Toovey’s Blog – Page 86 – Latest news, photos and updates from Toovey's Antique and Fine Art Auctions in Sussex

The Original White Cube Gallery

The North Gallery from the North Bay: Owen's Portrait of Mrs Robinson Hanging to the Left of Flaxman's 'St Michael Overcoming Satan' — J.M.W. Turner’s watercolour of the North Gallery at Petworth

How modern the 21st century gallery interior seems to us with its light, white interiors – but is it really modern?

This week we are at Petworth House, in the company of the National Trust’s inspirational Exhibitions Manager, Andrew Loukes. The Petworth House team are preparing for their spring opening on Saturday 19th March 2016. All around us the house’s treasures are emerging from beneath their winter covers.

George Wyndham O’Brien (1751-1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont

As we enter the North Gallery the deep red of the walls sets off the white of the sculptures. It is a remarkable space. The blinds are opened and the light floods in. It reminds me of a watercolour of the North Gallery by the artist J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). The watercolour depicts the gallery luminous and white. John Flaxman’s (1755-1826) famous sculpture ‘St Michael subduing Satan’ is to the fore. The sketch is one of a number produced by Turner which he painted for his own pleasure, they illustrate life behind the scenes at Petworth House. Andrew Loukes explains “At the time of the 3rd Earl these galleries were painted white.” I remark that this must have been the first white cube gallery. Andrew agrees and adds “This is arguably the first purpose built art gallery in Britain.” He reminds me that the Carved Room at Petworth House, sometimes called the Long Dining Room, was created by the 3rd Earl from two rooms. It houses the remarkable Grinling Gibbons carvings. The room would have appeared very much as it does today although the panelling was papered and painted white. Andrew says “The effects of this white colour scheme can be seen in the palette of Turner’s paintings produced specifically for that room.” Some rooms were also painted a bright red.

The North Gallery was altered and expanded by both the 2nd and 3rd Earl’s of Egremont. The influence of George Wyndham O’Brien (1751-1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont, and his forebears is immediately apparent. The best contemporary art of the early 19th century sits alongside sculptures from classical antiquity. Andrew Loukes explains that this is no accident “This is a very personal collection reflecting father and son. The classical sculpture was predominately collected by the 2nd Earl. Under the 3rd Earl the modern was brought alongside the ancient. The house and collection influenced many of the artists of the time. It is not possible to overemphasize how important this place was, in the early 19th century, to British art –it was an unofficial academy.” The 3rd Earl was very discerning so there are no examples of work by artists like John Constable or Edwin Landseer in the collection, even though they stayed at Petworth.

John Flaxman’s famous sculpture, ‘St Michael subduing Satan’

John Flaxman’s ‘St Michael subduing Satan’ is still displayed in the North Gallery. Flaxman based the composition of this piece on Raphael’s painting of St Michael which now hangs in the Louvre. The sculpture tells the story of the eventual triumph of good over evil from the book of Revelations in the Bible. A youthful St Michael prepares to smite Satan as he raises his spear. It is a heroic and patriotic piece produced by Flaxman at the height of his powers.

It was John Ruskin who commented that the white walls made the sculptures look dirty and by the 1850s the North Gallery’s walls had been painted red. Petworth House is one of the nation’s great treasure houses. The house reopens on Saturday 19th March 2016. Whether you are visiting for the first time or returning to an old friend you cannot fail to be inspired by the art and history of the place. For more information go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth-house.

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.

Remarkable Collection of Postcards to be Sold at Auction

Lot 3120 R & E Cross Newsagents and Confectioners, Littlehampton, circa 1904

A remarkable collection of postcards from the estate of the Sussex collector, Maurice Stevens (1932-2015) is to be offered for sale at Toovey’s Washington salerooms in West Sussex on Tuesday 22nd March 2016.

Maurice Stevens was a Sussex man. Born in 1932 at Hurstpierpoint, his childhood was spent at Albourne. Once married he moved to Burgess Hill where he lived happily for fifty-six years. A horticulturist and keen angler, he was rooted in our beautiful county and delighted in its towns, countryside and social history. Throughout his life he formed and dispersed numerous collections, one of his main interests was photographic topographical postcards of Sussex. He had a gift for identifying unattributed views and scenes and many of the postcards have his pencil annotations on the back. These collector’s notes and comments are fascinating and reveal Maurice’s deep understanding of postcards and the history of our county.

Auctioneer and head of department, Nicholas Toovey, is the specialist in charge of the sale. He shared a long and valued friendship with Maurice, as well as a passion for postcard collecting. I ask Nick what delights him about this particular field of collecting. He responds enthusiastically “Postcards give a glimpse into a bygone age. They provide one of the earliest photographic images of life one hundred years ago and how things were. I’m amazed by the number of small and remote places that were documented. Often these images will have been the first visual record of that place other than, perhaps, an artist’s interpretation.”

