Horsham Museum & Art Gallery – Page 2

Landscapes, Ancient and Modern

Gordon Rushmer’s watercolour of Coombes Church

Horsham Museum & Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, Accents on The Landscape – Ancient Churches of West Sussex, comprises a canon of watercolours by the celebrated British watercolourist Gordon Rushmer.

I catch up with Gordon as I open the exhibition and ask him about the inspiration behind his latest body of work. He replies “I am nostalgic for the past – my childhood in the South Country of fifty or sixty years ago.” Gordon’s comments resonate with Hilaire Belloc’s famous poem The South Country and the writer’s yearning for Sussex, her people and landscape.

Gordon’s paintings provide a valuable contemporary record of these churches continuing in the British watercolour tradition, but there is something more to these rich watercolours. He depicts these ancient, sacred places in perfect harmony with the Sussex landscape. Like this gifted artist the churches appear rooted in the landscape. Gordon says “When I paint it’s a spontaneous response to what I perceive – the meanings often reveal themselves later. My paintings often start with an idea which can take a year to come together.”

I begin to understand that the stillness evident in many of his paintings comes out of a process of reflection. Once Gordon has discerned what it is he wants to convey he works from his photographs and sketches made in the field. The pictures record the memory of a particular moment which transcends time and the purely visual.

Gordon Rushmer’s detail of an 11th century fresco at Coombes

Gordon’s journey around the ancient churches of Sussex has been one of returning, of bridging the ancient to the modern. It has been a journey of the interior emotionally and spiritually, as well as in the physical world.

These qualities can be seen in Gordon’s study of Coombes Church which you approach through a farm yard nestling in the lee of the Downs. It is often surrounded by grazing sheep. Inside there are a number of fragmentary 11th century frescoes which Gordon has illustrated.

Gordon Rushmer is an acclaimed war artist. He reflects “I have witnessed both the best and the worst in life. My time in Afghanistan and abroad [with British forces] has informed my perspectives. The stillness of these churches is amplified for me – that contrast between the war and the peace.”

I comment on how his work always seems hope filled and Gordon smiles and agrees.

This exhibition has only been possible thanks to the patronage and vision of Horsham Museum & Art Gallery’s Curator Jeremy Knight. The limited edition book by Gordon Rushmer which accompanies the exhibition is beautifully illustrated and will provide an important legacy to the Horsham District Council’s 2019 Year of Culture.

I am delighted that Toovey’s are supporting ‘Accents on The Landscape – Ancient Churches of West Sussex’. It runs at the Horsham District Council Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, until 1st June 2019. Entrance to the Museum and exhibition is free. It provides a rare opportunity not only to see, but also to acquire the work of an artist who is represented in the collections of Tate and The Imperial War Museum. 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.

Frank Brangwyn at Horsham

Frank Brangwyn – St Paul Shipwrecked, Christ’s Hospital cartoon

Brangwyn in Horsham has just opened at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery and it is an exceptional exhibition.

Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956) was a significant and influential artist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries though he did not fit comfortably with the English art establishment. There is a growing revival of interest in his work. This timely exhibition centres on a selection of cartoons produced by Brangwyn for Christ’s Hospital which have not been seen by the public since they were last exhibited in London in 1924.

The show comes out of the latest collaboration between the Curators of the Horsham and Christ’s Hospital museums, Jeremy Knight and Laura Kidner.

As a charitable school Christ’s Hospital has to direct all its resources to offering an independent education of the highest calibre to children with academic potential from all walks of life. Consequently it is a child’s ability and potential to benefit from a Christ’s Hospital education that determines their selection not their ability to pay. Therefore the cartoons have only recently been able to be conserved thanks to the support of the Horsham District Council’s 2019 Year of Culture fund, providing an important legacy to this year-long celebration of heritage and culture.

Frank Brangwyn – Crucifixion, oil on board

It is wonderful to see the cartoons by Brangwyn so beautifully conserved. They are squared up to enable them to be enlarged and transferred onto the series of panels he painted for the Christ’s Hospital chapel. The panels follow a procession from the Acts of the Apostles to the conversion of Britain to Christianity and the mission of the Church of England.

The cartoon seen here is the study for the panel ‘St Paul Shipwrecked’. Paul travelled to Rome to face judgement after the disciple Ananias had healed his sight. St Paul is depicted with his hands raised in blessing giving thanks to God after they were delivered from the shipwreck – as it says in the Acts of the Apostles ‘And so it came to pass that all escaped safe to land’.

