Pallant House Gallery – Page 8

Sickert Unites Sussex with Dieppe

Walter Sickert, ‘L’Hôtel Royal, Dieppe’, 1894, oil on canvas, Museums Sheffield

This week I am once again at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester for ‘Sickert in Dieppe’ which runs until 4th October 2015. This exemplary exhibition explores the formational relationship that Walter Sickert (1860-1942) had with the French seaside resort of Dieppe.

Walter Sickert was a leading and influential figure in the Modern British Art Movement. The exhibition is the inspiration of Pallant House Gallery Curator, Katy Norris. In her introduction to ‘Sickert in Dieppe’ she writes ‘Walter Sickert’s enduring fascination with the popular Normandy resort of Dieppe represents a remarkable aspect of his career.’

Pallant House exhibition curator, Katy Norris, at the opening of ‘Sickert in Dieppe’

For me this is a relevant and contemporary exhibition. Although Sickert’s paintings show us the life and scenes of Dieppe some hundred years ago, the vibrant seaside town he depicts is still recognizable to us today. We can feel the heat and shade of his pictures and pick out many of the same landmarks. The ambient sounds and life of the town that he captures speak to us across the years.

From his childhood, and for more than forty years, Sickert would return to Dieppe. The exhibition highlights the formative influence this vibrant seaside town had on the artist, and the extraordinary breadth of subjects he engaged with. He would produce a comprehensive topographical account of the town, its people and its environs.

Walter Sickert, ‘L’ Walter Sickert, L'Armoire à Glace’, 1921-4; dated 1924, oil on canvas, Tate: Purchased 1941, Image courtesy Tate, London 2015

The work chosen for this show illustrates how Sickert’s work was influenced by his acquaintance with the French artist Edgar Degas and his closeness to Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro.

Encouraged by Degas Sickert started to emphasise what Katy Norris characterizes as ‘the everyday realism of his subjects…his paintings became more representational, based upon rigorously planned squared-up drawings and featuring strongly delineated architectural patterns.’ Influenced by Degas’ work Sickert broadened his range of subject matter to include the race course and circus scenes. The latter provided the forerunners to paintings like ‘Brighton Pierrots’ and his London music hall scenes.

Painted in 1894, ‘L’Hotel Royal, Dieppe’ depicts what appears to be a public festival. The tricolour flags flutter in the coastal breeze. The figures and sea front hotel are depicted beneath the dramatic sky, turned purple by the light of the setting sun.

Walter Sickert, ‘The Façade of St Jacques, Dieppe’, 1902, oil on canvas, Private collection, image courtesy of The Fine Art Society

Sickert left his first wife Ellen Cobden and settled with the local fisherwoman, Augustine Villain, in the suburb of Neuville. From here the narrow roads of the fishing community linked the Arcades de la Poissonnerie with the harbour and prosperous parts of Dieppe. These adjacent and contrasting architectural spaces fascinated Sickert. Take for example ‘The Façade of St Jacques’ painted in 1902. The bright palette and thickly worked paint shows some of the characteristic of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting but, unlike them, he did not work ‘en plein air’.

In 1912 Sickert married Christine Angus Drummond. They made their home at the Villa d’Aumale in the valley of Eaulne, just ten miles from Dieppe. Katy points out that it was during this period that the artist developed his particular method of ‘applying the pigment in a patchwork of flattened layers of colour’.

Sickert was cut off from Dieppe by the advent of the First World War.

In the October of 1920 Christine lost her battle with tuberculosis and died. Sickert was overwhelmed by grief. In 1921 he took a flat on the seafront at Dieppe. There he painted a series of pictures that he described as ‘figure subjects’. He posed different models in a poorly lit bedroom in his flat. There is a voyeuristic quality to ‘L’Armoire à Glace’ afforded by the composition. Separated by the doorway there is a lack of compassion and empathy between the artist and sitter. It has been suggested that a sexual under-current is implied by the empty bed reflected in the mirrored door of the wardrobe as though from a scene in a brothel.

Sickert visited Brighton in 1913 where he made a speech at the opening of the important ‘English Post-Impressionists, Cubists and Others’ exhibition. Arranged by the Camden Town Group, it included work by him and many of the nation’s leading artists. He visited Brighton in 1914 with his wife and painted ‘Brighton Pierrots’ in 1915. It seems appropriate, therefore, that ‘Sickert in Dieppe’ should be in Sussex at the Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TJ, until 4th October 2015. For more information on ‘Sickert in Dieppe’ and the gallery’s current exhibition program go to www.pallant.org.uk or telephone 01243 774557.

