FLAG NEWSLETTER

Chairman's thoughts - January 2024

I have little doubt that Lucy Kemp-Welch's 'Winter's White Silence' is one of the best loved, if not the best loved, picture in the art gallery. Some weeks ago I re-read Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, for the first time since my early teens. Although it's considered a children's classic, Sewell originally wrote it for those who worked with horses, and she strongly advocated the need to treat horses with consideration. (I always think about the poor horses which had to haul the trams up the Parade before the trams were electrified.)

The book was published in 1877 and my version was issued in 1927; it contains excellent line drawings of horses which I very much admired. On finishing the book I casually looked back at the title page and besides indicating the authoress, what jumped out at me was 'Illustrated by Lucy Kemp-Welch'. I was delighted that I had admired these drawings before discovering their artist. 'Winter's White Silence' is currently on loan to an art gallery in Bournemouth for an exhibition which specifically features Lucy's work. One of our members, Margaret Horan, visited earlier in the year and she obtained a beautifully illustrated book by David Boyd Haycock on this artist's work, which will shortly be presented to the Leamington Art Gallery to add to its reference works.

Since late autumn we have been holding our monthly meetings at Leamington Baptist Church in Chandos Street, which is made available to us with all the necessary facilities, including its audio visual and sound system. Their intricate operation was kindly explained and our Vice Chairman, Paul Baker, kindly agreed to operate them. This is far from easy, especially in the early stages when any problems have to be worked out in front of an audience, and we are very grateful to him. Indeed, our thanks are due to all those members who contribute to the organisation of our meetings, including the interval refreshments.

It is difficult to believe that we are so far advanced in this season's programme and before we know it, it will be the AGM on 16th April and the end of another season. In the meantime, please continue to support our events and to interest family and friends in attending so as to attain the membership we had before the pandemic.

GRAHAM E. COOPER
Chairman

Meeting dates Spring 2024

Our meetings are held in the Baptist Church in Chandos Street: please note that meeting times vary.

20th February at 2.30pm
Sarah Shalgosky - Curating the Campus, Warwick University Art Collection

19th March at 7.30pm
Angus Kaye - In the Victorian Architect's Studio, Perfectionists, Pragmatists and 'Rogues'

16th April at 7.00pm
AGM followed by Historic Coventry Trust - speaker tbc

Thoughts are turning to summer excursions - any suggestions welcome. We are also always pleased to receive speaker recommendations.

Madonna della Seggiola - an update

The launch of the Adopt an Artwork scheme seems like a long time ago, and we can now let you have an update on what has been happening. Laura Cooke's Madonna della Seggiola after Raphael was requested for loan by the Museo Civico San Domenico in Forli, northern Italy for an exhibition in February to June 2024, along with Simeon Solomon's Sleepers watercolour. The AG&M responded that the painting is currently not suitable for display and probably also not safe to travel. The AG&M asked whether their budget would cover conservation costs along with transport, but this was rejected. So the painting has not travelled to Italy and the conservation work has still to be done. The current quote for this work is £6,000 (plus the cost of transport to and from the studio). FLAG has £1,600 put aside from the Adopt an Artwork scheme which will help to meet the costs but the search is on, by the AG&M, for additional financial support to complete this work. Let's hope the search is successful but it does look as if it might be a while yet before we see this back to its original condition and on display.

Stamford and Burghley House, Lincolnshire

Though I have visited Stamford several times, I was sure there would be something new to discover and this was certainly the case. Our resourceful driver set us down near the park and river but still very close to the town centre, accessible through any number of alleyways if one chose to stroll beside the meadows a little first. Six of us decided to follow the excellent town trail around the labyrinthine town centre and only once did we need to retrace our steps. In this way, we were sure not to miss fine examples of the vernacular architecture or the premises of long-established bakers or butchers.

We had earlier called into the 12th-century St Mary's church with its imposing 14th-century spire and the centrally placed tomb of a knight who had fought at the battle of Bosworth with the future Henry VII. In Broad Street was the medieval alms-house, Browne's Hospital, still in use today, and outside the Corn Exchange (1859) we met a volunteer who told us all about its current use as an arts and social centre. All Saints church was sadly (in both senses) closed for a funeral, so we continued up Barn Hill to see the 17th-century Stukeley House (redesigned 1800) whose eponymous owner claimed Charles I had taken refuge there in 1646. Curving round were two further alms-houses (early 18C), Truesdale for men and Snowden for women, both founded by local benefactors after whom they were named. Along Paul Street are some of the oldest medieval shops, a few with their surviving trade emblems. Here we stopped for a light lunch at the Tobie Norris inn, which still has its medieval hall. We then explored the southern side of the old town, enjoying perhaps the finest house in Stamford at 32, St George St, looking much the same as when it was first built in 1674. We just had time to go down to see the town bridge (originally part of the old Great North Road) before we dived through the narrow archway of the original postern gate to the Norman castle (all that remains) to take an alley directly back to the meadow park and coach.