The panels are important not just as fine examples of Brangwyn’s work, but also because they form part of a common narrative amongst modern British artists at the time who sought to reaffirm what it is to be British and to redeem our nation from the experience of the first industrialized world war. The panels are honest about the costs of standing up for righteousness with illustrations of Christian martyrs, many associated with Britain. But they are also hopeful clearly depicting the triumph of good over evil.

Appropriately two pencil drawings by Brangwyn from Horsham Museum & Art Gallery’s own collection are on show for the first time together with other works by the artist loaned from private collections including the painterly crucifixion seen here and examples of his ceramics.

The exhibition, Brangwyn in Horsham, leads a growing renaissance of interest in this significant artist. It runs at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE, until the 23rd March 2019 providing a rare opportunity to see these exceptional works and admission is free. The exhibition will then move to Christ’s Hospital Museum. For more information go to www.horshammuseum.org.

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.

Inspired by the Landscape

Inspired by the Horsham Museum & Art Galleries latest exhibition of local landscapes I have been trying to walk off my Christmas indulgence, with my terrier Bonnie in the beauty of the Sussex countryside. And what strikes me is how influential and important human stewardship and industry has been to the appearance and beauty of our landscape.

A great favourite of ours is the circular walk at the top of Chantry Hill at the back of Storrington. From the car park you follow the footpath to the west. The views carry your eye across the undulating hills of the Angmering Park Estate to the sea at Worthing and the Isle of Wight. Leaving the main path and heading North the ground steadily rises until the view opens onto the Sussex Weald. A few hundred yards to the east between Kithurst Hill and Chantry Hill you come upon a late Bronze Age / Iron Age cross dyke. The deep ditch and steep embankment still defines its boundary and affords the most wonderful views with Storrington below. As you walk in this man made earthworks you have a real sense of the ancient and your place in the procession of history. It is farming which has created and preserved the Downland landscape which surrounds it.

At Petworth Park the qualities of the picturesque are alive in Capability Brown’s man made landscape, preserved and maintained by The National Trust.

Bonnie delighted to be on the Bronze Age cross dyke on Chantry Hill

Bonnie and I love to walk through the park and around the lake. The house and park are united in the landscape. Here you come upon a series of constructed, vignette views onto sweeping areas of grass, curving lakes and beautifully conceived woodland clumps of trees. It is as though you are walking in a series paintings.

This aesthetic was born out of the rococo in reaction to the formal straight lines and topiary of the French royal gardens designed by André Le Notre (1613-1700), which had been made popular in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries by George London (d.1714) and Henry Wise (1653-1738). Together they had created the parterres not only at Petworth but also at Hampton Court Palace, Chatsworth and Longleat.

In early 18th century England there was a political desire, held by both the Whig government and Hanoverian King George I, to distance themselves from the excesses of the French Court at Versailles. This combined with a fascination for ‘unbounded nature’. In this climate Capability Brown’s park landscapes evolved in dialogue with his patrons. Perhaps this is why his idealised landscapes speak into the hearts and imaginations of the English and, in part, define us.

Sussex and her landscape continues to inspire successive generations of artists, writers and composers as she has over the centuries. I look forward to exploring the Sussex landscape and the continuing contribution of its contemporary stewards to the identity and heritage of the county.

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.

Celebrating Heritage and Arts in West Sussex in 2018

From left to right: Toovey’s Director, Nicholas Toovey, artist, Humphrey Ocean., RA, and Jeremy Knight in conversation at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

As 2018 draws to a close it provides a moment to reflect on what an exceptional year it has been for Heritage and the Arts in West Sussex and to look forward to 2019.

West Sussex is blessed by its rich history, culture and artistic offering which is made possible by the inspiration, dedication and hard work of a number of key individuals.

The Horsham Museum & Art Gallery’s reputation continues to grow under the leadership of Jeremy Knight whose outstanding contribution to heritage and the arts was marked this year with a High Sheriff’s Award. This growing reputation attracted the attention of the Royal Academy in its 250th anniversary year and the artist Humphrey Ocean., RA. The Horsham District Council’s continued commitment to the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery is deserving of praise.

