Swindon Before the Railway - a talk by Nicola Cornick

 We gathered excitedly last Thursday around our computers for a Zoom talk by historian and author Nicola Cornick, fascinated to find out more about Swindon before the railway put it on the map as a destination between Bristol and London.I took copious notes, but not being a historian, I have only a hazy idea about what ages a medievalist might be interested in, it's between 6th-14th centuries. The map below dates from about 1804,  a mere 37 years before the railway came through this idyllic country town                                                                                                                                                                                               

It's interesting speculate on various places on the map, was the Direction Post the site of the current Magic Roundabout? And is the Small Pox House the site of the former Victoria Hospital? And the origin of the name Swindon, was it really Swine Down, or Suindune in The Domesday Book. The place where pigs were raised?

Nicola took us back to when Swindon was a Saxon village with farmers and craftspeople living here, 1000 years ago there were blacksmiths and cutlery was being made here. The Vikings were here in 878 and were defeated. After the Norman Conquest, the area was divided into five areas. The town on the hill, what is now known as Old Town has a road system based on a square, with a market square in front of the Corn Exchange which goes back to 1346.

Above you can see a photograph of High Street which looks very similar today

What are mostly missing are the Holyrood Church above and totally missing, the Lawn Mansion House which was demolished in 1952

The Bell was a pub for a long time, although apparently not as long as is claimed above the door, sadly no longer a pub

Swindon has a reputation for smuggling, with many passageways beneath Old Town supposedly used for this, the Moonraker's pub sign is a Wiltshire tradition, told here.

This photo shows the interior of Ashdown House where some of the finest Swindon stone, Purbeck limestone was used for flooring.

The Cotswold Games involved lots of sword fighting as can be seen here, and also standing on your head, riding horses and shooting . What a great advertisement for the games this is.

And so we come to the end of the illustrated talk, with the last slide depicting a country lane.

Despite William Morris's disparaging remarks made about Swindon in the 1885, describing Holy Rood Church as 'insignificant', there's plenty of evidence that Swindon was a thriving rural market town, with plenty of advantages such as stone, springs and excellent farm land around. With a little bit of searching, I found this excellent blog post written by Nicola giving far more interesting details than I managed to note down.

The video recording of the talk is ready now, please click : here it is.

I've also had a couple of extra pieces of information, firstly in answer to my question, which I feel silly about now, I asked where the mill was! A member of the Friends has supplied these two paintings:

They are both by Thomas Luckett Jefferies who was Richard Jefferies' uncle. He also owned the Mill, the bakers by the Locarno as well as the farm.

Nicola was asked on the night about whether Wadard became Goddard and says this:

I also looked into the question on the night as to whether the Goddard family were descended from Wadard, the knight who owned Swindon after the Norman Conquest. Although there is a branch of the Goddard family who do claim descent from Wadard, there isn’t actually a properly authenticated family tree that proves this!

There was also a question about the pest house, here's the location:

'We have just watched the recording of Nicola's talk, and we noticed the question about where the pest house was.  The pest house is marked on the 1873 OS 25 inch map of Swindon.  The National Library of Scotland has digitised old OS maps and overlaid them on a modern satellite view.

The link below should take you to the page (you may have to get rid of an instruction sheet first by pressing X at its top right).  On the map page, you should see the pest house roughly in the centre, and there's a control panel on the left at the bottom of which is a transparency slider.  Use this to get rid of the old map and see where the pest house location is today - in the alleys between Goddard Avenue and The Mall.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.872345998877556&lat=51.54876&lon=-1.78602&layers=178&b=1

Art on Tour Talk

 Katie Ackrill and Mags Parker were invited to give us a  talk via Zoom on Thursday 6 August to explain what the Art on Tour project was intended to achieve, and what has happened since it was partially hijacked by everything closing down due to Covid 19. Katie and Mags were appointed at the end of 2019 . Both appointments were part time, and with a slightly different emphasis,  Katie Ackrill is the Project Engagement Officer for Art on Tour, which aims to help more people in more places engage with Swindon's collection of modern British art, in unique and meaningful ways. Katie has an MA in Art History from the University of Reading, leads Art History leisure courses at New College, Swindon. Mags Parker is the Learning Officer for Art on Tour and has developed materials for use in schools and other educational settings.

