flat surface but even subtle movement by the viewer reveals the three-dimensional surface which underpins the composition, accentuating the depth of perspective which appears to shift with remarkable speed creating a sense of movement.
The illusion is created by depicting the scene in reverse to the relief surface – the most distant parts of the gallery interior are painted and printed on the bits of the relief surface which project the farthest. The rectilinear forms of the art gallery and paintings serve to heighten the illusory impact.
The surreal gallery space with its references to artists, in this case Roy Lichenstein, Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Andy Warhol, Bansky and Hughes himself with his rainbow filled dustbin, is a common theme.
Patrick Hughes work allows us to explore our place in the world and our understanding of the space we inhabit in each moment of our lives.
Prints and editions range in date from the 15th to the 21st century and are one of the strongest markets at auction.
I remain excited by how strong the interest has been during the lockdown for a wide range of collectors’ items, antiques and art.
By the time you read this Toovey’s will have reopened and be able to welcome the public at its salerooms again by appointment. We have a series of specialist sales already scheduled for the coming weeks so do phone or email us to make an appointment to meet our valuers, virtually or in person.
It is with a sense of anticipation and excitement that I am preparing to reopen Toovey’s auction rooms to the public. The ‘R’ number willing, we will open on Monday 15th June.
Toovey’s closed temporarily on 23rd March to support government policy and our NHS. We feel that it has been vital for Toovey’s and so many others to close and to do our bit to help to defeat COVID-19 as a way of protecting and supporting our community here in Sussex.
I was glad to be able to safely furlough most of my team, but I was unprepared for how emotional it would be to lock the doors to the salerooms that week. It has been financially costly too, but safety has always been our first priority and never more important than in these unprecedented times.
There has been much to tend to during this period and I have been overwhelmed by the generous and encouraging notes from our clients and friends.
The government’s most recent online advice to businesses and the NHS pages on COVID-19 have provided a framework which has shaped our thinking and allowed us to prepare risk assessments and a common sense Health and Safety response to keep staff and visitors safe when we reopen.
We’ve created new reception and valuations spaces for the public bringing their treasured possessions to Toovey’s for auction. We’ve ordered direction signs, queuing and viewing point mats to ensure social distancing. The numbers of people viewing our sales at any one time will be limited with timed slots available by appointment. Listen to me being excited by Health and Safety but it’s at its best when it’s practical and empowering!
I strongly believe that in the post COVID-19 world there will be a real need for the continued rise of liberal capitalism; firms which are informed by servant leadership, a sense of care and responsibility to the teams and communities which they serve and which support them. Where firms balance this approach with generous and good stewardship of their resources it is my experience that companies flourish because of these values and not in spite of them.
Many nations are ahead of us in the fight against this dreadful disease. We are receiving enquiries from China and across the world as well as the United Kingdom from collectors and specialist dealers really keen to buy objects at our auctions. In concert with the contemporary blessings of the online world, and especially tooveys.com, I think there is much cause for hope and optimism whether people are buying or selling.
Amongst the current exhibitions at Pallant House Gallery is a jewel like show titled ‘Henry Moore: The Artist and his Patron’ which runs until 8th March 2020. It explores the importance of the Reverend Walter Hussey, later Dean of Chichester Cathedral, in re-establishing church patronage amongst many of the most important Modern British artists of the 20th century. Central to the narrative of the exhibition is Henry Moore and his Northampton Madonna and Child.
The artist Henry Moore had links to Sussex beyond his friendship with Walter Hussey.
Visiting Chichester Cathedral as a young sculpture student in the 1920’s, Henry Moore was struck by the “deep human feeling” in the two medieval carved stone reliefs in the south quire aisle. The reliefs depict ‘The Raising of Lazarus’ and ‘Christ Arriving at the House of Mary and Martha’. Writing in response to his encounter with them Moore remarked: “I stood before them for a long time. They were just what I wanted to emulate in sculpture: the strength of directly carved form, of hard stone, rather than modelled flowing soft form.”
Moore went on to comment on the deep religious sincerity of these works. The expression on Christ’s face in the Raising of Lazarus communicates his deep sorrow. It reminds us that this is the God who knows what it is to be human: our strengths and our weaknesses; our hopes and our fears; our joys and our sorrows; and knowing us completely, loves us completely.
In 1942 The Revd. Walter Hussey, then Vicar of St Matthew’s, Northampton, first saw Henry Moore’s shelter drawings at the National Gallery in London. They depicted people taking refuge in London’s underground stations during the Blitz. Hussey would comment on the ‘dignity and three dimensional quality’ of the figures.
Hussey wished to mark St Matthew’s 50th Anniversary by commissioning a piece of art.
