In addition to visiting
Fabrica and the
Otter Gallery during the past week, I was also able to see exhibitions and collections at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and at Pallant House Gallery.
'
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is located in the Royal Pavilion garden, at the heart of the city’s cultural quarter. Its diverse collections bring together the arts and history to tell stories about the city and the world we live in.'
'Royal Pavilion and Museums’ Fine Art collection ranges from late 15th century woodcuts, through old masters of all the major European schools, to key 20th century works informed by New York’s abstract expressionists. This remarkable collection contains nearly 1,500 oil paintings, 4,000 watercolours and drawings, and well over 10,000 prints. It also includes topographical material on the history of Brighton & Hove, and prized Chinese export watercolours and oil paintings.
This collection ranges from works influenced by post impressionism to major late 20th century works from across the Atlantic. Other highlights include one of the finest public collections of
Glyn Philpot, and works by
Walter Sickert,
Vanessa Bell,
Paul Nash,
Graham Sutherland,
Jacob Epstein,
Eric Gill and
Stanley Spencer.'
'
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery displays many objects with an LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) connection. However, their histories are often hidden; as a result they have a
Trail giving a brief guided tour of pieces on display, exploring and revealing additional LGBTQ stories.
Glyn Philpot was homosexual and a practising Christian, who became celebrated for his society portraits in the early 20th century. While serving in World War I he met Vivian Forbes who became his student and companion, sharing a home and studio in London. A silver loving cup, engraved with their names and given to the couple as a gift, can also be seen in the 20th Century Art & Design gallery. A sculpture and more of his paintings are also displayed there.'
Pallant House Gallery's Collection of British Modern art is frequently described as one of the best in the UK. with important works by
Gino Severini ,
Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore,
John Piper, Graham Sutherland,
Patrick Caulfield,
Michael Andrews,
Peter Blake and
Richard Hamilton. Alongside the Collection, there is a rolling programme of first-class
exhibitions and displays incorporating national, international and contemporary art.
Currently these include:
'
Nek Chand: The Rock Garden Sculptures is an installation of sculptures by internationally renowned Outsider artist Nek Chand (b. 1924), creator of the famous sculpture park
The Rock Garden of Chandigarh, in India. Over forty figurative concrete and mosaic works created from found objects and on loan from the
Nek Chand Foundation are on display in the Courtyard Garden and Garden Gallery. A self-taught Indian artist Nek Chand’s sculptures reflect his intuitive approach to creating.'
'St Ives and British Modernism is an exhibition exploring one of the Gallery's most significant donations, the
George and Ann Dannatt Gift, which includes a largely unseen and newly conserved group of paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints by key figures associated with the St Ives Group of Artists in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, including
Terry Frost,
Roger Hilton,
Peter Lanyon,
Ben Nicholson,
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and
John Tunnard.'
'Sickert in Dieppe' which demonstrates the artist's vivid interest in everyday life in Dieppe, to which he was a regular visitor for over four decades and a permanent resident from 1898-1905. Over 80 paintings, prints, preparatory drawings and etchings show Sickert's breadth of subject matter - the town's architecture, harbour and fishing quarter, shops, café culture and inhabitants - whilst charting the development of his pictorial technique during this period. It shows the importance of the personal and professional relationships he made in Dieppe, including European artists such as
Degas,
Whistler and the
Impressionists.
In addition to much mentioned above, I particularly appreciated seeing work by
Cecil Collins,
John Craxton,
Dora Holzhandler,
Albert Houthuesen,
David Jones,
R.B. Kitaj,
Albert Louden,
Winifred Nicholson,
Ceri Richards and
Keith Vaughan. The following quote from Winifred Nicholson seemed relevant to much that I saw: 'The nature of abstract colour is utter purity - but colours wish to fly, to merge, to change each other by their juxtapositions, to radiate, to shine, to withdraw deep into themselves.'
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