Vaulting in the kitchen

The magnificent Burghley House, an Elizabethan mansion designed by William Cecil, the first Lord Burghley, is a short drive away. Later generations of the family have overlaid much of the original interiors, but we began in the awesome Old Kitchen with its enormous vaulted ceiling and high lantern. Overlooking the space was a corridor window, an unusual feature, and rumour has it that Cecil encouraged his guests to see what he had built, even though it was just a kitchen. Once on the first floor, the rest of the north wing was decorated in heavy Venetian style, especially the Bow Room, and as our guide pointed out, such exorbitant and fulsome decor simply didn't project effectively in the weak light of rural Lincolnshire. There was a fine display of marquetry and porcelain, together with more Italian paintings brought back from fashionable grand tours. But these large frames made room for a strikingly raw image of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach and not far from that, a characterful portrait of Capability Brown. Brown extensively altered the grounds, reoriented the house to the west and insisted a whole service wing be demolished to open up the new perspective he had created. He also designed one of the ceilings, reminding us of his overall designer skill. Perhaps some of his original tree clumps have now gone, but the wide vistas he insisted on did remind me of exactly why a later generation of picturesque garden designers preferred more wild greenery and signs of occupation to be visible in the view.

We moved on to the Queen Elizabeth bedroom (left) designed for her (but to which she never came). At least the opulent 18th-century Second George Room was enjoyed by Victoria and Albert on their visit, two cooing doves carved at the head of the bed canopy. There are four George Rooms, all of which are luxuriously decorated by the fiery Antonio Verrio, who worked in the house for more than 10 years. His work culminated in a saturation of gods and goddesses in the Heaven Room, where visitors were shown up to meet the current Lord of the house. Verrio insisted on his own figure appearing among the gods, complete with luxuriant beard and in a wigless state. Arrivals had to make their way up the Hell staircase presided over by a monstrous cat's mouth, so arriving in heaven was an even greater contrast. (I find much of Verrio's work, from which there was no retreat, rather more hellish than paradisal.) But at last we returned to the Elizabethan house with its Great Hall with double hammer-beam roof and Tudor fireplace, all of stupendous proportions but with no lurid decoration. This area survived thanks to being used largely as a store-room for almost 200 years!

Our guided tour was so detailed that we had less than an hour left for tea and/or the gardens. I chose the latter and found the very contemporary make-over in the Garden of Surprises rather disappointing. The Sculpture Garden was not so very different but provided access to the formal gardens and, once in the woodland, a wonderful view from a rise of Brown's lake and the rural vistas beyond. Here was a place to linger.

A statue of Bacchus in front of fine wrought-iron gates by Jean Tijou
Photos by Carolyn Gifford

The whole trip was a beautifully balanced combination of town and landscape, and our thanks must go to Judy Ross for organising it. Sadly, Judy was unable to be with us, but her role was taken over by Tony who provided us with all the information we needed.

Peter Larkin

Selsley Church and Rodmarton Manor

The Arts & Crafts movement is characterised by a belief in craftsmanship, the use of natural materials and the importance of the natural materials as a source of inspiration to produce designs and buildings that enable workers to engage with the creative process from initial design to finished product. Last August FLAG visited two of the finest examples of the movement: Selsley Church and Rodmarton Manor in Gloucestershire.

Selsley church is built on a plot of land donated by Samuel Marling, the owner of Stanley Park in 1851; he also funded the building of the church. The church was designed in the late English Gothic style with a prominent saddleback bell tower by the architect George Frederick Bodley, who had recently completed his apprenticeship with George Gilbert Scott. Bodley not only designed the church, he also designed the pews and choir stalls, door ironwork and the marble font, using local craftsmen.

The design of the windows is credited to Philip Webb - the first commission for ecclesiastical glass undertaken by the firm of Morris, Marshall and Faulkner & Co. set up by William Morris. The design of the glass was heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite ideals of John Ruskin. As was pointed out to us by the guides at the church, several of the artists, their friends and family can be identified as the models. Together the windows form a rich ribbon of colour from the west window to the focal point above the altar.

A roundel by Burne-Jones, featuring an angel playing a viol

The rose window, which depicts the Creation, with stained glass by Philip Webb and either William Morris or Edward Burne-Jones

Following our tour and a generous buffet lunch we went on to Rodmarton Manor, where we were given a private tour by John Biddulph, the current owner, and one of his staff.