'Art on Tour at Home' is a digital engagement and education project, which brings Swindon's nationally significant art collection to audiences in the comfort and safety of their own homes. This includes art appreciation in the form of the Art Snaps podcast and the Art on Tour Blog, and access to a large number of family activities and education resources, including a Families in Residence Programme. I have engaged most with the art snaps podcasts and wrote about them here until I couldn't keep up with the sheer output. They are well worth watching, and I will catch up with them.

Katie and Mags took us through the history of the project via a series of slides which I photographed, and here thye are in order. I had hoped we would have been able to record the talk, but apologies in the heat of changing hosts, we didn't manage to do that.

So you can see the point of the project, it was to go out into schools and other places...

There are exhibitions in STEAM and at the Civic Offices through the sliding doors. I'm not sure if the Civic Offices is accessible yet.

Examples of works at the Civic Offices include 'Aerobots' by David Bent and 'Icelandic Scene' by Roy Bizley

Katie and Mags had worked with various venues where works could be loaned out and displayed. I'm not sure how the insurance and transport and security would work, but these were the suggested partners

Above is a list of all the activities and things Mags and Katie have done since they started, the job hasn't been what they expected to be doing, but they have certainly achieved a lot.

Add caption

I think there are two more artsnaps since they recorded the talk

I have written posts about the Swindon Spring Festival talk and the wonderful Great British Art Quiz in the Guardian. Wasn't that a pleasant surprise?

Lastly they reminded us that we can find them on Facebook, Instagram and the Museum and Art Gallery website

Great to hear about this initiative while the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery remain closed due to Covid restrictions.
 

Caspar David Friedrich a leading figure in the German Romantic movement

We were very pleased to welcome Jeremy Holt back to give a second Zoom talk on 15 June to a group of Friends sitting comfortably in their own homes. This time Jeremy talked about the life and work of the artist Caspar David Friedrich, he began by telling us that he was bottom at art in school, and doesn't have an artistic bone in his body, however David ticks all the boxes for him. It's always good to hear people talking about their enthusiasms. There were of course photos, this I think is a self portrait.

David's early life was marred by tragedy, he lost two sisters to smallpox and typhus and his mother died when he was 7, and his brother drowned when he was 13, and another brother committed suicide in his late twenties. This was the official summary of his life:

In 1808, David painted 'Monk by the Sea which gives an idea of his original style:

When he was born, Greifswald was in Sweden, and this most famous painting, seen below, 'Wanderer above the Sea of Fog' seen below and painted in 1818 shows someone wearing old fashioned German clothes which wasn't allowed apparently. I'm not sure what happened if you wore the clothes or painted someone wearing them, I must ask Jeremy.

This painting below was painted after he go married aged 44 to Caroline who was 25, the woman on the left is wearing a bright pink dress, a change from the more sombre colours used before his marriage. If David is on the right, looking out to see, I'm not sure who is in the middle?

This is another example of David's work where he has used colour in the woman's dress.

I'll finish by showing a portrait of David by Gerhard von Kugelgen

I'll also include a quote from Brittanica:

'Caspar David Friedrich, (born September 5, 1774, Greifswald, Pomerania [now in Germany]—died May 7, 1840, Dresden, Saxony), one of the leading figures of the German Romantic movement. His vast, mysterious, atmospheric landscapes and seascapes proclaimed human helplessness against the forces of nature and did much to establish the idea of the Sublime as a central concern of Romanticism.'
And finish by thanking Jeremy for a fascinating talk which can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWbuSO1TxWE&feature=youtu.be

An Art of the People: Collecting Studio Pottery

 Mike Yates, a passionate collector himself has recently written a beautiful booklet, about his own collecting journey, which not only goes into the history of studio pottery, but talks about some other avid collectors as well. It's an absolute must for anyone interested in ceramics.

Many of you will be familiar with Mike Yates from the talks he has given to the Friends, going back as far as 2012 when he gave a talk entitled 'Smashing Pots'  and more recently a talk on 'The Role of Ceramics' to accompany a ceramics exhibition of pots belonging to Mike and loaned for the exhibition. Here he is seen with an Ian Auld pot while talking to a packed gallery of members of the Friends..

