The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seen through the artwork of Harold Dearden (1888-1969)

 Our September talk was given by Philip Dearden, grandson of the artist Harold Dearden. Philip has been researching the paintings and life of his grandfather over the last year, and discovered many paintings he produced over his life. 

The first couple of slides summarise Harold Dearden's life from being born in Rochdale, attending Rochdale School of Art, attending the Royal College of Art, then teaching art at York, Halifax and Gloucester schools of art until he came to Swindon where he taught art for 30 years and was immersed in the art scene in Swindon.

One hundred years after Harold's graduation, in 2015, the 193 countries that make up the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This historic agenda lays out 17 Sustainable Development Goals and targets for dignity, peace and prosperity for the planet and humankind, to be completed by the year 2030.

Philip grouped  selected paintings together according to their subject matter, and encouraged the audience with an SDG. I have taken a few photos of the slides to illustrate what was shown:

The first ones have been done, and show what a marvellous diversity of images there are, and how well they reflect the different times

It's quite difficult to see them with so many paintings on each slide

I'll make them larger, but the best way of looking at them is to watch a recording of Philip talking which can be found by clicking here

 You will see included in the next slides, the paintings Salubritas et Industria, the Swindon motto. Below are two photos of the Salubritas painting, meaning health. The one on the left was photographed from the original painting which originally hung in the Town Hall and ended up rolled up in a skip, found by Terry Court and currently rolled up in storage

Are these Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth possibly. You can see the Industria painting bottom left in poor condition like the one above. The coat of arms and explanation of it can be found here.

The paintings below illustrate Goal 15: Life on land: protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems

The talk was wonderfully informative and visually stunning. I'm pleased there's a recording of it because this post does not do it justice, but gives an idea of what Harold Dearden's work is like. There are quite a few examples of his work in the Swindon Collection and I hope there will be an exhibition dedicated to his work before long.