Sheep handling at The 2018 West Grinstead Agricultural and Ploughing Match Show

The West Grinstead Annual Plough Match and agricultural show celebrates the work of our farmers and their important contribution, through their stewardship of the countryside, to our county’s rural landscape. At the heart of the Society which runs it is its Honorary Secretary Rowan Allan of H. J. Burt. He has spent his life celebrating and professionally supporting the work and life of the countryside.

Parham House and its gardens are amongst the most beautiful in all England. Lady Emma Barnard is the house’s current custodian and celebrated 70 years since her family first opened the house in 1948 to share it with the public. This generous tradition continues today.

The high point of this year’s Shipley Arts Festival for me was the world premiere of the Shipley Psalms at Steyning Parish Church. The inspiration for this commission came out of a conversation between myself, Andrew Bernardi and the composer Malcolm Singer. We were discussing the American composer Leonard Bernstein and his choral work, The Chichester Psalms. This new commission was made possible by the generous patronage of The Shipley Arts Festival and Mr John Snelling.

These artistic, cultural and heritage threads preserve and add to the evolving identity of our county and its rich tapestry of life in town and country.

My brother Nicholas and I are delighted that through Toovey’s we have been able to play a part in bridging these artistic and heritage communities together, adding weight to their vision and work, whilst also offering financial support and professional advice.

These individuals along with so many others are deserving of our thanks. They enrich the quality of our lives whilst contributing enormously to our economy through the visitors and businesses they draw to our county.

I am looking forward to celebrating with you the best artistic, cultural and heritage events our county has to offer in 2019, and wish you all a very happy and peaceful New Year.

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.

A Voyage of Discovery at Horsham Museum

The Maori Poi dancer, Whakarewarewa, published by the New Zealand photographer Thomas Pringle in 1907

Horsham Museum & Art Gallery’s latest exhibition ‘Voyages to the Pacific’ is inspired by the 250th Anniversary of the departure of Captain James Cook’s first voyage to Tahiti in 1768.

The exhibition draws on the museum’s remarkable collection of ethnographic material. The show highlights the interactions and exchanges that have taken place between the peoples of Europe and the Pacific over the last 250 years, including Horsham’s residents whose objects are displayed telling the story.

A collection of Pacific ethnographical objects framed against Horsham’s Causeway

Assistant Curator Rhiannon Jones says “The exhibition shows how the people of Horsham have encountered the people of the South Pacific. These objects were brought back by diplomats, sailors and wealthy people.”

“In the summer of 1768 Captain James Cook set sail from Plymouth for Tahiti hoping to track the transit of Venus. Cook’s techniques in surveying, astronomy and timekeeping were revolutionary, as was his care for his crew and the measures he took to prevent scurvy.”

There was a second charge to Cook to discover the as yet only imagined great southern continent. Cook would sail tantalisingly close, within 75 miles of Antarctica.

Rhiannon explains how this first expedition and Cook’s two subsequent voyages changed European perceptions of world geography leading to trade and colonisation.

The exhibition provides an introduction to the sociocultural anthropology of the peoples of the Pacific through objects and photographs.

My eye is caught by a photograph of the Maori Poi Dancer, Whakarewarewa. It is taken from the book ‘Maori Studies’ published by the New Zealand photographer Thomas Pringle in 1907. The Poi is a traditional Maori dance where weights are swung in rhythmic patterns on the end of tethers.

A rare 19th century Tongan or Samoan Tapa barkcloth panel

On the opposite side of the gallery a series of 19th century Tapa barkcloth panels with striking geometric abstract designs are displayed. These cloths are produced from the inner bark of young shrubs and trees by the process of soaking and beating. They are commonly found across the Pacific and Africa. Barkcloth is still used for clothing, bedding, flooring and ceremonial objects. It is short lived and old examples like this Tongan or Samoan panel are rare.

Rhiannon enthuses about a case filled with ethnographical pieces which include an 18th century pot stand from Papua New Guinea modelled as a head, wooden combs and necklaces, and a small jade totem intended to enhance fertility. I remark that this fascinating array is displayed against the backdrop of Horsham’s famous Causeway which seems to emphasise the town’s connection with the exhibition’s story and objects and she agrees.

Entrance to the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE, is free with permanent displays and exciting shows. Voyages to the Pacific runs until 26th January 2019. There are plenty of family Christmas activities too. For more information visit www.horshammuseum.org.

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.