The Maurice Stevens Collection includes postcards depicting topography and social history. These include early aviation, motoring, railways, traction engines, military events, fairs and shops. As we leaf through the catalogue image after image captures the eye.

Nick draws my attention to a postcard of the Littlehampton Newsagents and Confectioners, R & E Cross and describes the scene “The staff are outside this Surrey Street shop. You can see the Sussex postcards being displayed alongside Cadbury’s and Fry’s chocolate. It shows the lives of everyday people.” He continues “The publisher, Frank Spry, moved to Littlehampton in 1904 with his wife. His offices were in the same street as this shop.” It carries a pre-sale auction estimate of £80-120.

Lot 3019 a photographic postcard of a steam roller at Blackstone in West Sussex

I love traction engines and my eye is taken by a photographic postcard of a steamroller and workmen in a road. Maurice’s pencil note on the reverse of the card reveals his extensive Sussex knowledge. It reads ‘on the Woodmancote Road south of the village, W.S.C.C. Team, S.E. Sayers working’. These rare insights give life to the collection. The card is expected to realise £50-80.

A postcard titled ‘Welcome to Arundel of the 1st Batt, Royal Sussex regt. Aug 29th 1933-8’

Social history and topography are once again combined in the postcard titled ‘Welcome to Arundel of the 1st Batt, Royal Sussex regt. Aug 29th 1933-8’. It was published by White. This hopeful scene, with soldiers on parade in Arundel as flags blow in a summer breeze, stands in contrast to the growing troubles in Europe at that time and the approach of the Second World War. Offered with a postcard of similar interest, the two are estimated at £25-35.

A photographic postcard ‘Delivering Provisions during the flood at Bramber’, circa 1924

With so much talk of flooding again this year in the news it is interesting to note supplies being delivered by boat in the postcard ‘Delivering Provisions during the flood at Bramber’. Nick remarks dryly “Some things never change.” He tells me “The card was published in about 1924 by Albert Edward Halls in Steyning. The demand for postcards was so strong that publishers grew up everywhere. Steyning had at least five postcard publishers in the first half of the 20th century.”

I have observed over the years the sense of community amongst collectors who are passionate about a particular subject, Nick confirms that this is true of postcard collectors too. I ask him where postcard collectors gather in Sussex in between his specialist postcard auctions at Toovey’s. He replies that he often attends the Haywards Heath International Postcard Fair which is held on the first Saturday of the month at Clair Hall, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 3DN. Nicholas Toovey will be at the fair this coming Saturday 5th March 2016, between 10.30am and 4pm with catalogues for the Maurice Stevens Collection for sale.

The Maurice Stevens Collection will be offered for sale by auction at Toovey’s, Spring Gardens, Washington, West Sussex, RH20 3BS on Tuesday 22nd March 2016. The printed catalogue is available from our offices for £5 (£7 by post in the UK) or you can view the catalogue by clicking here.

If you would like more information on the Maurice Stevens auction or the Haywards Heath International Postcard Fair you can contact Nicholas Toovey by telephoning 01903 891955 or emailing auctions@tooveys.com.

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.

From Town and City to the Country

‘The Tug’ by Sussex artist, Vanessa Bell

In the late 19th and 20th centuries many of Britain’s leading artists were inspired to leave London and our towns and cities, for the country. For some it was to escape the effects of the industrial revolution and for others the wars. There was a desire to articulate the ancient hope of the English expressed in and through their landscape. A hope bound up with a romanticized view of a rural idyll, lost or under threat.

It was Virginia Woolf’s love for Duncan Grant and her sister, Vanessa Bell, which brought her to Sussex during the First World War. Vanessa was living with her lover, the artist Duncan Grant, and his friend David Garnett, at Wissett Lodge in Suffolk when her sister, the author, Virginia Woolf, wrote to her in the May of 1916. She extolled the virtues and potential of Charleston house near Firle in East Sussex. To avoid being called up to fight and the prospect of gaol as conscientious objectors, Duncan Grant and David Garnett needed to be essentially employed on the land. Virginia Woolf was by this time living at Asheham some four miles from Charleston and, having suffered a breakdown, sought Vanessa’s company. In her letters Virginia explained that not only did the house need a tenant but that the neighbouring farmer was short of ‘hands’ to work on the land.

Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant would gather an extraordinary array of artists, writers and intellectuals to Charleston. Amongst them was the great economist Maynard Keynes, the authors Lytton Strachey and T. S. Elliot, the artist and critic Roger Fry and, amongst many others, Vanessa’s husband Clive Bell.

In London Vanessa Bell had married the art critic Clive Bell and was one of the leading members of what would become known as the Bloomsbury Group. She worked in the Omega Workshops with Roger Fry and collaborated with Duncan Grant in numerous decorative projects and artistic commissions.

