The Exhibition is Now Over.......
Sadly, the Essex Art Club Exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery is now over. A full report will appear here shortly.
Essex Paints London: Essex Art Club Returns to the Guildhall Art Gallery
The Essex Art Club has a long tradition of exhibiting in central London and,
if possible we exhibit twice a year, once in London, and once locally. Our
most recent exhibition was at the Guildhall Art Gallery. This is a
welcome return to an old tradition of the Club who exhibited at the Guildhall
every year from 1949 to 1954 and again, from 1981 to 1986. In 1950, according
to Sandy Connor (One
Hundred Years of the Essex Art Club) "the Guildhall Exhibition proudly
boasted three special additions... They were 'Flower Piece' by Sir Frank
Brangwyn RA, later Vice-President of the Club, 'Canal Scene' by Sir Alfred
Munnings PRA, our President of the time, and 'Mont St Victoire' by Sir Winston
Churchill MP (for
Woodford). Richard Wyatt, a blacksmith from Forest Gate and
later Club Chairman, described his pride at having his work displayed near that
of Winston Churchill."
I quote the following by kind permission of Andrew Buckingham, Press Officer, City of London:
GUILDHALL ART GALLERY WELCOMES BACK ESSEX ART CLUB
Essex Art Club is today (Monday 21 April) returning to the Guildhall Art Gallery for the first time in more than 20 years with "Essex Paints London", a selected exhibition of more than one hundred paintings, prints, watercolours and drawings of London scenes and subjects.
Many famous names have been associated with the Club during its long history, including Sylvia Pankhurst, Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Alfred Munnings. Membership currently stands at 168 and includes professional and non-professional artists. Its youngest member is Sarah Harvey, who was runner-up in the ‘Best Newcomer’ category in the 2007 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and has contributed two highly atmospheric underwater paintings – of the lidos at Hampstead Heath and London Fields – to this exhibition. The show also includes an extensive selection of paintings and sculpture by past members, lent by the Royal Academy, National Portrait Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum and Imperial War Museum, as well as other institutional and private lenders. Photographs, cuttings, letters and personal belongings are also on show to tell the fascinating history of this long-established and flourishing art society.
Vivien Knight, Curator of Guildhall Art Gallery, says: “The Club’s members responded enthusiastically to the ‘London’ brief, and we are delighted to welcome them back. Given the Club’s strong commitment to encouraging membership from non-professionals and students, as well as established artists, I’m sure the exhibition will offer something for everyone.
“We are particularly pleased to show work produced by past members and presidents, and I believe that the paintings, prints, drawings and posters by Haydn Mackey and Walter Spradbery will be an eye-opener for those not already familiar with their work.”
Essex Art Club began life in 1899 when staff and students of the Walthamstow School of Arts and Crafts formed a sketching society, the Grosvenor Sketch Club, named after the School’s home in Grosvenor House in Walthamstow. It later merged with the Essex County Art Club and took in the Society of Essex Artists and by 1914, it was called the Essex Grosvenor Sketch Club. In 1934, it changed its name to the Essex Art Club and invited Sir George Clausen to become its president. Professor Ken Howard RA has been the Club’s president since 1989. The association between Guildhall Art Gallery and the Essex Art Club goes back to 1949, when the Club held its 50th exhibition in the utilitarian gallery erected on the bomb-damaged site of the original building in Guildhall Yard.