It is wonderful to see Katy Norris’ insight and assured vision expressed throughout this beautiful exhibition. I am proud that Toovey’s is among the headline sponsors of this insightful, relevant and contemporary exhibition. It should certainly be on your must see list this summer!

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 5th August 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

A Twist in Time

The current Pallant House Gallery exhibition ‘A Twist in Time: installations and interventions’ provides a remarkable opportunity to experience the conceptual, installation work of international artist, Michael Petry, here in Sussex.

Michael Petry’s art draws inspiration from both classical mythology and contemporary culture. He seeks to give expression to our human relationship and interaction with the world, combining a sensual physicality with a reflective spirituality. Michael has a deep awareness of the importance of narrative and place. He involves the viewer in playful narratives rooting them, for a moment, in time and space. We are invited to inhabit the work in our imaginations; to become aware of changes in light, shadow and colour as each moment in time evolves, gifting these installations with life and movement. And there is a conscious relationship between the specific architectural setting and the work.

Artist, Michael Petry, with ‘Libation to Dionysus’

I approach ‘Libation to Dionysus’ with Michael Petry. I am struck by the beauty and stillness of the deep red of the wine and water held in the porcelain bowl glazed in gold. Colour, light and shade resonate as the window is reflected in the pool of liquid. Michael kneels before the bowl as I ask him about the inspiration behind the title of this piece. He describes how wine was used as an offering, a libation, to Dionysus. In Greek mythology Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, wine, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy. He kneels and says “The Greeks would always offer the God’s something precious. Wine would always be mixed with water.” As he speaks Michael pours wine then water into the bowl. The sound of this fills the hall in the 18th century part of the gallery. He continues “What this does is enable the bowl to act like a mirror. The direct sunlight comes down and it illuminates, the wine glows bright red, it’s really fantastic. In the shade it acts like a mirror but it looks like blood. It functions in two ways.” Michael stands and looks into the libation bowl. He remarks “When you look in you see yourself.”

Reflections are at the heart of Petry’s ‘Bad Restoration’. This installation looks at both the imperfect way we seek to restore our physical image and our flawed reflections in mirrors. The fragmented, layered, mirrored glass of the artist’s mirrors seems to reflect something of the nature of modern life while echoing Oscar Wilde’s story ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.

‘A Twist in Time’ by Michael Petry, at Pallant House Gallery

As we turn towards ‘A Twist in Time’ the gallery’s wall is bathed in the reflected red of the wine.

Much of Michael Petry’s work explores the vitality and non-functional properties of glass transforming the use of this material from utility to art. Petry describes glass as a “luscious material”. He continues to redefine the distinction between artist and artisan. Michael often works collaboratively with highly skilled craftspeople to create his works. He is keen to identify the role of the students and staff at Plymouth College of Art in the making of the glass components for the installation ‘A Twist in Time’. He describes how ‘A Twist in Time’ responds to the architecture of the 18th century house which forms part of Pallant House Gallery. Michael says “I really wanted it to have a reference to these turned columns on the stairs.” The delicate barley twist spindles on the elegant staircase are reflected in the glass spindles suspended, as if floating, in its well. The colours do not fully reveal themselves until you reach the landing where the light from the large arched window gives them life. Michael talks of playing with the tranquil colours of the space. The green spiral ties in with the trees which can be seen in the courtyard garden, the brown reflects the timber of the spindles. It is a work created to be in dialogue with the building and our senses.

As visitors move up and down the staircase the boards creak giving voice to another of Michael’s narratives, this time about ghosts revealing themselves in the house. As you walk through the rooms on the upper floor unexpected clear glass objects, which the artist calls ‘Ghosts’, reveal themselves to you.

This intentional artist challenges our perception of the world and the ‘lenses’ through which we view it. There is honesty and beauty in Michael Petry’s art. His observation of the world and our humanity reveals a rare depth of thinking and compassion. Here the ambiguities of life and death, strength and gentleness are held in tension. This is a must see show.

‘A Twist in Time: installations and interventions’ runs until 1st March 2016 at Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TJ, telephone 01243 774557.