As well as covering the walls and furniture at Charleston with painted decoration they portrayed those who visited and the countryside around them. The delightful oil by Vanessa Bell titled ‘The Tug’ depicts a scene reminiscent of Newhaven harbour which is across the Sussex Downs from Charleston. The light is golden and luminous. Her handling of paint is broad and filled with life and movement in the manner of the French Post-Impressionists. There is freedom and joy in the moored boat’s hopeful depiction.

Walter Langley’s oil painting, ‘A Quiet Time’

In contrast to Vanessa Bell’s bright palette is Walter Langley’s depiction of a working class woman at rest. Titled ‘A Quiet Time’ it reflects Langley’s empathy with the persistent hardship faced by the poor in 19th century Britain. Muted earth hues are employed in the stillness of this sensitive, delicate portrait. The economy of detail is typical of his portrayals of the working people of Newlyn in Cornwall. Walter Langley belonged to a group of artists from Birmingham who journeyed to Newlyn in Cornwall to escape the hardships caused by the Industrial Revolution in our cities. Their pursuit of realism was influenced by the French Barbizon painters. There is a romantic articulation of the nobility in working people.

If Sussex and her Downs touch your heart the need to live in their folds never leaves you. Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant would continue to live at Charleston throughout their lives. 2016 marks a century since the Bloomsbury Group artists, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, arrived in Sussex to make their home at Charleston. I look forward to returning to Charleston and their array of events to celebrate this important anniversary. For more information go to www.charleston.org.uk/whats-on.

Vanessa Bell’s and Walter Langley’s paintings are already consigned for sale in Toovey’s select Fine Art Sale on Wednesday 23rd March 2016, each with an estimate of £8,000-12,000.

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.

Eric Gill, Art and Architecture in Sussex

Woodbarton, designed by the artist Eric Gill in 1920

Woodbarton is a hidden artistic jewel in the heart of Sussex. The house is being offered for sale on the open market for the very first time since it was built in 1920. It was designed and decorated by the famous Ditchling based artist, Eric Gill (1882-1940).

Eric Gill was born in Steyning, West Sussex, in 1882. In his formative years he lived both in Brighton and Chichester. In 1900 he moved to London to train as an architect with the firm W. D. Caroe. Gill became ever more disaffected with this path. He studied stonemasonry in Westminster and calligraphy at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. By 1903 Eric Gill had given up his architectural training to become a calligrapher, letter-cutter and monumental mason.

In 1907 Eric Gill found himself drawn back to Ditchling in Sussex. Together with a group of fellow artists Gill worked within the Roman Catholic Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic at Ditchling. These artists lived in community with their wives, children, associates and apprentices. They upheld the principles of the artisan artist. Their work and lives were framed by the monastic rhythm of prayer. Thanks to their work this Sussex village became a centre for the Arts and Crafts Movement. The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic was founded by Eric Gill, Hilary Pepler and the English poet and artist, Desmond Chute (1895-1962).

Eric Gill brought his artistic and architectural skills to bear when he designed Woodbarton for his associate Desmond Chute.

The house sits confidently in its generous gardens, surrounded by open countryside with stunning views. An old brick path leads past the studio to a welcoming front door which, it is thought, might be the work of the Arts and Crafts designer and architect, Ernest Gimson. That this home was designed by the artist Eric Gill for an artist becomes quickly apparent as the light breaks into the generous hallway. The qualities of light and welcome run through the whole house.

Eric Gill’s carved and painted stone Lavabo in the hall

The Christian foundations of the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic is visible in the carved and painted stone Lavabo by Eric Gill, which is set into the hallway’s wall. It would have contained Holy water for a priest to ritually wash as a sign of inner purity before celebrating the Mass, and for members of the Guild and visitors to bless themselves.

A detail of Eric Gill’s carved stone fireplace in the sitting room

The sitting room is arranged around a fireplace which is framed by a stone carving with a central cross, again by Eric Gill. The stone was originally made for Westminster Cathedral where Gill carved the Stations of the Cross. It was broken in transit and was therefore installed at Woodbarton.

There are stone panels carved with meditative inscriptions by Gill and others set into some of the walls of the house.

Desmond Chute only lived at Woodbarton for a few years before leaving for Rapallo in Italy for his health. Chute would be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1927. After he left, the house became the home of the Guild’s treasurer, Eric Gill’s brother-in-law, Charlie Walters and subsequently the weaver, Valentine Kilbride.

In 1983 the Guild was wound up and Woodbarton was bought privately by the artists, Edgar and Jennifer Holloway. When they arrived there was no plumbing and only an outside toilet and single cold water tap. This artistic couple set about modernising the house to create the comfortable home and studio, in which to live and work, which you see today.

