Capturing the Countryside
a post-war perspective
Saturday 7th - Sunday 15th October, 2017
An exhibition of works by four post-war
British artists: Garrick Palmer, John Piper, Rowland Suddaby & Robert Tavener
Featuring the work of four important British artists of the 1950s and 1960s, each of whom adopted a distinctive approach to capturing the countryside.
Garrick Palmer painter and printmaker born in Portsmouth in 1933 studied at Portsmouth College of Art and Design (1951-55) and then at the Royal Academy (1955-59). In addition to his imaginative watercolours he has also illustrated numerous books with fine wood engravings. His work is held in many private and public collections.
John Piper (1903-1992) was a prolific painter, printmaker and designer of stained glass and opera and theatre sets. Having been an official war artist during World War II he captured the British landscape at a time of peril and change. With works in many private, Royal and public collections including The Tate, his reputation continues to grow and his work is increasingly collectible.
Rowland Suddaby (1912-1972) is another prominent British artist whose works have been acquired by prominent collectors and public bodies including the V&A Museum. His work evokes the Suffolk countryside which became his home with fields, ponds lanes and fences caught in his own distinctive style.
Robert Tavener (1920-2004) a quiet man who produced many lithographs, linocuts, woodcuts, screen prints, watercolour and gouache paintings, described his work as “English countryside and English architecture. Shape, pattern, colour, texture, design. In other words, my subject matter is a personal interpretation of the richness, variety, beauty, and the underlying relationship with the past, of our landscape and building.”
The exhibition at the Chapel Gallery showed a collection of pieces put together by Dr Richard Turkington, FRSA, the Director of the mid-century specialists, Fifties Art. (http://fiftiesart.com )