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FLAG NEWSLETTER

Chairman's thoughts - January 2025

As the New Year began, many people in the world faced natural disasters or political instability (some both), so it was something of a calming experience to be able to take an interest in the various arts which are available to us in Leamington Spa. Losing ourselves in the Art Gallery and studying a painting is a valuable diversion. This is one of our rewards for belonging to FLAG and taking a interest in matters which are more peaceful. Over the years, FLAG has made many contributions to the art collection.

Many of us have been delighted by the apparent discovery of a portrait of King Henry VIII which was in full view at Shire Hall in Warwick. In the 1590s local tapestry maker and politician, Ralph Sheldon, commissioned a set of portraits, including monarchs, for his home at Weston House, the majority of which have been lost. However, last year the exciting news was announced that one of the pictures survived and was a portrait of King Henry.

Since our summer newsletter members have been on trips to a number of less well known historic homes, described in the following pages. We have also had a varied programme of talks through the winter months, including Chloe Johnson's on local sculptor John Bridgeman (with an update overleaf). We also had a lively talk on miniatures by Dr Gillian White and we were full of wonder that the large portrait images projected on to the screen were of such fine detail, yet they were painted on surfaces just an inch or two high. At a previous meeting, we were let into secrets appertaining to the production of ceramics. There are more to come, and you'll find them listed overleaf.

I like to take every opportunity to draw attention to, and to thank, all those members who contribute so much to our monthly meetings - including booking the hall and the speakers, setting out the seating and providing and serving the tea and coffee. We appreciate this very much.

GRAHAM E. COOPER
Chairman

Spring Talks 2025

All talks are held at the Dormer Conference Centre beside St Peter's Church in Dormer Place. Parking is available on the street in Dormer Place or in St Peter's multi-storey car park.

Wednesday 19th February 2.30pm
Simon Gulliver - Chinese Wilson

Tuesday 18th March 7.30pm
Aidan McRae Thompson - Stained Glass in Leamington and Beyond

Tuesday 15th April 7.00pm AGM followed by
Tim Robottom - Introduction to Street Art

Summer trips are now being planned which we hope members will support. We try to seek out venues that are interesting but a bit more unusual. Any ideas for future trips are always welcome, as are ideas for future speakers for our meetings.

Subscriptions

You will already know that, regrettably, we have taken the decision to raise the annual subscription from £12 to £15. We are faced with increased overheads and declining membership so this is necessary to maintain a reasonable level of income to run the society and be able to support various projects for the AG&M. It does, in fact, take us in line with most other local societies. As well as continuing your membership, another way you can help is by encouraging your friends and neighbours to join FLAG: new members are always very welcome.

John Bridgeman - an update

At our October meeting Chloe Johnson, Curator at the Art Gallery and Museum, gave an interesting and informative talk on her work and daily life at the gallery. Apart from the support we give, there are also occasional gifts of artwork, or items for the museum, from members of the public. Recently the Bridgeman family donated several works by the local sculptor John Bridgeman, including a model of a standing woman. After much thought and applying for grants, it was decided to have the sculpture cast by Pangolin in Stroud, Gloucestershire so it could stand in Jephson Gardens, and Chloe told us of her visit to the foundry to watch the creation of this figure. As an aside she mentioned that Pangolin have recently completed a large memorial to the American dead of WWI that was installed outside the White House last year. The foundry's website here contains more about John Bridgeman and his work.

Tissington Hall and Ashbourne, Derbyshire


On a fine day but with a chilly wind blowing we arrived at Tissington, which stands on the edge of the Peak District National Park. After our mid-morning coffee in a converted barn, we strolled 50 yards or so to the Hall, which was built in 1609 by Francis Fitzherbert, whose descendants still live there. In 1784 Sir William Fitzherbert was elevated to the baronetcy by George III with the current owner being the 9th to hold the title. The Hall has been added to over the years, particularly in the late 1800s and again around 1900 and now, with a sumptuous bridal suite, it is a successful wedding venue.


There followed a walk around the gardens with some fine roses in bloom, lunch back in the tea room and stroll around the village. Behind the duck pond, with ducklings, there was a well-stocked garden centre which proved difficult to ignore for some. Then back onto the coach for the short journey to Ashbourne. A walk through the town with its many listed buildings took several of us to the lofty and large St Oswald's Church with its largely Victorian stained glass windows, and the magnificent memorials to the Cockaynes and their successors the Boothbys. The earliest of these dates from 1372 and their tombs are rendered in local Derbyshire alabaster, stone or marble. On the left is the touching memorial by Thomas Banks to Penelope Boothby, who died in 1791 aged just five.