Anyone who is a collector will recognise the collecting journey Mike takes us on, remembering the circumstances when each item in the collection was acquired. The main thing is that although there is a financial cost to collecting, it's always worth it if you love what you are collecting.
Mike mentions a bowl in the booklet made by Ursula Mommens , who has a fine heritage which he outlines. The bowl is just gorgeous, he bought it ten years ago from a gallery in London. The point is he still admires it and is still wondering if the fish look like flying fish; they do seem to be moving as seen below:

Another Mommens bowl, similar to this one, recently came up for auction it was part of a collection of some 1.200 pieces owned by Michael Evans, also known as Dayabandhu. His collection was featured in an article about his collection in a Design magazine produced by the Guardian recently:

 It's well worth clicking on the link to see the article and much better photos of Dayabandhu's collection.
One of the pieces Mike included in his booklet is this small pressed dish made by Shoji Hamada:

As well as considering the anatomy of collecting, Mike also gives helpful hints on where to find studio pottery including visiting Ceramics Fairs and where to find out about them.
This is a delightful book, if you are intrigued and would like to buy a copy please email admin@friendsofsmag.org
Mike has kindly offered to donate copies to us, so all profits from sales will go to the Friends. I'm selling them at £5 each including postage and packing. So please don't hesitate to buy one!!

'From Response to lasting Image' a talk by Juliet Wood

We were fortunate enough to have the artist Juliet Wood talking about her life and work for our second Zoom talk a couple of weeks ago. Juliet ran through her early interest in art, when I think she and others recognised a real artistic talent, leading her to spend time as a student at The Slade, then a postgraduate year in Italy. Then followed 5 children, which it seemed might have had an effect on the progress of Juliet's life as an artist. However, Juliet's website gives a more accurate and succinct summary of Juliet's life, and her chronology an illustration of the wealth and breadth of her experience.
I first met Juliet at her exhibition 'Alone and Together, Brunel's People' where as Juliet says:
'In our ever faster moving world, I sat still in a fast food restaurant, a visual feast, recording hundreds of moments over more than a decade, gradually developing this series of themed paintings'. Juliet has also produced a video about these paintings here

 This painting above is called 'The Greeting' and really expresses the range of activities in the fast food restaurant really well, from the man sitting down at the end of his shift, the two men chatting to each other while a woman carries a bag behind them, and the people in the background are cooking food.

 I particularly like this painting because of the range of activities you can see, and also the fact that Juliet was photographed with Lakshmi who was cleaning the floor::

And here is Juliet drawing in McDonald's.

 Juliet has also produced some paintings of the seaside which make me long to be beside the sea.
These are of Cromer Beach and Pier

 and below the pier from the other side than shown above; Juliet stood in the water to draw this composition, with the tide rising!!

There were also some fabulous portraits, I particularly liked these, Juliet says:
‘At the heart of my painting is the expression of human life, and portraiture has always been a part of that.’ and there's lots more information on her website

 Above Ned, Jamie and Ellen Atiyah, three siblings

 This was a beautiful portrait, Juliet has conveyed so much here, and showed us drawings she had done of the hands.

This is a portrait of Chris Bretherton.
Maybe my absolute favourite portrait though is of one of Juliet's grandson's, Rex seen as a drawing and then the portrait:

 Here is the painting of Rex, with his father's portrait in the background, I think!

 I have only conveyed a fraction of the talk and what it covered here, but would like to thank Juliet Wood for giving us such a comprehensive overview of her work, and giving us such a pleasurable evening.
 Prints and books can be bought by clicking on the links.
And finally, as many of you know, while Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is closed due to Covid-19 restrictions, we have organised a selection of talks to hold via Zoom. It works this way, those who have joined the Friends, should be on my emailing list, and will receive a link to the Zoom talk just before it is held.It's a good way of keeping in touch with the Friends during these difficult times, and partly makes up for the fact we can't get together in the art gallery.
Here's a link to the video of the talk: https://youtu.be/DR4FIoOtjpU
Coming up next:
Jeremy Holt on artist Caspar David Friedrich next Wednesday 15 July.

