In the Spring of 2018, the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (the RE) marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder and its first President Sir Francis Seymour Haden, with Print REbels an exhibition which reflects on its past and present members, the history, and the legacy of the Society. The exhibition brings together a prestigious collection of prints by Haden and those who inspired him such as Rembrandt and Dürer and his contemporaries, including Samuel Palmer and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Continue reading
British printmaking
Mary Ellen Edwards – A Victorian Woman Illustrator
Illustrator Mary Ellen Edwards was born to Mary (née Johnson, c.1809-1898) and Downes Edwards (c. 1805-1882) on the 6th November 1838 on her father’s farm in Surbiton just outside London. The family had nine children of which two died in infancy. The Edwards moved frequently. Her father was an engineer and inventor and had by 1848 enough funds to built a family residence, Ravenscliffe in Douglas on the Isle of Man. Eventually they settled in London and lived there at various addresses in fashionable parts of town such as Pimlico, South Kensington and Chelsea.
Exploring the School of Art Collection 2017
Gathering Storm
Three women sit on a bench huddled close together. Backs to us, their arms wrap around each other snuggly, they look intimate and protected. Heads bent forward with faces close, these women are in the middle of a private moment, excluding the rest of the world. Rain falls from black clouds in the sky above, whilst overhead telephone wires stretch across poles from either side of the women, as if framing them. They are centre and focus of the print.
History of Printmaking – Lifelong Learning course for 2018/19 starts 24th October
Did you know Aberystwyth University holds an outstanding collection of prints? If you would like to learn about the different ways prints are made, and get hands-on experience of our print collection, then History of Printmaking is for you. The course surveys the development of printmaking from the 15th century to the present with reference to the work of many famous artists including Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Piranesi, Gillray, Whistler and Picasso. By the end of the course you will know your mezzotint from your aquatint, have a good historical understanding of the role of the print in society and be able to start collecting prints with confidence.
Tutor: Phil Garratt
Fee £110, course code CA109
Dydd Mercher / Wednesday, 1.30-4.00pm, Oct 24, Nov 7, 21, Dec 5 19, Jan 9, 23, Feb 6
Contact Phil Garratt on pjg@aber.ac.uk if you are interested in enrolling or would like further details about the content of the course.
( 01970 621580 : learning@aber.ac.uk www.aber.ac.uk/sell
Addysg Uwch yn y Gymuned / Higher Education in the Community
Joseph Wolf – “The best all-round animal painter that ever lived.”
Joseph (Mathias) Wolf was born on the 22nd January 1820 in the little village of Mörz, near Koblenz, Germany. His father, Anton Wolf (1788-1859) was a farmer and headman of the village. As a boy, Wolf loved spending time outdoors, observing and sketching the local wildlife. Sometimes, he would shoot specimens to dissect them at home in order to achieve a better understanding of their anatomy, plumage or fur. He would also capture live birds and mammals to draw them. He built special traps to catch large birds of prey without harming them. His obsession, apparently, earned him the unflattering nickname ‘bird fool’ from his father. Watching wildlife became a lifelong passion and, although he killed some for study, he abhorred the mindless slaughter of animals that many Victorians regarded as a ‘manly’ pastime and sport. According to his biographer and friend Alfred Herbert Palmer (1853-1931), son of artist Samuel Palmer (1805-81), Wolf accused these ‘sportsmen’ of having “no desire to know about a thing. Their only desire is to kill it.” He also called man “the most destructive and carnivorous animal in the world.”
‘To hell with nature!’ A Reappraisal of Charles Tunnicliffe Prints – at the School of Art Gallery, 12/02/-16/03/2018
‘To hell with nature!’ – A Reappraisal of Charles Tunnicliffe Prints
Painter-printmaker Charles Tunnicliffe (1901–1979) grew up on a farm near Macclesfield in Cheshire. A scholarship enabled him to study at the Royal College of Art in London. Soon after his studies, Tunnicliffe gained a reputation as an etcher of farming subjects. Today, he is widely regarded as Britain’s foremost twentieth-century wildlife artist.
Towards the end of a career spanning six decades, Tunnicliffe was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. In an interview published in the Society’s magazine, Tunnicliffe stated:
‘I have shocked quite a lot of people by saying ‘To hell with nature!’ Nature is made to be used, not to be dictator, as far as the dyed-in-the-wool artist is concerned.’
Tunnicliffe’s exclamation expresses the frustration of an artist whose pictures are often judged on the strength of their fidelity to nature. Instead, Tunnicliffe’s prints show us nature transformed by culture and outdone by art. They demonstrate their maker’s knowledge of art history, his love of design, and the need to tell his own story.
Printmaking earned Tunnicliffe his Royal Academy of Arts membership in 1954. By then, he rarely produced fine art prints. For decades, Tunnicliffe’s work in various media appeared in magazines, on calendars and biscuit tins.
The stock market crash of 1929 had made it necessary for Tunnicliffe to rethink his career. Turning from etching to wood engraving, he became a prolific illustrator. His first project was Tarka the Otter.
Anglesey was no retreat for Tunnicliffe. Working on commission, he created colourful paintings he described as ‘decorations for modern rooms.’ He also continued to turn out mass-reproduced designs that promoted anything from pesticides to the Midland Bank.
Since the mid-1930s, Tunnicliffe’s work has been appreciated mainly second-hand. Until last year, when Robert Meyrick and I put together a catalogue raisonné of his etchings and wood engravings, Tunnicliffe never had a printmaking exhibition at the Royal Academy.