Moore and Hussey met for the first time at the Angel Hotel in Northampton during the blackout.
Walter Hussey asked Henry Moore ‘whether he would believe in the subject…’ The artist replied ‘Yes I would. Though whether or not I should agree with your theology, I just do not know. I think it is only through our art that we artists can come to understand your theology.’
Sir Kenneth Clark, the then Director of the National Gallery, took an active part in advising during the commissioning process and lending his support to that of the parish’s Parochial Church Council.
In 1942, as bombs fell upon Britain Walter Hussey commissioned Henry Moore to carve the Madonna and Child in the warm hues of Hornton stone – a very English response to all that Nazism represented.
Letters, sculptures and works on paper from the Hussey Bequest and the gallery’s collections give voice to this extraordinary story of an artist and his patron.
Today it is hard to comprehend the adverse criticism the sculpture attracted.
The Madonna and Child at Northampton is just a little larger than life-size. The deep religious sincerity and human feeling which the artist Henry Moore had noted in the Lazarus carving at Chichester Cathedral is notable in his Madonna and Child.
As you enter St Matthew’s in Northampton you are held by Mary’s gaze and as you approach the group you cannot help but be moved to place your hands upon her knees as the Christ Child, Jesus, looks straight into your eyes conveying a sense of profound love and anticipation which for Christians is at the heart of the Christmas story.
I hope your Christmas is blessed with love, peace and joy.
This week I am in the company of the musician and Artistic Director of the Shipley Arts Festival, Andrew Bernardi, as he prepares to launch the festival’s 2019 program of concerts across the Horsham district and beyond. Andrew is one of a number of creatives at the heart of our county’s rich arts offering.
I have long been a passionate advocate and supporter of building communities through arts and heritage in West Sussex, values which I share with Andrew Bernardi.
I ask Andrew what inspired him to become a musician. He replies “I come from a musical family, my Mother was playing piano at a Mozart concert where my parents met. They had no intention of making me a professional musician, to the contrary actually. But I realised when I was about six that I had to be a musician, that it was my vocation. My Godmother gave me my first full-sized violin and I’ve still got it. It looked big on me but I’ve only ever played full-sized violins.”
Andrew would win a place at the Skinner’s School. He continues “Everyone encouraged me in my music but it was suggested that there were safer careers.”
Andrew led the Kent Youth Orchestra. He describes how winning the Lawrence Atwell scholarship for violinists to go to the United States and Brazil with the Youth Orchestra was life changing. He says “I studied alongside a golden generation of musicians, we have all gone on to leading roles in the music world. In Brazil we stayed with top people but I became aware that the waiters came out of the Favelas and that they could have been us if we’d grown up there. It changed us and I realised that I wanted to do something for society through my music.”
Having read music at Leeds he taught at Worth Abbey where he formed their Community Orchestra and his Chamber Ensemble. The qualities of Benedictine Christian spirituality still resonate with him.
It was at Trinity College London, whilst working on his post-graduate scholarship, that Andrew’s entrepreneurial qualities were first recognised, “They told me I would be a successful violinist but as important was my ability to bring things together and make them work.” This insight has been borne out by Andrew Bernardi’s career as a violinist and by starting the Shipley Arts Festival which is now acknowledged as being one of the UK’s most highly regarded Classical Music Festivals.
Andrew’s support of young, talented musicians through his String Academy gives voice to his belief in community and creating opportunity for others.
The String Academy has strong links to the Yehudi Menuhin School thanks to Andrew’s work. It is clear that Yehudi Menuhin influenced him, “He conducted me and I led for him on several occasions. I admired his sense of humanity, his facilitation of communities through outstanding music making, and creating pathways and opportunities for young musicians – things that I aspire to.”
Andrew’s life as a violinist has taken him all over the world but it is his family and being rooted in the heart of Sussex with its gentle hills, countryside, towns and communities which feed and inspire him.
He walks in the footsteps of some illustrious musicians and composers here in Sussex including John Ireland, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sir Edward Elgar. His work reflects a sense of calling and vocation to continue this musical tradition in our county. Through the festival and its patrons Andrew Bernardi, continues to commission new and exciting work from some of our nation’s leading contemporary composers including Roderick Williams., OBE, and Malcom Singer.
I ask him what his violin means to him. He reflects “With the Stradivarius violin I finally hear the sounds I imagined. It’s a very personal relationship a musician and their instrument.”
Relationships are important to the success of the Shipley Arts Festival and the array of international musicians who return year after year are responding to the aspirations, loyalty and vision of its Artistic Director, Andrew Bernardi.
The 2019 Shipley Arts Festival season will be exceptional. To find out more go to www.shipleyartsfestival.co.uk.
By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.