Judy Ross

A memoir of the 1950s

I was at boarding school in Ashbourne and visited Tissington many times in the 1950s, already famed for its early Norman Church and the Whitsun Well Dressing thanksgiving event. The natural spring water, which still runs alongside the road, made the area habitable from medieval times. In the 1950s the villagers, farm workers and children collected the flowers, their petals and leaves to produce the biblical scenes of thanksgiving for the wells.


Like the Stoneleigh estate, there were no public houses or disorder allowed in the village. The cottagers worked on the estate and there was a good village school so bright children who passed the exam could go to Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Ashbourne, a very Protestant school, with worship at St Oswald's Church. The original school, built 1585, was used as a boys' boarding house in the 1950s and is still standing today (see above).

Since inheriting the estate in 1989, the present owner has transformed the Hall, the cottages and the grounds from a virtually medieval village, into a very upmarket, sophisticated and delightful wedding venue.

Nicole Alexander

Droitwich Spa and Hampton Court Castle

In August we had a most enjoyable and interesting day visiting Hampton Court Castle in Herefordshire. We stopped en route mid-morning for a coffee break at Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire and also had time for a quick look around the town. It has a fascinating history of salt mines as well as its 19th century fame as a popular spa town where people came to bathe in the saline waters, the warmest in Britain outside Bath! Droitwich Spa's Roman name was Salinae and the River Salwarpe runs through the town. As well as a fine 1998 sculpture celebrating the town's ancient history of salt mining, there were several old halftimbered buildings on the high street, some of which were crooked from subsidence caused by the salt mines below. At the top of Tower Hill was the old Brine Pumping Station.


This is John McKenna's Saltworkers, which shows a family of saltworkers, the father drawing the salt from a boiling trough and forcing it into a tub so it could be cut into blocks.

We then drove on through winding country roads to Herefordshire and the delightful Hampton Court Castle - no relation to its more famous London namesake. The beautiful gardens are open to the public, but we also had an entertaining private tour of the now mainly Victorian gothic castle. The oldest part of the castle, including the chapel, dates back to 1427. In recent years it has changed hands a number of times, but it is perhaps the American millionaire Robert Van Kampen who has left his stamp on the castle as we see it today. He extensively restored the building and added the present furnishings, including a great many hunting trophy heads, suits of armour and medieval weapons!


There is an important link with the Arkwright family in the early 19th century when Richard Arkwright, son of John the famous inventor, bought the castle and remodelled it in the Victorian Gothic style. The Arkwrights lived in the castle until 1912. Today the castle is mainly used as a wedding venue.


We all greatly enjoyed the delightful gardens and grounds as well as a very tasty lunch in the café. There were lots of unusual plants and flowers and some stunning water features. We were especially interested to see the espalier fruit trees dividing up the walled garden and the Dutch Garden was unusual as well as beautiful. A thoroughly enjoyable visit.

Cherry Rosewall

Henley on Thames and Ewelme

Our July trip took us down to the town of Henley on Thames and the River & Rowing Museum which is housed in an award-winning building in a beautiful riverside setting. This proved to be a lot more interesting than we perhaps thought, covering stories of the river, the town and the international sport of rowing. The Wind in the Willows experience was charming for all ages! Of particular interest was the Piper Gallery, exploring the life and career of John Piper, one of the most significant British artists of the 20th century, whose home was on the edge of Henley. It was a surprise to see the range of styles of his work on display.


We then headed to the village of Ewelme where we were met by the village archivist at the historic church of St Mary the Virgin. This owes much to Thomas Chaucer, Governor of Wallingford Castle and the son of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived in Ewelme, and to his daughter Alice, whose third husband was William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk. They continued the changes made by her father and founded a chantry chapel and trust in 1437 that exists to this day. After showing us the school and the almshouses, we went into the church to have a brief history of the village and the Ewelme Trust.


Photo: Ken Alexander

Along with other notable features of the church is Alice Chaucer's tomb, cut entirely of alabaster, and in two tiers. On the upper tier she is wearing all the finery you would expect of the Duchess of Suffolk, while below she appears as a cadaver, well screened behind alabaster ornament. It is the only intact life-size cadaver of a woman in England, and the only cadaver effigy in the country made in alabaster.


Photo: Aidan McRae Thomson

We had a few interesting graves pointed out to us, including that of Jerome K. Jerome (author of Three Men in a Boat), before returning through the village to the Watercress Beds and Nature Reserve. After slightly disappointing lunch options at the Museum, we all enjoyed the splendid tea provided for us. We watched a film on the history of the site and there was time to enjoy more of this peaceful setting before leaving for home.