To see video extracts of Rupert Toovey’s interview with the artist Michael Petry click here.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 26th July 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Pallant House Gallery Exhibition unites St Ives & Sussex

Terry Frost, Blue, Black, White, 1960 - 61, oil on canvas, Pallant House Gallery, The George and Ann Dannatt Gift (2011) © Estate of Terry Frost. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2015

Pallant House Gallery’s latest exhibition ‘St Ives and British Modernism – The George and Ann Dannatt Collection’ celebrates these two remarkable individuals through their art collection.

The collection reflects George and Ann’s particular tastes in which they were almost always united. But the art also speaks of their friendships with the artists themselves. They stood against the sort of country house taste and way of life expressed at Charleston House for example. Their home, East End, in Cornwall, provided what has been described as an English ‘abstract aesthetic’. There was always new art to delight the visitor but it was hung and displayed so as not to be crowded. There was a quality of careful composition in the interiors, as though in a painting.

St Ives and British Modernist pictures telling the story of the Dannatt’s home, East End, in a Georgian interior. — St Ives and British Modernist pictures telling the story of the Dannatt’s home, East End, in a Georgian interior

The care with which this current exhibition has been hung in the 18th century part of the galleries provides an intimate context. It allows us to understand how the composition and domestic quality of the interiors at East End informed the viewer’s engagement with the art.

Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth, together with a number of others, drew many significant artists to Cornwall before the Second World War. St Ives would become a refuge for modernism in England and a beacon for a new generation of younger artists.

John Wells, Project, 1942, gouache ink and pencil on card, Pallant House Gallery, The George and Ann Dannatt Gift (2011) © Jonathan Clark Fine Art, Representatives of the Artist's Estate

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Barbara Hepworth dominated sculpture in St Ives. Between 1949 and 1959 Denis Mitchell assisted Hepworth. By about 1960 Mitchell’s sculptures combined Cubist geometry with converging contours, angles and mass, redolent of the landscape. His polished bronze sculptures are often vertical in form but ‘Selena’, shown in the foreground here, represents a body of work in the horizontal. It was bought by the Dannatts from the Marjorie Parr Gallery in 1969. These optimistic works responded to the predominate taste of the time for hard edged balanced forms. Taste shared by the Danatts.

In the foreground is Denis Mitchell’s polished bronze ‘Selena’, from 1969, set in the 18th century Pallant House Gallery, from the George and Ann Dannatt Gift (2011)

The Dannatts had met Denis Mitchell in 1963 through Terry Frost and their patronage was enormously important to the sculptor as he established himself. Terry Frost’s ‘Blue, Black, White’ from 1960-61 is evocative of St Ives. When you visit this seaside town the light which inspired artists of the 19th and 20th centuries cannot fail to speak to your heart. The light dances off the sea whilst lines of shadows, cast by scudding clouds, move swiftly and dramatically across the landscape. This wonderful oil painting on canvas captures the essence of this elemental experience. For me it is one of the highlights of the show.

From 1960 Denis Mitchell shared a studio in Newlyn with his friend, the artist, John Wells. Both where great encouragers to George Dannatt as he began to work as an artist himself. John Wells lived in Ditchling in Sussex until 1921. He studied medicine at University College Hospital, London between 1925 and 1930, attending St Martin’s School of Art in the evenings of 1928 and 1929. Like George Dannatt he pursued his artist career later in life. John Wells arrived in St Ives in 1940 from the Scilly Isles where he had been a GP. His work ‘Project of 1942’, shows an openness and sensitivity to the sensations of the landscape. Natural forms would continue to awaken textures and shapes in Wells and remain central to his work.

This fresh and exciting exhibition explores the George and Ann Dannatt Gift, one of the most significant donations Pallant House Gallery has received. It includes a body of largely unseen and newly conserved paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints by key figures associated with the St Ives Group of Artists in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. These include works by Terry Frost, Roger Hilton, Peter Lanyon, Ben Nicholson, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Denis Mitchell, John Wells and John Tunnard.

‘St Ives and British Modernism – The George and Ann Dannatt Collection’ runs until 20th September 2015 at Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TJ. For more information go to www.pallant.org.uk or telephone 01243 774557.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 24th June 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Patron & Artist Celebrate the Triumph of Love & Hope at Easter

The St Mary Magdalene Chapel, Chichester Cathedral, with Graham Sutherland’s ‘Noli me tangere’.