The Manor is arguably one of the best examples of the ideals underpinning the arts and craft philosophy. Claude Biddulph and his wife Margret set out to build a house with spectacular views towards the Marlborough Downs that would excel architecturally and provide employment for many of the local people by supporting and reviving a wide range of rural crafts. This would encompass not only the building of the house but all of the furniture and fittings. Those employed by the Biddulphs include a number of the leading designers of the period: Ernest Barnsley, the architect, together with his brother Sidney and his son Edward, Ernest Gimson, Peter Waals, Alfred Powell and Norman Jewson, together with input from the Biddulphs themselves. Much of the ironwork was made to their designs by the local Rodmarton blacksmith and the furniture was made in the Rodmarton workshops. Stone from a nearby quarry was cut and shaped on the lawn area at the front of the house. Work began on the house in 1909 and continued to 1929, with an interruption during the First World War. Sufficient work had been completed to allow the family to take up residence in 1915.

Work also began on the surrounding garden whilst the house was being built. It is assumed that Ernest Barnsley was responsible for the overall design - a series of outdoor rooms bounded by walls or hedges. This enables each room to have a different planting scheme and provides a surprise to visitors as not all are visible at the same time. The planting has changed over the years and some areas had drifted into neglect during the 1950s. However, much of the original layout survives and provides a fitting setting for the house.

Paul Baker
Photos by Carolyn Gifford

Chillington Hall and Boscobel House

In September we enjoyed a showery day within the former Royal Forest of Brewood on the Staffordshire/Shropshire border, visiting two properties whose occupants had aided Charles II in his flight after the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

The approach to Chillington Hall along an avenue of oaks brings you close to Sir John Soane's imposing east front with its threebay portico of ionic columns of Tunstall stone, still blackened by pollution from Wolverhampton and the Black Country. The estate has been held by the Giffard family since 1182 and many of their portraits hang in the Dining Room. The usual money problems caused by spendthrift or unstable sons were resolved by advantageous marriages. The first remodelling was carried out by Francis Smith of Warwick, in 1724. His finest room is the Staircase Hall, lit by heraldic glass.

We had to choose between an art or domestic tour, and I followed the art guide who, folder in hand, concentrated on the paintings, many of which hang in the Saloon, illuminated by an oval lantern dome. This was Soane's principal apartment, designed in 1786 and in the heart of the former Tudor house. A large stone chimney piece has carvings of an archer and a panther (right). This refers to the shooting by Sir John Giffard (d. 1556) of a panther which had escaped from his menagerie. Both appear on the family coat of arms in the plasterwork of the ceiling and elsewhere.

One of the largest paintings is of a Rhodesian Ridgeback like dog by Lucas Beattie, a Wolverhampton animal artist, active 1835-1938. He also painted Thomas William Giffard's prize oxen and racehorses. John Prescott Knight painted the sporty Giffard (1853) who first opened Chillington to the public and held race-day entertainments. John Collier's portrait of Constance Giffard was not in his usual Pre-Raphaelite style. She, a Briscoe, brought a small fortune to Chillington, unlike Queen Elizabeth I who berated John Giffard (the family were Roman Catholics), for not attending church and ensured that he was brought before the Privy Council, fined and imprisoned. Another Giffard, Gilbert was trained in France for the Jesuit priesthood. He was sent back to England as a go-between of Mary Queen of Scots but betrayed her, passing on secret letters to Walsingham. He died in a French prison.

Thomas William had two large yachts on the 68-acre pool, the centrepiece of Capability Brown's 1760s landscaping. I followed the curving canal up to Paine's elegant bridge and the ruined Gothic folly and restored Grecian summerhouse overlooking the lake. The gardens ran down to the Bowling Green Arch of 1730 and walled kitchen garden to the west of impressive Home Farm and stables with an octagonal dovecote of 1730. We found the wooden cross which marks the spot of the panther's demise, in the courtyard behind the house.

The Giffards helped Charles to escape after the Battle of Worcester in 1651 and he took refuge at Boscobel House, a modest timber-framed hunting lodge built about 1630, later much extended. William Pendrell, the eldest of five brothers was caretaker here and the whole family were expert woodsmen. The area was thickly forested, ideal for the hiding of recusant priests. It was Charles's good fortune that the Pendrells were masters of disguise, misdirection and confusion. With 'Trusty Dick' Pendrell, Charles had tried in vain to escape across the Severn and, wet and footsore, they came to Boscobel at three o'clock in the morning. He was given a posset of thin milk and at daybreak he and Major William Careless were hidden in a pollarded oak, peeping down on soldiers searching below. He spent that evening, 6th September, in a secret place and the next day sat in a pretty arbour on a mound in the garden, which is still there. On the evening of the next day the five brothers took him to Moseley Old Hall and under the protection of Mistress Lane, he eventually escaped.