Judy Ross

Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire


We approached Ditchley Park through a beech avenue across extensive parkland, arriving at the south-east front of the house, which was designed by James Gibbs and built by Smith of Warwick. Two large lead figures of Loyalty and Fame stand high up on the parapet of this restrained Palladian edifice built of local limestone in 1722. It took a further ten years to complete the interior. It replaced ‘a low ancient timber house with a pretty bowling green' which was the setting for a great tournament held for Queen Elizabeth by her Champion at the Tilt, Sir Henry Lee in 1592. She was commemorated by the famous Ditchley portrait by Gheeraerts the younger, standing on a map of England astride this area of Oxfordshire, of which Ditchley has a copy.


The spacious Hall is richly decorated by William Kent and the Italian stucco artists Vassali, Artari and Serena

In the Velvet Room (formerly a state bedroom) hangs a portrait of Sir Henry Lee by Mark Gheeraerts with his Mastiff Bevis, who refused to leave his master as a miscreant was hiding beneath his bed. The walls of the Velvet Room are lined with Genoese velvet purchased in the 1730s, with designs representing the Hindu god Shiva (below).


The ceiling in the White Room soon collapsed due to the weight of its decorative plasterwork. Here are portraits by Lely of Charles II and Barbara Villiers, grandparents of the second Lord Litchfield, builder of the present house. The paintings of Charlotte Fitzroy and her brother, the first Duke of Grafton, were by Kneller. We admired the largest of the Henry Cheere carved fireplaces and in the corner was one of the closets that Nancy Tree had installed (she was keen on plumbing).

Ronnie and Nancy Tree bought the house and park in the 1930s and hosted Winston Churchill during the early years of the war ‘when the moon was high' and his official residence, Chequers, was too exposed. He had meetings with US envoy Harry Hopkins and the details of Lend-Lease were worked out here. On the first floor the Library is now the conference room for the Ditchley Foundation which works with people from across the world to help sustain peace, freedom and order. The adjoining Saloon had views over a lake to woods where King James I and his son went hunting and killed the Red Deer stags whose antlers adorn the walls. DNA studies are now being carried out on these as they were the last of the native deer in the area.



The two lead figures on the pediment, which Pevsner says are by Carpentier. One symbolises fame, the other loyalty

After a very interesting morning we were soon passing through Charlbury and into Chipping Norton, whose small museum is well set out. I was surprised to learn that Baseball was introduced by the Scouts in 1909. There were places of interest along every street, and we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon here in the sunshine.

Marilyn Lowe

Art Gallery News

Happy New Year! Thankfully, the start to 2025 has been much calmer than this time last year, when we were tackling floods at the Royal Pump Rooms. We hope that some of our problems caused by water incursions will be dealt with when work starts on the repair of the roof later this year. The work has been made possible with a grant of £2.3m from Arts Council England's Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND). More details about the project will be added to the website soon. As ever, we look forward to an exciting programme of exhibitions, events and activities in the year ahead.

Exhibitions and displays

Soon after the new year began our exhibition 25 Years | 25 Objects | 25 Artists closed. The exhibition, which ran from 4th October, celebrated the fact that Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum has been based in the Pump Rooms for 25 years. The exhibition showcased 25 items acquired for the collection over the last 25 years, including many made possible by FLAG funding. For the first time we created a podcast series that delved deeper into the stories behind each object. The exhibition space also incorporated a display by OPEN 2024 winner Mark Elsmore and a pop-up shop where 25 locally based artists were able to sell their work. You may have noticed changes have been made to the foyer area to provide a new shop area, so that we can continue to support local artists.

Coming next we have Unravelling History: unpicking the collections and reworking textile traditions (31st January - 11th May). Co-created by history curator Abi Flack and artist Annabel Rainbow, the exhibition showcases the work of five other internationally renowned textile artists from the Midlands: Laura Kemshall, Linda Kemshall, Daniel Lismore, Jennie Moncur and Stephanie Redfern. Their work is presented alongside items from the Art Gallery & Museum collection which have either provided inspiration or that speak to each artist's approach to their craft - putting contemporary work in dialogue with the past. Find out more at the Friday Focus Extra with Abi and Annabel on Friday 31st January, or attend one of the monthly Meet the Artist events.

In the summer will be A Different View: women artists in the Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum collection (30th May - 14th September), curated by Kellie Sabin. Spanning the last 250 years and up to the present day, this exhibition explores and celebrates the work of women artists in our collection.

Collections

Thanks to generous support from FLAG we have framed and mounted two recent acquisitions to the collection. Apollo Pythion (1991) by Joe Tilson (1928-2023) is currently on display in the main gallery and Thistledown (2018) by Amy Sharrocks (b.1969) will be exhibited this summer in the temporary exhibition, A Different View.