For some of his early prints, no contemporary impressions are known to exist. The plates were proofed by School of Art printmaker Andrew Baldwin.
Tunnicliffe’s career does not fit into the narrative of Modernism. It is a product of modernity. In his work, at least, he never said ‘to hell’ with culture. Pragmatic yet passionate, he made images to make a living.
Harry Heuser, exhibition curator
Curatorial team: Phil Garratt, Neil Holland, Robert Meyrick, Karen Westendorf
FOR ABER TWO – New exhibition at the School of Art Gallery: 09 August – 01 September 2017
‘A’ For Aber Two
Aberystwyth Printmakers
7 August to 1 September 2017
This exhibition is a A follow up to last year’s A for Aber. This time the focus is on Visit Wales’ theme of the ‘Year of Legends’ 2017.
At the Margins – New Exhibition at the School of Art Gallery: 07 August – 01 September 2017
At the Margins arises from this collaboration and a long-standing friendship between two printmaking communities: Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand and Aberystwyth Printmakers in Wales. This was fostered by a Strategic Insight Programme award (SIP) to Judy Macklin to develop a bi-national programme of art-science collaboration between Wales and New Zealand. The theme of this exhibition was jointly conceived by Judy Macklin, Kathy Boyle (President of Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand) and Mark Macklin. Continue reading
Year of Legends 2017
2017 is the ‘Year of Legends’ in Wales, and we delved deeply into our collection to see what treasures relating to this fabulous theme might come to light. We selected a few, some of which will be included in a small display at the School of Art; others will only be viewable online. This is an on-going project and from time to time we might add to this post, so keep an eye out for updates.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens with illustrations by Phiz (Household Words, 1874)
“Old Lobbs gave it one tug, and open it flew, disclosing Nathaniel Pipkin standing bolt upright inside, and shaking with apprehension from head to foot.”
“Mr. Wardle looked on, in silent wonder.”
“The heroic man actually threw himself into a paralytic attitude, confidently supposed by the two bystanders to have been intended as a posture of self-defence.”
“Before Mr. Pickwick distinctly knew what was the matter, he was surrounded by the whole body, and kissed by every one of them.”
“The words were scarcely out of the old gentleman’s lips, when footsteps were heard ascending the stairs.”
“I say, how nice you look.”
“Mr. Pickwick no sooner put on his spectacles, than he at once recognised in the future Mrs. Magnus the lady into whose room he had so unwarrantably intruded on the previous night.”
“Mr. Snodgrass and Mr. Winkle had each performed a compulsory summerset with remarkable agility?.”
“Seated on an upright tombstone, close to him, was a strange unearthly figure.”
“Mr. Tupman looked round. There was the fat boy.”
“I say insolent familiarity, Sir,” said Mr. Pickwick, turning upon Fogg with a fierceness of gesture which caused that person to retreat towards the door with great expedition.”
“He has come out,” said little Mr. Perker, greatly excited; the more so as their position did not enable them to see what was going forward.
“Mr. Weller was dispelling all the feverish remains of the previous evening’s conviviality, . . . . when he was attracted by the appearance of a young fellow in mulberry-coloured livery.”
“There was a scream as of an individual — not a rook — in corporeal anguish. Mr. Tupman had saved the lives of innumerable unoffending birds by receiving a portion of the charge in his left arm.”
“Sam, having been formally introduced . . . . as the offspring of Mr. Weller, of the Belle Savage, was treated with marked distinction.”
“The Kitchen door opened, and in walker Mr. Job Trotter.”
“Heyling!” said the old man wildly. “My boy, Heyling, my dear boy, look, look!” Gasping for breath, the miserable father pointed to the spot where the young man was struggling for life.
“The horse no sooner beheld Mr. Pickwick advancing with the chaise whip in his hand.”
“Permit me to introduce my friends — Mr. Tupman — Mr. Winkle — Mr. Snodgrass.”
“Standing before the dressing-g;lass was a middle-aged lady in yellow curl-papers, busily engaged in brushing what ladies call their ‘back hair’.”
“Sam looked at the Fat Boy with great astonishment, but without saying a word.”
“Mr. Pickwick….went slowly and gravely down the slide, with his feet about a yard and a quarter apart, amidst the gratified shouts of all the spectators.”
“Take this little villain away”, said the agonised Mr. Pickwick.
Frontispiece for chapter 1 ‘The Pickwickians’
“The door was just going to be closed in consequence, when an inquisitive boarder, who had been peeping between the hinges, set up a fearful screaming.”
“Who are you, you rascal?” said the captain, administering several pokes to Mr. Pickwick’s body with the thick stick. “What’s your name?”
“Old Mr. Wardle, with a highly-inflamed countenance, was grasping the hand of a strange gentleman.”
Mr Pickwick sat in a wheelbarrow. Frontipiece
“The mottled-faced gentleman reviewed the company, and slowly lifted his hand.”
“Sam stole a look at the inquirer.”
“The chair was an ugly old gentleman; and what was more, he was winking at Tom Smart.”
“You just come avay,” said Mr. Weller. “Battledore and Shuttlecock’s a wery good game, vhen you an’t the shuttlecock and two lawyers the battledores.”
“A compliment which Mr. Weller returned by knocking him down out of hand: having previously with the utmost consideration, knocked down a chairman for him to lie upon.”
“God bless me, what’s the matter?”
(Click on the images to enlarge them.)
Aberystwyth University School of Art Museum & Galleries 