We were shown hiding places and an escape chute by the fireplace. Marian symbols were etched into the roof beams. The original oak, rapidly christened The Royal Oak after the Restoration, became so famous that it was destroyed by souvenir hunters, despite a protective wall. Descendants of the original tree have replaced it and there is now an oak grove close by to give protection from damaging winds.

The rather strange hunting lodge, with its painted-on windows

In 1812 a Derby industrialist bought the estate for his nieces Elizabeth and Frances Evans. Frances visited for one month a year and tried to restore the house and garden to the time of Charles's sojourn. The tenant farmer showed the house to the public. The Giffards still levy their tenants to pay the pensions of £100 per annum awarded to the remaining Pendrell brothers and their heirs in perpetuity, by a grateful King.

Marilyn Lowe
Photos by Carolyn Gifford

Footnote
Further to Marilyn's lively account of our day, we should just add how very welcome we were made at both places. We were provided with an excellent buffet lunch at Chillington in lovely surroundings. Unfortunately, the rain prevented most of us from venturing into the garden but we were allowed to wander in the house until it was time to leave. At Boscobel we were offered a free guided tour which was extremely interesting. Altogether another interesting and enjoyable FLAG day out.

Art Gallery News

2023 was a year of transition with staff changes, continued recovery of visitor numbers and planning for the future.

Exhibitions and displays

In the main gallery, Water, water everywhere which opened in March 2023, celebrates the Royal Pump Rooms' history as a swimming pool and will remain on display until the end of March 2024. It will be replaced by a two-year-long thematic display of artworks from the permanent collection in April.

Our exhibition, Lost Leamington: a Picture of the Past which ran from September until January, drew on our extensive collection of prints, watercolours and photographs, and was very popular with visitors. We have very much enjoyed the Friday Focus talks and Object Focus sessions which have connected with the exhibition and given us an opportunity to share and discuss objects which tell the town's history.

We are now preparing for OPEN 2024 (2nd February - 12th May 2024) which is our regular showcase for artists from across the West Midlands. An independent panel of judges will select artworks to be included in the exhibition as well as the winner of the OPEN 2024 Award. Visitors will also be able to vote for their favourite artwork, and the artist will win the People's Choice Award, which is supported by FLAG. During this time a display in the hammam area will show the results of an inspiring project funded by FLAG and Museum Development West Midlands. Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum worked with Proud Youth Leamington, a community group established by Warwickshire Pride, to produce a zine. The display, titled Queertopia, tells the story of the project, showing artwork from the zine alongside museum items and a film created by Willowmann Productions in 2017, which celebrates LGBTQ+ stories from the local community.

Our summer blockbuster will be Black Atlantic (25th May - 15th September 2024), an exhibition which introduces the wide variety of Leamington's links with the Black Atlantic - West Africa, the Caribbean and North America - from the late 18th to the early 20th century. Like places and people all over Britain, Leamington Spa and its inhabitants benefited hugely from the wealth generated by the transatlantic slave trade. The story did not end when the slave trade was banned in the British empire in 1807, or when slavery itself was abolished in the empire in 1838. Systems of racist exploitation and extraction persisted, and the profits flowed down through the generations. This money funded Leamington's grand architecture and growing infrastructure, and supported its aristocratic families and comfortable retirees, through the Victorian period and beyond. The legacies persist in the town today, including in the collections of the Art Gallery & Museum.

The exhibition will be complemented by a display in the main gallery, by Kialy Tihngang, who won the France Brodeur Young Artist Award. Her work uses contemporary art to explore European attitudes to African beliefs, referencing slavery and raising issues about the way in which pre-colonial artefacts have often been displayed with limited understanding in museums and galleries.

Collections

FLAG's support has enabled us to complete a number of conservation projects this year. We have been able to repair the frames of two artworks which will be included in our new displays, Lyndall Phelps' Tenderest White, recently acquired from the Contemporary Art Society, and Joe Tilson's Cut out and Send, which has been in the collection for some time in a frame damaged before it was purchased at auction. In addition, with FLAG's help, we are framing two large works on paper so they can be displayed: Thistledown by Amy Sharrocks, which was acquired with support from FLAG, and Joe Tilson's Apollo Pythian, which was conserved following water damage in a recent incident. I am glad to add that work on our roof repairs will begin in May, funded by the Arts Council MEND grant. This should, at last, mean the end of the frequent leaks we have had to cope with for many years!