Over the centuries, it has always been the gift of great artists to reflect upon the world we all share and to allow us, through their work, to glimpse something of what lies beyond our immediate perception. The 20th century brought the shared and shocking experience of war to two generations. In 1944, the artist Hans Feibusch in his book ‘Mural Painting’ wrote, “The men who come home from the war, and all the rest of us, have seen too much horror and evil; when we close our eyes terrible sights haunt us; the world is seething with bestiality; and it is all man’s doing. Only the most profound, tragic, moving and sublime vision can redeem us. The voice of the Church should be heard loud over the thunderstorm; and the artist should be her mouth piece as of old.”

Graham Sutherland – ‘Portrait of Walter Hussey’, begun 1965, oil on canvas, Pallant House Gallery (Hussey Bequest, Chichester District Council, 1985).

It has often been the role of enlightened patrons to enable artists to express their visions. In 1942, as bombs fell upon Britain, Walter Hussey, on Kenneth Clark’s recommendation, commissioned Henry Moore to carve ‘Madonna and Child’ in the warm hues of Hornton stone at St. Matthew’s, Northampton, where he was vicar. As the sculpture was nearing completion, Hussey talked to Moore about a number of artists he was considering for a large painting in the south transept, opposite ‘Madonna and Child’. Henry Moore unhesitatingly recommended Graham Sutherland.

Hussey had in mind the Agony in the Garden as a subject. Sutherland confessed his ambition “to do a Crucifixion of a significant size” and Hussey agreed. Writing of the finished work, Kenneth Clark, then Director of the National Gallery and responsible for the War Artists project, said, “Sutherland’s Crucifixion is the successor to the Crucifixion of Grünewald and the early Italians.”

Graham Sutherland – ‘The Crucifixion’, 1947, oil on board, Pallant House Gallery (Hussey Bequest, Chichester District Council, 1985)

In 1955, Winston Churchill’s last ecclesiastical appointment was to install Walter Hussey as Dean of Chichester Cathedral, where his influence bore much fruit. Hussey can be credited with commissioning most of the exemplary 20th century art at Chichester Cathedral. How appropriate, then, that Walter Hussey’s gift of much of his art collection to Chichester should reside at Pallant House Gallery.

Sutherland’s 1947 version of the ‘Crucifixion’ from the Hussey Bequest is displayed at Pallant House Gallery. It illustrates the artist’s obsession with thorns as metaphors for human cruelty; their jagged lines are reflected throughout the composition. The American military published a book of photographs which featured scenes of the Nazi concentration camps, including images of those held captive at Belsen, Auschwitz and Buchenwald. To Sutherland, “many of the tortured bodies looked like figures deposed from crosses” and he acknowledged the influence of these photographs on his Crucifixions. Here, Jesus Christ’s body hangs lifeless upon the cross, the shocking red of his blood accentuated by the fertile green. There is agony in the body’s posture, the weight clearly visible in the angular shoulders, chest and distorted stomach. This is a God who understands and shares in human suffering. Graham Sutherland, a Roman Catholic, was sustained by his Christian faith all his life. He commented that he was drawn to the subject of the Crucifixion because of its duality. He noted that the Crucifixion “is the most tragic of all themes yet inherent in it is the promise of salvation”.

In Sutherland’s versions, a generation united in their common story finally had depictions of the Crucifixion which reflected their experience of the world and yet spoke loudly of the triumph of hope in response to the tragedy of violence and war.

Graham Sutherland’s vibrant oil on canvas ‘Noli me tangere’ of 1961 was commissioned by Walter Hussey for the St Mary Magdalene Chapel in Chichester Cathedral.

The painting depicts the moment on that first Easter morning when Mary Magdalene becomes aware that she is in the presence of her risen Lord who has just spoken her name. As she reaches out to touch him his gesture stops her. The angular composition of the figures, plants and staircase allude to the Passion narratives which lead up to and include Jesus’ crucifixion. At the centre of the painting is Jesus Christ dressed in white symbolising his holiness and purity. Christ’s finger points towards God the Father symbolising His presence. Graham Sutherland invites us into the narrative at this liminal moment so that we, like Mary, might acknowledge Jesus, our creator, teacher and friend, as advocate and redeemer of the whole world.

Here we witness the triumph of hope and love over evil and hatred.