'Big Hitters', FSMAG Committee Picks!

The Friends' committee were recently asked if they would like to mount a virtual exhibition of works from the Swindon Collection. It didn't take us long to agree it was something we would really enjoy doing; the idea of showcasing some of the possibly most prestigious works in the collection in an online exhibition was very exciting. Remembering exhibitions being put up in the gallery, I thought how fabulous to come up with a theme, pick the paintings, and fix them into the wall. Now we had the opportunity to go through the same process; we chose 27 works, with quite a high degree of agreement about what to put into the exhibition. The title was not universally liked among the committee, but was voted in, the complete title being:
 'Big Hitters: Significant Artists in the Swindon Collection', if you click on the link, you can see the exhibition, and some information about each one.
A big thank you to Tracy White for her work in making this a reality, ArtUK for their fabulous website and promotion of artworks and Swindon Borough Council for supporting the Swindon MAG.
 These paintings are being used to advertise the exhibition:

 David Bomberg's 'South East Corner of Jerusalem' and below Maggi Hamblings's 'Descent of a Bull's Head

Please do have a look at the rest of the exhibition by clicking on the link above.
I'll also include the press release below:
(There should be the Swindon MAG logo in the top left hand corner)

Press Release

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery launches ‘Big Hitters’ virtual exhibition with ArtUK

Tuesday 23 July 2020

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery has announced the launch of a virtual exhibition through ArtUK, the online home of the nation’s public art collections. The exhibition is called ‘Big Hitters’, and has been selected by the committee of the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, who aim to draw attention to some of the most important pieces in Swindon’s collection of modern British art.

Although the Bath Road venue is closed due to COVID-19, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is making the best of digital resources to help people access the collection, which is credited with being one of the best in the UK. This has included the launch of ‘Art on Tour at Home’, which has developed a number of free online talks, activities and learning resources. ArtUK’s curation tool is also invaluable for sharing the collection with audiences during lockdown.

‘Big Hitters’ includes around 30 artworks from the collection, spanning the 20th Century and showcasing some of the most popular pieces in the collection by the likes of David Bomberg, Howard Hodgkin and L.S. Lowry. Linda Kasmaty, the Chair of the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, explained why the initiative is so important. She said:

“When we were asked if the Friends’ committee would like to mount a virtual exhibition, we thought what a fantastic way of getting the collection shown to a wider, online audience. Since the beginning of lockdown due to COVID-19, many people have spent more time online, and many museums and galleries have greatly increased their online presence. We’re hoping this exhibition will complement the ‘Art on Tour’ initiative which has been a tremendous success, connecting with many people, both those familiar with the Swindon collection, and those who did not know Swindon had such a collection.”

Councillor Dale Heenan, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Town Centre, Culture and Heritage, said: “Lockdown has really inspired us to come up with new and creative ways of showcasing our fantastic art collection here in Swindon and this latest exhibition is another fine example of that work.

“I would like to thank the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and ArtUK for their work in promoting these 30 wonderful artworks, and I’m sure it will be a big hit in keeping with its title!”

The exhibition will be available to view through ArtUK from Friday 3 July.

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is also thrilled to be included in the Great British Art Quiz, which is compiled by ArtUK and The Guardian. Visit The Guardian’s website and test your knowledge about Swindon’s art collection by taking this exciting quiz - https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jun/04/great-british-art-quiz-swindon-museum-art-gallery.

ENDS

Additional info:

Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is a charitable organisation committed to supporting Swindon Museum and Art Gallery via promotion and fundraising. Please visit their website for more information about their activity and membership - https://friendsofsmag.org/.

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is located on Bath Road, in Swindon’s Old Town. As well as holding a significant collection of modern British art, it is the home to important collections of local archaeology, geology and social history, as well as Egyptology. Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is closed until further notice, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Visit www.swindonmuseumandartgallery.org.uk for more information.

Art on Tour is a project dedicated to sharing Swindon’s art collection with more people in more places. A digital version of the project has been developed during lockdown – www.swindonmuseumandartgallery.org.uk/artontour.