Apollo Pythian

We were delighted to be successful in our application for funding from the Art Fund to acquire the Piper painting of Wolfhamcote Church which is supported with a pledge from FLAG and has been on display in the gallery for some time. We are now awaiting news from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund before we are able to confirm the painting can be become part of the collection.

We have been researching the Gainsborough portrait of local landowner and politician Henry Christopher Wise which is currently on display in the main gallery. The painting is on loan while we try to secure funding to acquire it for the collection. The portrait had been missing since 1949 and was only recently rediscovered. Last month we were able to look more closely at the paint surface with conservator Stewart Meese, who used UV light to reveal areas of over-painting and restoration, which had initially caused concern.



We also received confirmation from the international authority on Gainsborough, Hugh Belsey, that the painting has been authenticated as a work by the great master. Belsey can be seen investigating a Gainsborough portrait from a similar stage in the artist's career on Fake or Fortune Series 3, episode 4 - available on BBC iPlayer.

History Curator Lily Crowther has been researching a family photograph album from the 1860s-70s. The album features members of the Wrangham/Raikes family, who were prominent in politics, the law and the clergy. It was probably made as a gift for Lucy Raikes (née Wrangham, 1811-89). Many of the people who appear in the album are her children and grandchildren. The pages are embellished with hand-painted frames of flowers, ribbons, household objects, or geometric shapes. The album seems to have been passed down through the family to Lucy Raikes' granddaughters, five of whom lived in Leamington Spa; it was probably given to LSAG&M in 1957, but was not taken into the collection at the time. It will be displayed in the upcoming exhibition A Different View.


Page from the Wrangham/Raikes album, with photographs of Emily Marion Yorke (née Raikes, 1854-1936) and her husband, Lt.-Col. Philip Charles Yorke (1844-95).

Welcome to Kellie Sabin, Art Curator at Leamington AG&M

Kellie joined the gallery in December 2023. Before this she was a postgraduate researcher in the University of Nottingham's Art History department looking into the work of the German artist Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907). In 2023 she organised a symposium ‘Making Modernism in Imperial Germany' at the Courtauld Institute, in respect of the Making Modernism exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Kellie holds an MRes in Art History from the University of Nottingham, an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester and has previously worked with collections at Rutland County Museum and Leicester New Walk Museum. Her areas of interest are late nineteenth and twentieth century art and women artists. She lives with her family in Uppingham, Rutland and is delighted to be working with the team and collection at LSAG&M.

Learning & Engagement - an update from Giovanni

We have had a busy and exciting few months in which we have been working hard to expand and refresh our programme of events and workshops, as well as building on the success of our regular activities. The 2024 programme culminated just before Christmas with our Victorian Christmas family afternoon which proved to be a great success. Thank you to the members of FLAG who supported us by serving refreshments - as always, your support and help is most appreciated.

To add to our developing programme of events and workshops we are trialling the following workshops which are available to book right now, with more planned over the course of the year. These are Adult Workshops (12 places available per workshop) and are on Saturday mornings, 10.30am - 1.30pm, £50 per workshop:

  • Saturday 1st February - Lino printing with Catriona Dunnett
  • Saturday 8th February - Creative Weaving with Amie Wiberley
  • Saturday 1st March - Still Life with Suminder Virk
  • Saturday 5th April - Folk Art with Vanessa Cooper

Finally, I'd like to introduce our new Learning and Engagement apprentice, Elina Smith who has already made a great start to her time with us at the AG&M. FLAG members who attended the Christmas event would have met her there. We wish her every success in her time with us.

Arts Development - an update from Connor

We are approaching the conclusion of Kialy Tinhgang's Fetissoes display in our Main Gallery. Kialy, a recipient of the France Brodeur Young Artist Award (FBYAA) in June 2023 also joined the selection panel for the Open 2024 exhibition.

We are currently reviewing applications for the latest round of the FBYAA. Alongside this, we are assessing Arts Project Grant applications, which will support local arts organisations in delivering inclusive arts and heritage projects across Warwick District.


Fetissoes on display

Finally, we would like to thank FLAG for their ongoing support. From financial assistance for conservation work, to helping out at events and being advocates for the gallery, everything that you do has a big impact on the Art Gallery & Museum offer. We look forward to working with you in 2025.

Very best wishes for the year ahead from us and the team,

Chloe Johnson and Vicki Slade Collections & Engagement Managers January 2025


FLAG is now on Facebook

Both the blog and Facebook pages have information about forthcoming trips and talks, news from the art gallery and up-and-coming art events locally.

The FLAG blog: https://friendsofleamingtonartgallery.blogspot.com/
FLAG on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendsofleamingtonspaartgallery



Published by FLAG
Friends of Leamington Art Gallery & Museum www.friendsofleamingtonartgallery.co.uk