There are a number of special services and concerts at Chichester Cathedral in the coming days to mark Holy Week and Easter. For more information and times go to www.chichestercathedral.org.uk. To find out more about Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TJ, its collections, exhibitions and opening times go to www.pallant.org.uk or telephone 01243 774557.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 1st April 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Leon Underwood: Figure and Rhythm

Leon Underwood, Chac-Mool’s Destiny, 1929, oil on canvas © The Estate of the Artist and The Redfern Gallery, London

Leon Underwood, Self-Portrait in a Landscape, 1921, etching on paper © The Estate of the Artist and The Redfern Gallery, London

An exciting exhibition at Pallant House Gallery has just opened titled Leon Underwood: Figure and Rhythm. The show gifts us with the first museum retrospective exhibition of Leon Underwood’s work. It explores the artist’s treatment of the human figure from delicate portrait etchings to sculptures, expressing rhythm and movement.

This insightful show has been curated by Pallant House Gallery’s Artistic Director, Simon Martin.

Underwood would often follow an independent path. Influenced by his deep spirituality and understanding of place in the procession of human history. Underwood’s work celebrates the vitality of ancient civilisations and tribal art. Unusually for such a talented artist there is not a readily apparent common voice uniting the different phases of his work. However, the exhibition reveals the influences in each stage of the artist’s evolution and makes apparent the repeated rhythms and Underwood’s connectedness with the artists and artistic movements of his time.

Leon Underwood, Untitled (Foetus), circa 1924-5, chalk, The Sherwin Collection © The Estate of the Artist and The Redfern Gallery, London

He taught at the Royal College of Art and subsequently at his Brook Green School in his Hampstead studio. He at once influenced his pupils and was influenced by them. Amongst Leon Underwood’s most gifted pupils were the artists Gertrude Hermes, Eileen Agar and Henry Moore.

Simon Martin notes Leon Underwood’s unorthodox approach to drawing, emphasising ‘individuality, and the need to convey volume, mass and direction with great economy.’ The sculptor, Henry Moore, was to praise Underwood’s ‘passionate attitude towards drawing from life. He set out to teach the science of drawing, of expressing solid form on flat surface and not photographic copying of tone values, nor the art school limitations of style in drawing’.

During the First World War Underwood served as a camouflage artist and the influence of this on his work is highlighted in the exhibition.

Underwood had begun to collect tribal art in 1919. Inspired by tribal art’s vitality and directness of expression the artist created directly carved embryonic shapes like the beautifully formed ‘Untitled (Foetus)’ from 1924 in chalk.

Many of the early sculptures are shallow reliefs like the rhythm of an erotic dance depicted in ‘The Dance of Salome’ carved in marble in 1924.

Leon Underwood, The Dance of Salome (Dancer), 1924, painted marble © The Estate of the Artist and The Redfern Gallery, London © The Estate of the Artist and The Redfern Gallery, London

Simon Martin suggests that Underwood’s sculptures from the 1920s and 30s have a link with the pioneering pre-war work of leading sculptors like Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Jacob Epstein and Eric Gill; as well as the direct carvings of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. This is certainly apparent to my eye.

In 1923 wood engraving was introduced at the Brook Green School. Out of the innovative environment created by Underwood a school of wood engraving emerged which would lead to the formation of the English Wood Engraving Society in 1925. The sculptures and wood engravings from this period are for me amongst the most exceptional pieces in the exhibition.

This restless and searching artist travelled to Mexico in 1929. The Aztec and Mayan sites that he visited would inspire mythical pictures. Take for example the wood engraving ‘Volcano’. Here a naked man kneels his arms raised in a gesture of praise with the Volcano beyond. In his hands he holds aloft a sculpture and a piece of paper, his sculpting tools lie at his knees, perhaps symbolic of artistic creativity. Beside him are two figures. The one to the left is drawing an outline of himself. It is as though they have been incised into the very fabric of the earth.

Leon Underwood, Volcano, 1934, wood engraving on paper © The Estate of the Artist and The Redfern Gallery, London

The ambitious canvas ‘Chaac-Mool’s Destiny’ was painted in 1929. It courageously explores the transformative power of cultural objects in museums and these objects are depicted in the British Museum. This image would certainly have resonated with Underwood’s former student, Henry Moore.

There is much more to delight in this retrospective.

The threads and relationships which unite artists and influences within the 20th century Modern British Art Movement are revealed anew in this rich exhibition.

Leon Underwood: Figure and Rhythm runs until 14th June 2015 at Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TJ. For more information go to www.pallant.org.uk or telephone 01243 774557. The accompanying book ‘Leon Underwood: Figure and Rhythm’, edited by Simon Martin, provides a wonderful insight into this lost artist whose life and work brings together so many threads of the Modern British Art Movement in the 20th Century. Priced at £19.95 it is available from the Pallant House Bookshop.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 11th March 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.