JULY MEETING - ARTISTS WHO HAVE BEEN TO THE SLADE SCHOOL

OF FINE ART

Wendy intrigued us with her choice of Rex Whistler (1905-1944) a brilliant and

prolific illustrator who, amongst many other things, painted this 58 foot long

mural on canvas which was glued to the plaster on the wall in Plas Newydd, the

home of the Marquis of Anglesey.

Next was Andrea and her story of

Dora Carrington, one of the

Bloomsbury Group, who painted this

portrait of her lover Lytton

Strachey.

Glennis finds this Merry-Go-Round

painted by Mark Gertler in 1916

compelling. It is now taken to be an

expression of hatred against the war

although at the time DH Lawrence saw it

as the anguish of Jews.

Nancy introduced us to Pauline Baynes who

started her career drawing maps for the

MOD. She was interested in the Luttrell

Psallter and did some drawings which she left

with the publishers George Allen & Unwin.

These were seen by Tolkien who decided that

he wanted her to illustrate all his books.

Denise told us of Derek Jarman who

was a prolific designer, film producer

and garden creator. This painting is

the cover of an album by Coil “How to

Destroy Angels”

Finally, as Jenny had missed out on her

favourite painting in the previous

meeting, she brought along this lovely

“Wetland Willows” by Lesley Fawcett

from Dorset.

Jenny’s version is a gicle print of batik

on silk which she and her daughter like

so much they share it!

AUGUST MEETING - PAINTINGS WE DISLIKE (PRE 20TH CENTURY)

A very lively meeting with much exclamation at the variety of disliked paintings

that had been brought along!

Wendy led with Heironymus Bosch (c1450-1516) and his “Garden of Earthly

Delights”, painted c1510-1515 in oil on wood panels (220 x 389 cm) and

currently held by the Musea del Prado in Madrid. Bosch had a strong sense of

fantasy and used this in his very detailed paintings which he used to illustrate

moral and religious concepts. He was born in what is known today as The

Netherlands and spent much of his life in the Brotherhood of Our Lady. His

style was highly influential and widely imitated by his numerous followers.

Next Glennis shared her dislike of Guiseppe

Arcimboldo’s portraits featuring fruit and

vegetables. Arcimboldo lived from 1527-1593 and

painted this particular version of “Summer” around

1573 in oil on canvas and held in the Louvre, Paris,

Jean Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779)

pictures of dead animals were Andrea’s

“choice”. There was discussion about the

fashion for these sort of paintings during

Chardin’s lifetime - his own preference was for

domestic pots and pans but he had to make a

living! This “Still Life with Two Rabbits” was

painted in oil on canvas (50 x 57cm) and can be

see in the Musée de Picardie.

None of us liked Jan’s offering by

Theodore Gericault (1791-1824) entitled

“Anatomical Pieces”: oil on canvas

(52x64cms) from the Musée Fabre,

Montpellier

Jenny made us laugh as she dislikes the

whole Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood but, in

particular , “Prosperpine” by Dante Gabriel

Rossetti (1828-1882) painted in 1874 oil on

canvas (125x61cm) in Tate Britain.

Jenny described the Brotherhood as

sentimental with no message, appeal or

attraction. She felt the women models were

revolting, gloomy, androgynous and all the

same. The only redeeming feature Jenny

could find was the splendid treatment of the

robes, draperies etc.

Nancy told us about the Isenheim altarpiece, a wooden panel on which Matthias

Grünewald (1470 - 1528) painted “a sermon in pictures” in oils. This was

supposed to bring spiritual comfort to the dying but depicts the particular skin

diseases the patients suffered from (St Anthony’s Fire) and horror in the

contorted body and scourge marks

Margaret and Denise both chose Edvard

Munch’s “The Scream”. There are

actually five versions painted from 1895

to 1910, one is a lithograph. The best

known version was created in 1893: oil,

tempera and pastel on cardboard, and is

currently in the National Gallery, Oslo.

It is believed that Munch was fully in

the grip of psychological torment when

he painted this.

In spite of the subject, or perhaps even

because of it, the discussions were

animated and full of laughter.

However, we are looking forward to

September and the beginning of our new

year when we will be sharing paintings

we have recently discovered.