Further conservation projects are in the pipeline, including work on the Laura Cooke, Madonna della Seggiola, after Raphael, for which FLAG's Adopt-an-Artwork scheme raised significant funds, and outstanding conservation and documentation work linked to the Going Dutch exhibition. New acquisitions include two large-scale prints by photographic artist Sunil Gupta, through the Contemporary Art Society, which make references to Pre-Raphaelite works in our collection and will be at the heart of an exhibition scheduled for 2026. We are also finalising a second application to try to secure the John Piper, Wolfhamcote Church painting for which FLAG have pledged £2,000. We hope to follow this with an application for a Gainsborough portrait of a local figure.

Learning & Engagement

Our creative workshops have been very successful and Heritage Open Day tours, given by Vicki Slade and Alan Sharif in September, were as popular as ever. We are very grateful for FLAG's support at the Victorian Christmas day in December. It was a wonderful start to festivities here and Santa sported a wonderfully full beard and delighted our young visitors.

Staff News

The Arts Service now has a new head, Paul Roberts, who has led the service as Arts Manager since September. In the Collections & Engagement team in 2023 we said goodbye to curators Jane Simpkiss and Huw Jones and to Learning & Engagement Officer Natasha Taheem. We also celebrated L&E Apprentice Jodie McCarthy's success in completing her qualification with distinction.

Across the year, we have welcomed Connor Elliman as Arts Officer in January, Abi Flack as Human History Curator, Giovanni Vinti as Learning & Engagement Officer in August and Kellie Sabin as Art Curator in December. We are also ably supported by a wonderful team of Learning & Engagement and Exhibition & Collections Assistants. As we head into a new year we are very excited about the programme and projects planned for the future and we thank FLAG for their support, which makes it possible for us to be ambitious and brave as we move forwards.

Vicki Slade and Chloe Johnson Collections & Engagement Managers

Learning and Engagement - Giovanni Vinti

I am the Learning and Engagement Officer at Leamington Spa Museum and Art Gallery and have been in post since the end of August 2023. I'm thoroughly enjoying the new challenges that the role has brought and continues to bring. I spent nearly 30 years in teaching, all the way from Reception classes to adults at Solihull College. It brought me great satisfaction as connecting with the children and seeing them learn something new always gave me a great sense of achievement and pleasure. Further to my class teaching, I was also in management roles and enjoyed the challenges that the positions of deputy, acting head and governor brought. I'd like to hope that the many skills and experiences I have developed over my time in education are skills that I can apply to my new post.

My role at the art gallery and museum involves the development and consolidation of engaging audiences that come into our space by creating a programme of events and activities that enhance our local history and art gallery offer. My aim is to leave any visitor with a sense that they have had an experience that will bring them back again, learned something about the wonderful, rich local history that Leamington has, and been able to understand and engage with the wonderful art and sculpture that we have in our collection. I am currently in the process of writing a new schools programme and planning a new season of Friday Focus and Arty Tots sessions as well as some new (and hopefully exciting) activities that will bring in people who may not previously have engaged with what we do, as well as enthusing and engaging our regular audience. It is an exciting and challenging brief and a position that I feel quite privileged to be in. I have always loved the subject of history and have always been an admirer of how artists can create such marvellous works of art and intrigued by where they had their inspiration. When I entered the art and history stores for the first time, I was like Charlie in the chocolate factory, looking at some magnificent artefacts and artwork and being very excited by the fact that I could be so involved in the history within those locked rooms.

My main interest when away from my work at LSAG&M is the stained and fused glass that I make. Knowing my love of creating and making, my wife bought me a voucher for a beginners' course in stained glass at Solihull College. I didn't think stained glass would be for me, but I was hooked after the first session. I have now produced many items of artwork and two memorials which now stand in school gardens. I also exhibit at craft fairs across the Midlands which allow me to sell a few pieces, and to talk to people about the process and encourage them to do something creative. Sadly, it seems that many 'traditional' crafts are in danger of dying out. I now have a small kiln which allows me to create my own glass and this is why I am always intrigued as to where great artists and sculptors get their inspiration. As well as the making aspect of my work, disappearing into my garage allows me spend a few hours away from the world and relax - and is another reason why I encourage people to take up a craft of some type. It's great to make something new that didn't exist until you created it, it's good for your mental and physical health, and it's never too late to start!

I have been lucky to have met many interesting and lovely people since I started in August and I would particularly like to thank the members of FLAG for their support, help and kindness in my role so far. I do hope to be able to develop our working relationship and continue and enhance the close partnership between FLAG and the Art Gallery and Museum.

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