Patrick Heron – English Painter, Writer and Designer

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January 25, 2011

Another artist whose work will be shown at the forthcoming Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain is Patrick Heron.

Little is probably known about this English painter, writer and designer.  He was born in in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1920.  His father was a clothes manufacturer and the family moved around a lot in Heron’s early years, eventually settling in Welwyn Garden City where his father founded the firm, Cresta Silks.  It was whilst working for Cresta Silks that Heron designed his first silkscreen and in fact he continued to design for his father’s company for almost twenty years.

In 1937, Heron attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London on a part time basis but liked to return to the West Country, not to play Play Keno or Blackjack, but to visit one of the places he had lived as child, to draw landscapes.  He registered as a conscientious objector during the Second World War and worked as an agricultural labourer for three years, before being employed by the Leach Pottery in St Ives.

The Boats and the Iron Ladder

His first one-man exhibition was held at the Redfern Gallery in London in 1947 and included work such as ‘The Gas Stove’ and ‘The Boats and the Iron Ladder’, which showed the direction his painting was moving towards with the unusual use of colour and complex patterning.

After working as art critic for the New English Weekly and The New Statesman, Heron started a teaching job at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1953 where he stayed for 3 years.

In 1959, Heron won the Grand Prize at the second John Moores Liverpool Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery and surely would even have been successful at Internet Kasinos if he’d tried his luck.

During the Sixties and Seventies, Heron lectured around the world, culminating in his book, The Shape of Colour in 1978 and a few years later, on a return trip to Sydney, Australia, he produced over fifty paintings while working as Artist in Residence at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

He continued painting right up until his death in March 1999 at the age of 79 and many of his works can be seen at The Tate Collection, London and at Tate, St Ives, Cornwall.

Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts.

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Thomas Girtin – 18th Century English Landscape Artist

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January 20, 2011

We are going to focus over the next few weeks on those artists whose work is to be shown at the forthcoming Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain (see previous article).

First up is Thomas Girtin, who belongs to the early school of English watercolour artists and in fact has been credited as one of the founders of English watercolor painting.  With the exception of a series of paintings completed in Paris just before his death, Girtin’s work is exclusive to English scenery and he played a major part in transforming the reputation of watercolour as a medium.

Girtin was born in London in 1775 and was taught how to draw at a young age by Thomas Malton and then became an apprentice of Edward Dayes, an engraver and topographical watercolourist.  His early work was exceptional and it was his topographical and architectural sketches in particular which helped to establish his reputation.  In 1794 he had his first exhibition of landscape painting at the London Royal Academy and by 1799, Lady Sutherland and the art collector, Sir George Beaumont were amongst his influential patrons.

He married Mary Ann Borrett, the daughter of a prosperous London Goldsmith, in 1800 and it was also at this time he was working with Turner, copying architectural paintings by Canaletto.

By 1801 he was a regular guest at the country homes of his patrons, such as Mulgrave Castle and Harewood House, and his paintings were commanding substantial fees.  However, his health was beginning to fail and as we’ve already cited, in spent the last few months of his life in Paris completing a series of watercolours, “Twenty Views in Paris and its Environs”.  His final work was a panorama of London painted in oils, called the “Eidometropolis” which received great acclaim.

Thomas Girtin - Self Portrait - 1799

It was a tragedy when Girtin died in November 1802 at the tender age of 27.  His control of this medium was greater than anyone who had come before him, and with his untimely demise, one saw the end of the first phase of English landscape painting.  This is particularly brought home by the often quoted remark of J M W Turner, “If Thomas Girtin had lived, I would have starved” and reminds us that whilst he was alive, Girtin was the leader and Turner was the follower.

Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts.

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Watercolour Exhibition at Tate Britain

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January 13, 2011

This exhibition will be running at the Tate Britain Gallery in London between 16th February and 21st August 2011.

Tate Britain, London

It promises to be a fascinating exhibition and will trace the history of watercolour painting from medieval times up to today’s ground breaking contemporary style.

The perception amongst many is that the golden age of watercolour painting in Britain was the hundred years between 1750 and 1850, but in fact watercolours were evident as far back as the Middle Ages in the form of manuscripts and topographical illustrations, and this exhibition aims to demonstrate to people how much older the use of watercolour is.  It will also highlight those European painters who influenced British artists with their use of watercolour.

The main reason that watercolour has been such a popular medium over the years is it’s portability, allowing artists to travel with their paints to all corners of the globe, and much of the work on show in the Watercolour exhibition documents what these artists saw on their travels, from flora and fauna to the capturing of war on the battlefield.  In fact, before the invention of photography, watercolour was one of the only mediums available to record eye witness events.

Around two hundred exhibits will be on show from various different schools of art and will include work from British artists such as William Blake, JMW Turner and Thomas Girtin, as well as more contemporary work from artists such as Patrick Heron, Anish Kapoor and Tracey Emin.

Patrick Heron - Reclining Nude on Iron Bed

This exhibition takes a fresh look at watercolours from all angles and will just go to prove how varied a medium watercolour really is.  A must see for all lovers of this medium!

The Watercolour exhibition at Tate Britain takes place from 10am – 5pm 16th February – 21st August 2011 – don’t miss out!

Categories: Exhibitions.

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J.M.W. Turner – English Romantic Landscape Painter

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January 7, 2011

Whilst Joseph Mallord William Turner (or J.M.W. Turner for short) is perhaps more renowned nowadays for his oil paintings, he is also regarded as one of the founders of English watercolour landscape painting. His entire life was devoted to art; he had the rare honour of his work being exhibited when he was still a teenager and unlike many other artists of his time, he was successful throughout his whole career.

He was born in London on April 23rd 1775. His mother died when he was still very young and Turner received very little education apart from the study of art. At the age of thirteen he was making drawings at home and selling them from his father’s barber shop window. He was accepted into the Royal Academy of Art schools in 1789 at the tender age of fourteen and as we have already mentioned, one of his watercolour’s was exhibited in the Summer Exhibition of 1790 after only one year’s study.

By the time he had reached eighteen years of age, he had built up such a fine reputation that he had his own studio and print sellers were keen to buy his work to reproduce.

Though all of his early works were watercolour landscapes, he was painting in oils by 1796 and in 1802, when he was just twenty seven, he became a full member of the Royal Academy.

Strange Sun After Rain

Having been trained academically, Turner seemed to spend the rest of his life developing a painting technique all of his own. Instead of merely recording factually what he saw, he relentlessly studied nature and light and translated scenes into an expression of his own romantic feelings.

As he grew older, Turner became quite an eccentric and allowed no one to watch him while he painted. He continued to hold exhibitions, but was reluctant to sell his paintings; if he was persuaded to sell one, he was known to track it down and repurchase it! Upon his death in 1851 he left nearly 30,000 pieces of work to his country.

Turner’s reputation is as one of the most important British painters of all time and he remains a towering figure of British art, 150 + years after his death and his work is more popular than ever now.

Blue Rigi: Lake of Lucerne

Categories: European Artists.

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