With its three bedrooms, reception rooms and studio the fortunate buyer of Woodbarton will acquire a generous and charming home. This exceptional house forms part of an important story in the history of both the Arts and Crafts Movement and Modern British Art here in Sussex. It provides a remarkable opportunity to live with exceptional art-in a beautiful setting.

The property is being marketed by Clifford Dann with a guide price of £800,000. Partner, Michael Hudson, understands the importance and qualities of this unique property. For more information contact Clifford Dann’s Ditchling office on 01273 843344 or email ditchling@clifforddann.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.

Cabinets of Curiosity

A Peruvian Chimu effigy vessel painted with a face and decorative collar, circa 1100AD to 1450AD, with a Mexican Nayarit figure and a Mexican Veracruz pottery head

The latest exhibition at the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery, ‘Curiosity: A Tale of Quirky Collecting’, combines the delights of the Renaissance cabinet of curiosity with the enquiry of the 18th century Enlightenment. It charts the questioning journey of a 21st century Sussex antiquary. The objects form part of his private collection and have never before been seen together in public.

Between 1680 and 1820 the imaginations of some of Britain, Europe and America’s leading philosophers, scientists and writers were inspired by a new age of reason and learning which became known as the Enlightenment.

During the Renaissance rooms and cabinets of curiosities housed encyclopaedic collections of objects whose categorical boundaries were yet to be defined. They were often known as wonder cabinets and rooms. Similarly 18th century collectors, antiquaries and travellers brought together, but also sought to classify, objects from the world around them. Many of these objects were categorised according to the seven major new areas of enquiry during the Enlightenment. These included: natural history, art and civilisation, religion and ritual, the birth of archaeology, discovery and trade, the translation of ancient scripts and classification.

These areas of enquiry are abundantly displayed in this exhibition’s cabinets of curiosity filled with wonder and learning at the Horsham Museum. The objects’ stories are bound together with their custodian’s very personal journey of discovery through collecting.

An incunabula, ‘Chronicle of the World’, printed in 1493

The story begins with geology. Encouraged by his mother, when 11 years old, he began to collect geological specimens. He would eventually amass more than seven hundred examples. From geology we move to the natural world and a Christmas gift of an antique taxidermy red squirrel given to our enlightened collector as a boy of fourteen. And then to books, not just as documents of learning but as aesthetic objects, like the ‘Chronicle of the World’ seen here which was published in 1493. It is an incunabula, a term given to any book which was printed rather than handwritten before 1501. It means cradle of printing. The printed words seem to lead us into the marvellous woodblock illustration which depicts a bustling harbour filled with trading ships and a city beyond. I share this collector’s fascination with books. They have been collected for millennia. The libraries of the ancient world must have been wondrous.

This gifted antiquarian writes how one day, feeling flush, he purchased a Chinese Han Dynasty (206BC to 220AD) pottery figure from a shop near the British Museum in London and his journey of discovery through antiquities began.

Ten ancient terracotta figures from the Indus Valley, circa 3000BC to 2000BC

There are some truly ancient objects in this exhibition. Look at the remarkable group of ten terracotta figurines from the Indus Valley which date from between 3000BC and 2000BC. It is thought that might they might be emblematic of fertility. The Bronze Age, Harrappan Civilisation (3300BC to 1900BC) of the Indus Valley extended from what is now northwest India through Pakistan to northeast Afghanistan. It flourished on the banks of the Indus River. This important civilisation was lost in the mists of time until it began to be rediscovered during the Archaeological Survey of India instigated by the British Raj in 1861. There is something remarkable in these figures being displayed against the backdrop of Horsham’s Causeway.

Alongside objects from Europe, the Indus and China are pieces from the ancient Aztec, Inca and Mayan civilisations of South America. These include the Picasso like Peruvian Chimu effigy vessel painted with a face and geometric collar which dates from between 1100AD and 1450AD. Beside it is a marvellous Mexican Nayarit red pottery figure wearing a bird headdress. It dates from 100BC to 250AD. The Mexican pottery Veracruz head, circa 400AD to 800AD, has wonderfully expressive features.

The romance of history and a curiosity about the past is often bound up with the joy of owning and observing objects. I love the qualities of an enquiring and learning journey expressed in this very personal exhibition of eclectic items. The displays in these wondrous cabinets of curiosity and discovery give us an insight into how human achievement has evolved over the centuries. They allow us to glimpse the 18th century age of Enlightenment’s spirit of enquiry which, it would seem, is alive and well in 21st century Sussex!

‘Curiosity: A Tale of Quirky Collecting’ runs until 5th March 2016, at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE. Entrance to the Museum and exhibition is free. It is the perfect half-term outing! For more information go to www.horshammuseum.org or telephone 01403 254959.

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.